2 Baby Quilt Tops Completed

Yay! Finished quilting both pink baby quilt tops in the last week or two, The Pink"Starry Boats" made up of 5 Bernagat Bay blocks and the Pink/ Kitty Chains quilt top.

I finished off the Pink Starry Boats quilt with a mock edging (where you use the back fabric to wrap around to the front and sew it on around the outside.)

The Pink Kitty Chains got a traditional edge made up of  2 inch strips of white fabric matching the fabric used in the chain blocks. It seems to set off the rest of the baby quilt quite nicely.  It got the approval of our 2 year old grand daughter anyway! :)
But then again, she loves blankets of all sorts.   👼 

White fabric edge

The back of the Chain quilt is pink Minkee fleece.  That can be a bit tricky to work with because it can be slippery to sew with, but I pinned it really well. After that I started the quilting process by stitching in the ditch down the centre of the quilt, then stitching vertically for a row or two, then back to a row or two horizontally. I alternated the beginning of the rows as well, starting one from the left side, then the next row from the right side and back and forth. That helps to keep the Minkee from shifting.

Minkee fleece backing

Both of these quilts are about 40 inches square. 

I really like how the Bernagat Bay blocks turn out so I have already started on a yellow starry version with green boats. There is no baby in mind for that one yet, but I am hoping to get one quilt top ahead, if possible.  😊

After that, the next plan is to start quilting my Diamonds Jubilee Bargello king sized quilt. It has been sitting here on top of the ironing board for several months now all pinned together and waiting its turn very patiently. The cat seems to think it is her personal cushy sleeping spot and I had to put a towel on top of it for that reason.

😉

Diamonds Jubilee quilt top

Barnegat Bay- Pink Sailboats

Purple Sailboats/ Pink Stars

I finished the baby girl quilt top with the purple sailboats this week. It is destined for our nephew's little new addition, Sage Aria, who arrived a few weeks early in mid November. Her dad is a sailing fanatic and has participated in numerous sailing regattas, so I thought this little quilt would be appropriate. :)

Barnegat Bay Block

These Barnegat Bay sailboat blocks are really simple to make, 3 7/8 inch half square triangles for the sails, a couple of 3 1/2" by 6"inch rectangles on either side. The boat is a 3 1/2" by 12"inch rectangle with two 3 1/2" inch squares sewn diagonally at each end.

I made the water a 3 1/2" inch strip of fabric the whole width of the quilt top to create continuity.

(The directions called for a 3 1/2 by 12 1/2 rectangle sewn below the boat.)

 The in-between blocks are just a 9" by 12" inch piece of 'sky fabric' in this case, the pink stars fabric.

I added a border of white (2 1/4" inch width) to bring out the sails. Now it is ready to be 'sandwhiched' and machine quilted.   Time to wash the kitchen floor again!  :)

Pink Chain Quilt

Because we did not know the gender of most of the new babies we were waiting for,  most of the quilts I had made recently were neutral (except for the blue Delectable Dino). 

I really wanted to make a 'girlie' one in pinks after that. I had seen this little chain block number in an earlier edition of  Quiltmaker magazine in greens (Child's Play Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks - Spring 2013 Page 26-27).

I decided to make it in pink and white instead of green.

The blocks were quite simple:  Fabric strip sets of two 21/2 inch white with one 2 1/2 inch pink and the opposite, 2 pink strips and one white. 

The step sets were cut in 2 1/2 inch pieces then put together to form the 2 different blocks one 'large chain and one small chain.

They remind me of bandaids! :)

Once the 2 kinds of blocks were made, they were sewn alternating large chain with small chain

The centre of the quilt top has a 25 1/2 inch piece of interesting animal fabric. 

This was my first idea, but after sewing the chain blocks on 3 sides of the centre square, I soon realized that I didn't like the colours together. There was no real pink in the animal print.

I took the chains off the sides and went hunting for a new centre fabric that would compliment the pink chains better. Of course there was nothing in my stash of fabric, so I made a trip to town to the local quilt store. There wasn't a lot of good pink fabric prints there either.  I finally decided on a panel with cute kittens where the pinks matched better, but since it was rectangular, I had to add white fabric strips to the sides and bottom to make it 25 1/2 inches square.

I like the end results better and now just have to find a back fabric that will compliment it in order to make it into an actual quilt!

The quilt top is 40 inches square and will eventually make a cute quilt for a little girls baby/ toddler. :)  

Close up of kitty panel