Finished: A baby quilt for S

It hasn't happened very often in my working life but I'm currently working in a close-knit team of very supportive colleagues who also double as Very Lovely People. Two of those Very Lovely People are having babies very soon, and I love to make quilts that people will use, so win-win, right?



My colleague S finished up work last week so I rushed to finish this UFO from a few years ago. I made it as part of a Craftsy class on improv piecing with Jacquie Gering. I pieced the top and then never knew what to do with it so I put it aside. It turned out to be the perfect size for a baby.

I found some wool batting in the stash - cotton is my preferred batting for home-quilting, mainly because it's sticky and quilts don't tend to pucker, but for a Canberra baby playing on the floor, I think wool is a nicer batting.



I am really enjoying using up the bigger bits of my stash as backings at the moment. This one is a very old Kaffe Fassett print. I bought it for $2 a metre back when Home Yardage were still in Canberra, I suspect around 2003. I bought it in another colourway too - I remember asking the cutter if he realised how cheap this fabric was - it normally went for $27 a metre at the quilt stores. He told me he had no idea who Kaffe Fassett was. No wonder they went out of business...



I basted on the kitchen table and quilted it in 90 minutes. Just straight lines in a grid pattern using the heavier-weight Aurifil 28/2 thread, but it will be chucked up on and dragged through the garden and used for rainy day forts, so it needed to be durable.



Because the top had been sitting around for 3 years collecting dust, and the backing had been in my stash for about the last 13 years, I gave it a wash and tumble dry after binding it. It stood up to the abuse really well, and then I steam ironed it on the linen setting so it at least looked nice enough to gift. She loved it. Her husband loved it. Her little toddler loved it. I'm so happy it's going to people who appreciate fine art quilts. I hope her baby boy enjoys it for years and years.

Details:

Pattern: Swirling Stars by Jacquie Gering (Crafty class)

Size: 54" x 40" 

Fabric: stash and scraps; and Sketch by Timeless Treasures as the background (I think!)

Quilting: Machine quilted, straight lines, using Aurifil Mako 28/2 thread in white (2024)

Batting: bleached 100% cotton

Started: July 2013

Finished: 20 October 2016