Yes, Baby Quilts Again

I think I'm done with baby quilts for awhile. They are fabulous creativity exercises and stash busters. They're quick, so you don't get bored before you're done. These are utilitarian, destined for Debra's charity quilt effort, so there's not a lot at stake if you put random fabrics together on a whim. I made this quilt in a couple of hours yesterday. I took a remnant of Winnie the Pooh fabric and a stack of various blue strips.


Instant baby quilt.


Here's a close-up of another one. I pulled from what Finn would call my orphan block stash and included a couple of blocks Debra embroidered that were left over from another project. Most of this fabric had been cut into half-square triangles for a project I never made because I decided I didn't like these fabrics together after all.


When I ran short of a few hst blocks, I threw in some solid blocks. I think it made a very fresh and graphic quilt for a baby, or maybe the center of a larger quilt.


Here's the finished top I started last week from the 4-patches and the Vera-like fabric. I think that blue floral print may have been a piece of sheet or curtain.


This last one was make almost entirely of orphan blocks from other projects. I made the shoo-fly blocks awhile back, but the toile I used made them look muddy, so I set them aside. I deliberated a lot about the strips between the rows, and auditioned a lot of fabrics before I settled on these light colored strips.


It's a little busy, but I do like this one.

Here's what I learned from the process: pre-cut strips are an asset. If I needed a piece of sashing or some 4-patch blocks, it was great to leaf through my strips to see what was already cut. I've made a big dent in my store of 2.5 and 3.5" strips, so I'm going to cut into some of my fabrics and replenish the drawer. Orphan blocks are great starters for these little projects too. I think I've gone through a lot of stash in the process, but more importantly, I've uncovered some works-in-progress that I want to go back and finish. It's been a mind de-cluttering as well as a destash exercise. Next I'll be making a larger quilt for Debra's efforts, then I'm going to round up some the ghost projects that are haunting my sewing room, and finish them up and show them the light of day.