This Quilt Needs a Baby!

Usually I make baby quilts on an "as needed" basis.  It's not the kind of thing I normally keep on hand.  Actually, what really happens is this:  Even though I know for almost nine months that I need to make a baby quilt, I wait until the baby is here and then frantically work on nothing else until Baby has a quilt.  When Matt and Tiffany were expecting earlier this year I knew that method wouldn't work since the baby's gender would not be known ahead of time.   I made a baby boy quilt and a baby girl quilt, and little Eva got her quilt on time.  That means I have a baby boy quilt ready just in case I need one.   

Isn't this the cutest?  I liked this monkey fabric so much when I bought it for Grant's quilt a few years ago that I bought all that was left on the bolt.  I like to give credit to publishers and designers, but I can't find the magazine from which I took this pattern.  I have looked and looked, but it must be hiding somewhere in the deepest darkest recesses of my messy sewing room. Just know that it is not my design and that I'm reasonably sure it's from a QNM publication.  

Now.  This quilt needs a baby.  So.  I'm waiting......... 

I Spy Quilt -- Another UFO Bites the Dust!

I am determined to have less UFO's at the end of this year than I had at the beginning.  I started out with ten on January 1st and so far have finished four of them.  I realize I have way less unfinished projects than some quilters (just ask my friend Darlene!) but I have a few more than other quilters (just ask my friend Jan!) but I want to make some progress.  


Last week I was challenged (by my friend Shirley) to "work on something that was nagging me to be finished," so I pulled out an I-Spy quilt I started in 2008.  The top was completed and it had even been basted for a while.  It was just waiting to be quilted.  I have been collecting I-Spy fabrics for a long time.  It's not hard to collect a lot because there are so many fun novelty prints out there.

Aren't these cute?

Love the platform shoes!

The pattern I used is called "Do You See What I See?" and is from the 2003 issue of Quilt it For Kids by QNM. 

I didn't want anything too busy for the back so I used a heavyweight muslin and machine quilted around blocks using lime green thread and a serpentine stitch.  If Diane Gaudynski thinks lime green is a neutral then so do I!


Now, here's the fun idea!  The quilting delineates spaces on the back for the grandkids and great-nieces and nephews to create beautiful works of art with fabric markers.  Won't that be fun!?!?!? 

Since I'm talking about I-Spy quilts I thought I should show you the I-Spy I made for Aidan last year.  I did a sashing with cornerstones for this one.....

...and I incorporated some family photos on it. Then I found a really fun backing fabric.

Here is Aidan all wrapped up in his quilt when he was going through his "DON'T take my picture!!" phase. 

And here he is being his usual sweet self.

Now, I need to figure out how many quilts I have to make in order to use up all those novelty prints.  Does anyone need some I-Spy squares??