Wonky Baby Quilt

After playing around with improvisational quilting and wonky quilting, I was inspired to try a whole quilt for my cousin. She is expecting her first baby soon.

Once again, I tried to pick fabric prints that have some relevancy to her life. I even included a print that reminds me of our grandmother. Some of the prints are just fun or have nice coordinating colors.

While searching for more examples of the wonky style of quilting, I found this blog post utilizing the stack and whack method of cutting. I was intrigued.

I had been collecting fabric for this quilt for a while now and had a few fat quarters, some pieces that were just over 1/4 yard and two prints I had ordered that were 1/2 yard each.  The white artist print I created with rubber stamps and permanent ink.

According to the tutorial I found, the size suggestion was to start with a 15 1/2" square. Some of my fabric wasn't big enough. Instead of totally abandoning the concept, I decided to take a remnant that was big enough, do some random cuts per the tutorial, and then use the remnant fabric as a pattern. It worked very well. I just needed to keep track of each pattern piece carefully and always put the whole thing back together like a puzzle.  I grouped the fabrics into three groups. The four different prints in each group would make up four different blocks with three prints in each.  No two would be alike.

Next I laid out all the blocks on the floor to decide where each would go.  After trying a few combinations, I took some pictures and even got some other opinions.  It's an interesting process keeping the same fabrics far enough away from each other and still liking the ones next to each other.

After completing each block, the directions suggest using a 12.5" square to square up each block.  That went well and did take off 1/2" or so off each side.  I was able to angle my square a little to enhance the wonkiness.

Once the placement was decided, sewing the blocks together was a breeze.  I hadn't purchased any border or backing fabric, so it was off to the store.  I found a few I liked but finally decided on a black with stripes and polka dots.  I passed by it a few times at the store and liked it every time.  I often like to avoid stripes, but the stripes are really cute especially for baby quilts.

The quilt was measuring about 37" by 49".  I figured adding a 3.5" border would work well.  Unfortunately that made the total quilt bigger than a typical width of fabric.  That means my back would be pieced.  But I like the idea of using small rectangles of the fabrics used on the back.  I took a 3.5" by 4" square of each fabric and sewed them together in a row.  Then I calculated how much fabric I'd need to make up the roughly 60" by 46" I should have for quilting.


Batting was also on my list.  I found a 60" by 60" packaged batting that would  be perfect.  It's a mix of organic cotton and bamboo.  It was very nice to work with and seemed to quilt up well.

The final steps were binding and adding a quilt label.  For binding I cut 3" strips, folded the long way and sewed it around.  To finish the binding, I hand sewed the folded edge to the back.

Finished Wonky Baby Quilt

Close up of one block

 I'm very happy with how everything came together.  It's always hard to know at the beginning stages if I'll like the fabrics together.  The quilting is always a gamble for me too.  I make decisions along the way, but once I start on one section, I feel a need to keep it going for the whole quilt.  I did free motion squiggles on each center square and outlined the two borders on each block.

I Spy Disappearing 9 Square Baby Quilt

I love when one idea leads to the next. I was planning out a baby quilt with an I Spy motif. My first thought was to just have alternating squares of I Spy fun fabric with one consistent print or solid. Then I looked around at I Spy quilts on Google images and found one quilt by "Dancing Needle" that was a disappearing nine square. It looked great!

I wasn't sure how big to make it. For inspiration, I looked at more images of disappearing nine square quilts. I found a little baby quilt at Connect the Dots Crafts that was only 30" square made up of four disappearing nine square blocks. That seemed like it would be the perfect size.

At one point I stumbled upon the Indian Hatchet quilting pattern. It seemed like a neat way to incorporate two fabrics into one square. I decided to just add the different fabric to one corner instead of two. I think it has a neat effect. Here's one tutorial about it at badskirt.

I decided to make 5.5" squares and 3.5" squares for the little corners. I found a great orange for the opposite squares and a black print with circles for the center square. Perhaps not a true I spy quilt as I have two of each print for matching too.

Nine Square Blocks Before Quartering

At one point I had the nine square blocks sewn together and the next step would be to quarter them. My little one needed me to stop sewing for a bit. I quickly took some pictures of each block. Then using one of my favorite apps, Photo Wall, I virtually cut each block and rotated the ones to be rotated and could get a glimpse into how my quilt would look. Almost instant gratification and I could snuggle my girl at the same time. This collage became my pattern for piecing the quartered blocks back together. It made it much easier than trying to figure it out while I was sewing.

After putting it together, I realized I cut the black print with circles the wrong way and didn't have enough for a big border. I cut a 2" border and then used more of the rainbow stripe for a second 4" border I hadn't planned on using it at all. It was just in my fabric stash. I liked the stripes so much, I decided to change my back to the stripes and fortunately had enough!

For quilting, there are always so many options. Going with simple outlining of the orange seemed to be the way to go here.

I struggled a bit with what fabric to use for the binding too. Because I used stripes for the 4" border and made them all go the same way, having stripes for a binding and then have them not go all the same way seemed like not a good idea. I didn't have enough of the orange or the black. I went back and forth about trying to find a blue that might go well with the stripes or just get more black with circles. Either way, it's a trip back to the store.

Because I don't make quilts all that regularly, I often need to look at instructions for sewing on the binding. The printed instructions I've been using are missing at the moment. I searched for a good tutorial and found a couple. Heather Baily has a great one for continuous binding. My other instructions were more like these at Sew Inspired with the end tucked into the beginning.

What I loved especially about making this quilt is that instead of just finding fun prints to use, I found prints that are symbolic and meaningful to the recipients' family. I hope they love it too!

I can see me making more of these. I love the I spy quilt I made for my third baby. I found all kinds of fabric scraps I had used over the years and made sure to have squares representative of my other children. While her quilt is nice too, using the disappearing nine square is fun and has such nice results.

I Spy Matching Disappearing Nine Square Quilt

Fleece poncho and leg warmers

Long ago when Sydney was a baby, I wanted to make a fleece poncho for her. It works so well with baby carriers and in and out of the car.

The Same Fleece Poncho for Toddler

I started with a circle-like shape and cut a small hole for the head. It just wasn't right, but I wasn't sure how to fix it. I added a hood and called it quits. It was functional, but nothing special.

With new baby, Kessa I get to try everything again and this time I had a store bought poncho to use as a guide. The poncho was a 7/8, but I thought the dimensions would not be that different for a baby. I just made the hood a little smaller.

Fleece Poncho & Leg Warmers for Baby

The key to this pattern is four equal sections that are smaller at the top and flare out at the bottom. I also learned along the way to cut the hood with the stretch going side to side. It makes it easier to put over the baby's head too.

I had extra fabric and made legwarmers to match.

It fit great when she was 9 months and still is great at 18 months!

Mini Wallet

What does one gift a one year old who is baby number three and can find a seemingly never ending supply of new things in the toy closet?

That was the question. After some consideration the answer seemed simple. What is her favorite thing to do? Why take all the cards out of mommy's wallet, of course.

I sought the aid of my trusty pal, Google and found a great little tutorial for a mini wallet.

The pattern seemed slightly intimidating with all the little folds, but it got easier as it started to resemble the finished product.

I printed pictures of her siblings and herself and had them laminated into little cards.

The gift went over well, but I have to say that mommy's wallet is still a favorite.

Newborn Portraits

I've had a great time photographing my kids through the years. I enjoy looking at others people's photos and feel that I have a decent eye for taking pictures.

For my newest baby I wanted to take some newborn portraits. I also wanted to read up on lighting and they ideal times.

I learned that between day six and ten is the ideal time to photograph a newborn. No flash and natural light from a window in the background works well too. Another tip was to have something white to reflect the window light back to the baby's face. Most babies sleep a lot during this time and are easily positioned into cute poses.

I even purchased a pattern for my mom to knit a little photo prop for the baby to be nestled into. It worked well too. Though it almost didn't fit her over ten pound size.

I felt fairly prepared for a great newborn session. It was day 7 and I had a clean, content baby. But she was awake! My camera wasn't anything special and I didn't use a tripod. I set up in my son's room with a piece of fabric draped over his bean bag chair. Flash off, white board reflecting the light back and go!

I set up a few other sessions over the next couple weeks. Certainly she was more wiggly and therefore blurry as she got older. But I did finally get a sleeping photo of her and even caught a few smiles. Patience and persistence paid off.

Baby Diapers

Who doesn't love cute tiny diapers?

I had made a bunch of cloth diapers when my second was in diapers. As I was pregnant with my third and already had all the diaper making supplies on hand, why not make a few more. It turned out to be five new ones. Three flannel and two terry fitted cloth diapers. Having a snap press didn't hurt either.