Baby Quilt Two-fer

The babies in my life tend to be born in waves, and there were two awesome little ones due last spring. For the first time ever, I decided to make TWO quilts at the same time! This meant twice the fabric cutting, twice the piecing, twice the basting, twice the quilting, and twice the binding, but it actually went pretty quickly once I got into a rhythm. It was like having my own little assembly line.

I actually found all of the fabric I needed in my stash, which was also a first for me! I've used Anne Kelle's Urban Zoologie prints in quite a few projects now, and I had a fair amount left over from Baby Michael's quilt last year. Since one of these new quilts was marked for Michael's little brother or sister, it seemed appropriate that they would coordinate. Love those tiny animals.

TURTLES!

To show off the adorable animal prints, I made large blocks with three even-width strips of fabric. I didn't use a pattern; I just figured out roughly how big I wanted the blocks to be and went from there.

You'll notice some differences in the blocks across the two quilts, which was mainly due to fabric availability. I had to improvise when I didn't have enough of a fabric to make another block! But this also ended up making the quilts unique, despite the fact they were made at the same time with the same general layout.

For blenders, I used Lizzy House's mini-pearl bracelets in primary and secondary colors. I bought a fat quarter bundle of them on Massdrop about a year ago and had been waiting for just the right project to use them on! The other fabrics are a mixture of solids and prints I had on hand. (My fabric collection is seriously getting out of control...)

The backs are both from yardage of a bright blue fabric I bought for another project, but whose color just didn't work out in the end. I like how it brightens up the back of these quilts without being too busy. The fronts are busy enough! I quilted diagonally across the large blocks, and I like the diamond effect on the backs.

These quilts are now with their adorable little owners: my cousin's daughter, Caitlin, and my college friend Emily's son, Kylian. (Perhaps Auntie Kym can do some matchmaking when they get older? They both come from good Irish stock!)

I'm currently working on a wedding quilt for friends who were married in June. (Eek! But you have a year to give a gift, right?) It's large and it has taken ages. Summer travel meant I didn't have much time at all to devote to it, and work got incredibly busy during the fall, so it sat neglected on my ironing board. But I've made a lot of progress on it in the past week, and I hope to finish it this holiday weekend. Then, I will be caught up on my sewing obligations and might actually sew something for myself!