The Baby Quilt that Almost Wasn't...

...then was again.

I started with this stack of fabrics for a commissioned baby quilt. The request was simple patchwork or another simple design for a minimalist-loving nature-y mama. The customer asked that I use scraps I might have on hand because the mama is a big fan of no waste and recycling. (I'd made this baby's big sister a quilt using scraps, and they really liked that about it.)

No problem, right? I have a kajillion scraps on hand, right? True. But I was trying to stick to the original quilt, which used 5" squares, and I don't have a ton of charm squares on hand. I found a stack of olives and tans, bought a navy solid, and that's where everything went terribly wrong.

Stella refused to sew the navy fabric. It turned out to be a cheaper blend than I'd anticipated, and it pretty much dissolved when it made contact with the needle. Rather than push through what would certainly be agony, I decided to forget about this fabric pull and find another idea.

But what? What would be a useful, thoughtful fabric project that would equally excite this mama?

What about some old school fabric from my grandmother's stash? A wholecloth quilt, so no waste whatsoever. This felt like a decent alternative, and I'm hoping the recipient will be excited by it.

(My quilt holder is in training. Also, he's kinda teeny. But he's a cutie patootie, so it's all good.)

I backed it in this brown minky. Oy vey, is this quilt soft! This was my first time quilting with minky, and honestly, I expected it to be a bigger deal than it actually was. I took my time basting it, and I quilted slower than usual with my walking foot. It probably would've been a bigger deal if it was a bigger project, but I wouldn't mind sewing up another minky-backed baby quilt. The most annoying bit about it was that it shed A LOT.

I bound it in the same stripe as the front, and I did it entirely by machine. I wanted to finish this by the end of April, and I barely made my deadline, but I'm chalking it up as a win.

Finally, I had to share this picture from the other morning. One of my sons decided to sit on my lap as I quilted, and he thought the quilt would serve better as a parking lot for his cars.

Finish numero dos from my FAL list, woo!