Whole Cloth Baby Quilt

27 Replies

This week I finished up a baby quilt that I started about a month ago. It was a very simple and fun project but it took a bit to get it going. A while back, my niece called me and asked if I would make a quilt for her to gift to her best friend who is soon to have her first baby. We talked for a while about what she wanted. Greens, lavender and grey were the colors she was looking for and the nursery features elephants as a theme.

My niece then sent me some links to quilts she saw on Pinterest. Back and forth we texted, looking at all sorts of ideas. Finally she decided that she really wanted a quilt made from Valorie Wells’ Marrakech line. This was going to take some searching as this adorable fabric is out of print now. I searched extensively on-line without any luck. I continued the search by reaching out on Instagram and Facebook without any luck. Still determined, I kept looking. My next approach was to look at Etsy sellers that were selling items made with this fabric. Once I found a seller, I emailed the person asking if they had any of the fabric remaining in their collection. Mission accomplished! I found a seller that had the fabric and she sold me a 1.5 yard cut. Bingo! Thank goodness for the internet and for the generosity of that Etsy seller.

When the fabric arrived, I started to think about quilting it. I reached out to Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl because she has done some amazing quilting and I like her style. She gave me several ideas to think about. It was such a tough decision. I kept thinking it was an opportunity to really practice some cool quilting. But take a look at the fabric. It is crazy busy – colorful, lots going on in the print, and those amazing elephants. The fabric is the star of this project. I realized the quilting isn’t even going to show. I finally decided to just keep it very simple.

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To select a backing fabric, I took pictures of several fabrics that I thought worked well.  My niece chose a basic gray polka dot. Once that decision was made, I got the quilt basted and ready for quilting. Using a pale green Mettler thread, I did a loose meander all around the elephants. It was a breeze and really enjoyable to quilt over those flowers and in between the elephants.

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Once that was done, I outlined each elephant with purple. It is quite difficult to see from the front but the quilting does show nicely on the back.

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I have never made a quilt using a piece of fabric for the top (as opposed to piecing it) but it works perfectly in this situation. Cutting up a fabric with this scale of print just wouldn’t make sense.

I used this purple print for the binding. I bought it on a sale table and never thought to look and see what it was? But it’s cute and it works.

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I hope my niece is pleased and that this quilt is loved and used by sweet Olivia who will be born in a few months. I can happily check this off of my Q4-FAL list for the link up at She Can Quilt.

Hoping you all have a great weekend. We have rain in the forecast which is always nice. I am hoping to do some preparation (aka house cleaning) for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

 

Linking up with my usual favorites. Find their links at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

27 thoughts on “Whole Cloth Baby Quilt”

    1. Bernie Post author

      The search was actually quite fun. It is amazing how eaasy it is to reach out to people everywhere and quickly find answers. The world has become smaller in that way.

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  4. Tina Iaquinto

    You’ve done it again, Bernie. What a beautiful piece of work! It’s so amazing. Katy is a very lucky niece indeed!

    Reply ↓
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you! It was a lot of fun and took very little time. The search for the fabric was a bit of an adventure – Hope Katy is pleased.

      Reply ↓
  7. Lisa

    This is a great quilt and I think your quilting choices work really well with it and give it a fun quilt back.

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  8. Preeti

    Perfect little quilt. Whole cloth quilts are such a life-saver when you need something in a hurry. Yours is super cute and the quilting adds an extra oomph. Sure will be loved!!!

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  9. Louise

    I just love this! Yours is the first whole cloth quilt I’ve seen where the fabric is really the focus. All the rest have been solid fabric with super duper fancy quilting. That’s nice, too, but I’m a sucker for beautifully detailed prints like these wonderful elephants. So it’s a real treat to see the fabric given its due as the star player! Great job 🙂

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    1. Bernie Post author

      Hi Louise,
      I totally agree. There are so many gorgeous fabrics out there. The print on this one had such detail and was a large size so it wouldn’t make sense to cut it up.
      I really appreciate your sweet compliments. 🙂

      Reply ↓
  11. TAMMY L STACK

    i love to hear about the generosity of our quilting/crafting brothers and sisters! you were on a mission and someone helped you out! This is an endearing project for the little family.

    Reply ↓
    1. Bernie Post author

      Absolutely. It is heartwarming to see how eagerly people help others out with advice, tips and even selling them pieces of out of print fabric!

      Reply ↓

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