My niece just had her first baby! She was due on January 25th and this little tiny girl decided to join the family on January 8th. She must have been in quite a hurry to meet her mama and daddy.
Some months ago (in September I believe) I was talking to my sister and she helped me to choose colors for a baby quilt. After some back and forth, I had a stack of fabric in shades of pink, lavender, gray and cheddar yellow. Really unusual colors but I loved them together.
I went back and forth on patterns and finally decided to make a triangle quilt. I have never made one and it seemed like a fun thing to do. My crafty husband cut an acrylic template for me to use to cut pieces. It went really fast and soon enough I had a stack of triangles.
Once I had these rows stitched together I realized it was too narrow. So I sent of this photo to one of my many quilty advisors, Wendy, of Pieceful Thoughts to ask for ideas. She suggested an outer border with segments of triangles within the border. Genius! I loved the idea.
I added a narrow (one inch finished) border to break between the two sets of triangles. Luckily I had another triangle stencil that was smaller and worked well for the border. On opposite corners I put the smaller triangles and then used a pink solid (Ballet from Free Spirit) for the rest of the border.
The biggest hurdle for me was where the points all joined – it became so thick and I knew it would be hard to quilt over that spot. To avoid this, I echoed the lines of the triangles which meant I never had to go through that spot. The quilt is backed with lavender flannel which makes in soft and drapey (I don’t think that is a real word but you know what I mean.)
The two cornerstones between the triangles have flowers quilted on them and the pink sections of the border have loops meandering along.
I quilted the baby’s name in one section of the border and in another section I signed my name to it.
Just look at this tiny peanut! She was just over five pounds when she was born and as often happens, she lost a bit of weight. She is now three weeks old and is over 5 1/2 pounds. I think she is just gorgeous. She is giving her parents a run for it and not sleeping a whole lot unless it is mid-day. Remember that feeling? Sleep deprivation at it’s finest.
I love this photo. For one, it shows how very tiny this little one is. Those are six inch triangles and she is barely covering three of them. It also reminds me of the times when I had new babies and there was nothing better than to just sit and watch them. A new baby is nothing short of miraculous and sitting with them, soaking it all in, is just the best. My sister is on the left (this is her fifth grand daughter!) and my sleep deprived niece is on the right.
That is it for now. I started quilting the Bloom with Grace quilt and it is coming along nicely. Yesterday I went to drop off the placemats for Meals on Wheels but left the placemats at home. Because that is just how I am. So I guess I will drop them off another day. Silly silly me.
Linking up this post with my favorites. Check them out at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
Oh my goodness, what a cutie! She’s adorable. There really is nothing like a newborn, they are just the best. I love the quilt too – the border was a touch of genius – it will be treasured!
I agree – I get a bit crazed about babies. Actually all of my sisters do as well. Thank goodness for texting because we are constantly sending pictures of our grand kids to each other.
What an adorable lil sweetie. Your quilt looks cozy and quilty in the best ways; you did a nice, nice job on it. Wendy needs to hire out as a quilt consultant – lol!
Sometimes a second set of eyes is all it takes – she responded with that idea so quickly and it was exactly what I needed. Have a nice day Linda!
Pretty quilt, The fabric colors are great. She is darling.
Thank you Patricia!
Such a sweet quilt for a sweet new baby. Adorable pictures. Boy I hear you about the placemats….I drove to Joann’s to return an ironing board cover that didn’t fit and when I got out of the car, it dawned on me I left it home along with the receipt on the counter. So I sure was in no mood to shop either.
Haha – so you understand! Ugh – I was so irritated because the drop off center is only open twice a month and since we don’t meet as a guild in person, I need to get there. Hoping I will actually remember them the next time I go!
I love the soft colors in this quilt, and those border triangles turned out really well! I’d have quilted it just as you did, too. She’s a beautiful little girl, and I hope she lets her momma sleep soon! What a treasure that photo will be in years to come. Nice finish, Bernie!
Thank you for the help with this one Wendy. I love the way it turned out and so does my niece. It is a cute quilt.
On to the next project, right?
Such a gorgeous quilt and lovely details for the little one. Those are my favorite pictures, a baby on the quilt I made for it. Wishing her parents good luck with the sleeping soon….that is always so hard.
OH yes – having no long stretches of sleep can drain a person in a hurry. I would guess her tiny size means she is eating little portions all the time. Maybe when she is bigger she will stretch the time between feedings out a bit. Hope so!
It’s a beautiful quilt, Bernie. Love the colors. Yes, it is a bit unusual but you’ve pulled it off so well. Such a sweet baby. Congrats to your sister and niece.
Thank you!! Hopefully I will get to see this little girl sometime – they only live 150 miles away but with the pandemic, who knows when that will happen. Take care Vasudha.
Yay for Wendy’s suggestion! It is perfect, as are the colours (love!) and the wee baby girl. I, too, love that three generations pic.
Thank you Sandra – I can’t wait to see her. Who knows when that will happen though. Silly pandemic!!
Such a sweet little one and quilt. You do such good work. B.
Such a sweet little one and quilt. You do such good work. I love to quilt cursive as my label for gifts. B.
Thank you Beth!!
Look at that adorable little girl! Your quilt is perfect for her, Bernie. I like Wendy’s idea for the border, too. It’s good to have friends with quilty ideas that work so well!
Thanks Diann. I sure hope at some point all of us can get together in real life somewhere. We need to put some pins in the map and see what the center point is and then all meet there. I would love that!!
Adorable! I love how you’ve used triangles in the border.
Thank you Sarah!
Drapey is a perfect word…like cuddly. I can see how those pesky seams/points pose a quilting challenge but echo quilting was the perfect choice. Beautiful quilt and a darling baby!!!
Well I definitely was not careful enough (or didn’t know how to) press the seams so as to minimize the bulk at the intersections. Something to work on for next time. Thanks Preeti!
This quilt is so beautiful. I love the corner triangles for the border. It just sets it off so well. Baby is enjoying her tummy time so much now that she has those gorgeous triangles to look at. 🙂
Thanks again for the for the beautiful work. It will be treasured. 💕
You’re welcome Tina. I enjoyed making it for her. 🙂
What a gorgeous little bundle. Nice work on the quilt. Well done.
Thank you Karen!
What an adorable little girl. She is so sweet despite her lack of sleeping. My daughter never napped as a baby. Quite a surprise after my son who took two 3 hour naps a day. I love that quilt. The border is perfect for it.
Babies are all adorable – and such individuals from the get go! I am sure her sleep rhythm will calm down. She is so darn small, she does eat quite often and takes small amounts each time. That is likely part of it. She sure looks cute on the quilt tho!
Oh Bernie, what a lovely quilt and beautiful great niece! Adding the small border to offset the additional, smaller triangles was a great solution. Triangles do shrink up more than you would think (I love the nerdy math side of it): as much as 3/4″ per seam! I’m so glad that all are doing well; congratulations to your family!
Thank you Yvonne. I totally do not understand how a triangle would shrink that much if sewing a 1/4″ seam allowance x three? It doesn’t make any sense to me?? Have a great Sunday!
What a gorgeous child!! Blessings to you and your beautiful family!
Thank you Carol. She is just the tiniest peanut. She is also my parent’s 16th great grandchild. The family just keeps growing!
Congratulations, Bernie!!! Thank you for showing us the sweet little baby with her quilt! I’m captivated just from the pictures. I love your color scheme for the baby quilt, too. I’m curious about the bulk issue where your triangle points come together, though, because I’d love to make a triangle one-patch like this someday. Did you press your seams open or to the side? Would pressing all the seams to the right in odd rows and pressing all the seams to the left in even rows have helped? Or what if you stitched it like hand piecers would do, starting and stopping each seam 1/4″ from the raw edge so that you can spiral/twirl the seam allowances open where the points come together and press them flat with the tip of your iron?
Awww so cute…quilt and baby! I really like the extra border finish you did. I am usually not a fan of borders but when you do something to make it look more modern like that corner finish it is great!
Thank you Kris. I was really pleased with the way the border changed the look of the quilt. It made it much more interesting. Thanks for stopping by!