Monday 14 December 2020

I Spy a Couple of Baby Quilts

I fell in love with the idea of "I-spy" (or "eye-spy"?) quilts several years ago, but my daughters were two big for this kind of games by the time, so I just admired the various interpretations on Pinterest. Now I have two little nieces (on different sides of the family), and I just had to make this play-quilts for both of them.

The problem was that I don't normally use novelty fabrics in my quilt art, but I needed quite a lot of them to make the idea work. So, I rounded up whatever remnants I had from previous kids' projects and then started to buy fat quaters of this or that until I had about 42 non-repeating things to name. There I had to stop collecting and start working before the girls grow too big - they are turning two, which is the perfect age to start naming pictures and looking for them.

My novelty fabrics were cut into 5'' squares (some of them came from a charm pack) and, obviously, I had to add something to bring the quilts to about lap size. I chose a Fossil Fern layer cake and some white to tie the whole riot of colours together. I chose two simple traditional patterns - square in a square and Irish chain, to make it quick, but not too repetitive.

The first one I had to finish very fast, because a friend was flying to Moscow and could take it with her (which is much safer than posting), so I don't even have good photos of it. I quilted it in loose zigzags on the diagonal, which worked great, as I was able to the quilting in less than a day.



The 60" backing was a godsend too, as I didn't need to piece anything, and it made a perfect binding, too.


I even inserted my new label (I know my niece couldn't care less, but it just fitted in ;)) I just realised haven't shown the labels here on the blog, so I'll make a little post about them.

With the second quilt I wasn't in that much hurry, as my second niece is just 15 minutes' walk away from me, and the quilt can wait till Christmas, but I still finished it while I was on the same wavelength. This one is Irish chain for my Irish niece.

I was able to use up the offcuts of the Fossil Fern fabrics for the squares and more white for the background, and I ended up with some extra blocks that I put together into a little cushion.

This one was quilted in "orange peel" grid, and this is the first time I ever quilted a pre-marked grid, as I normally do it freehand.

And I was also able to have proper photo session, with the cat helping along as best he could.




Same fun backing/binding fabric, and a label, too.

Linking up to Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina Marie

Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

20 comments:

  1. I love your I Spy quilts and I'm certain the little nieces will too. Can you let us know how large you cut the I spy squares in the novelty fabric?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! The squares are 5" cut, so 4.5" finished.

      Just to let you know - your comment came up as a "no-reply blogger", otherwise I would answer you personally.

      Delete
  2. Beautiful I Spy Quilts! I love your quilting choices for both.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the colours in the Irish Chain quilt! I am sure the little people will have lots of fun naming and spotting all the different things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot! My SIL has already sent me a video of my niece playing with her quilt, and it's so heart-warming!

      Just to let you know - your comment came up as a "no-reply blogger", otherwise I would answer you personally.

      Delete
  4. Those are both such cute quilts. What lovely gifts!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What wonderful quilts! Those bright colours will definitely cheer up the coming winter days.

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