Sunday, April 15, 2018

Dutch Rose Baby Quilt

I've got a finish, fresh off the machine today.  We're having round three of winter here this weekend, so it's been a good time to hole up in the sewing room and let this storm snow, hail, rain, sleet, and blow itself out.  As I write this, I hear the neighborhood starting to hum with the sound of snowblowers, so the wintry weather may be winding down as well.

My friend Kathy is going to be a grandma again soon and commissioned me to make another baby quilt.  This baby's going to be a girl.  Kathy sent me a picture of the baby's room for inspiration—pink walls, white or maybe off-white drapes, wall accents and crib, gray carpeting, and an interesting, almost vintage-looking area rug with what looked like a raspberry-colored winding floral motif.

That was enough to go on.  The cogs started turning.  I pulled some fabrics and got to work.


I decided to make a Dutch Rose block, but super-size it.  I used the tutorial HERE.  This looks a lot like the popular Swoon block from a few years ago, with some slight differences in construction.
I figured I'd double the size of it.  How hard could that be?  Just double the cutting dimensions and that should be that, right?  Wrong!
Which I found out after having sewn about half of the pieces, and they weren't matching up when I went to join them together.  It took a few minutes of stewing about it until it dawned on me that by doubling the cutting dimensions, I had also doubled the seam allowance.  Doh!

So the next day, I started un-sewing and trimming all the pieces down by 1/4 inch on all sides.  Everything went together smoothly from there to complete the big block and the rest of the quilt top.  It ended up about 45 x 45 inches square.
I had some bonus HST units left over and played around with those, incorporating them into the quilt back.
Check out the neutral gray fabric on the back.  How sweet is that!
I also used some more of those bonus pieces and scraps to make a mug rug for Grandma Kathy, something I've been doing the past few times I've made baby quilts for her.  

That way she gets to keep a special memento for herself after she gives the quilt away.

8 comments:

Marei said...

The quilt came out beautifully! I just love the backing. It's perfect.

Quilting Babcia said...

This is about the sweetest baby quilt I've seen in a long time, and the back is just as wonderful as the front! Your memento for grandma is so thoughtful too.

Kathy E. said...

What a beauty! You have a great eye to choose a pattern that matches the feel of the new baby's room and the colors are so pretty together! I would've never thought of the seam allowance being an issue when doubling the measurements, but I will now! Nice touch to make Grandma Kathy a sweet mug rug too. Awesome work!

Sandra Walker said...

How absolutely lovely! And the perfect cherry on top is the mug rug for the grandmama. I love the backing fabric and that giant Dutch Rose (aka Swoon). Chuckled about the doubling math...something I would do for sure! The raspberry 'zing' is also perfect. Just all around wonderful.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Really really wonderful - great colors and the back is as much fun as the front (super print). Like the addition of the mug rug - I used leftovers to make a table runner for my sister when her fourth grand arrived (they live 14 hours away so she didn't get to see the quilt itself unless she travels to their house).

Danice G said...

Adorable quilt. The idea of making a mug rug as a momento is perfect. How unique.

Kaja said...

That sort of maths error is exactly the sort of thing I would do, though it might take me days to figure out what the problem was! This is such a pretty quilt for a wee girl: great colours and it sounds like it will fit her room perfectly.

cocoya said...

This is about the sweetest baby quilt I've seen in a long time, and the back is just as wonderful as the front! Your memento for grandma is so thoughtful too.
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