My friend had her baby shower the other day. The ladies from our church showered her with fancy desserts, prayers and gifts to help her get ready for her new baby. It was a very sweet evening.
When my friend announced that she was expecting I got right to work on her gift. I knew exactly what I wanted to give her. My friend and I headed to the
quilting expo and I scored plenty of fabric for my project. And now because the gift has been given, I can share with you how it went . . . and what it was!
The first project was a nursing cover. It's fairly simple but from what I've heard, very handy to have when needing to nurse your baby in front of people or in a public setting. I used a material that was fairly feminine since the mother is the one who has to wear it. (The baby's gender is unknown). I found a tutorial online at
Prudent Baby that was easy to follow.
Here's the finished product:
The second project was a little more involved. These quilting expos had given me the quilting bug but I knew I would never finish a large quilt and I didn't know what I would do with it if I did actually make it. But a baby quilt is much smaller and would definitely be used. I searched for a while until I found a pattern that was just perfect. I found it at
Cluck Cluck Sew; the pattern is called "Disappearing Nine Patch" and it looked pretty complex. But I searched the blog a bit more and found a tutorial and it was actually much easier than it looked.
First step was cutting a lot of 5" squares
Then sewing nine squares together. I don't have a photo of them disappearing but that was done by cutting the 9 square blocks into 4 pieces
Laying out my pieces . . . it changed a few times
All the blocks were sewn together - the front is now done!
This is the back of the front piece, I just get a kick out of all those seams!
It's finished! The finished size is about 32" x 38"
The back -- didn't turn out as smooth as I would have liked, but it was a good attempt - next time I'll be more careful.
Close-up of the quilting on the front. I did an "echo" quilting pattern which echoes the block seams by sewing 1/4" on either side of the seam. It was easier than doing something freehand and went well with the block pattern.
Thanks to my husband I was able to spend two entire weekends working on the quilt so it was done in time for the baby shower. He covered my chores and encouraged me every step of the way. It's always nice to have your own cheering section!
I really enjoyed making these things. Quilting really isn't very difficult, it just takes time and patience (and precision with those 1/4" seams). I'm glad I found a new hobby -- one I hope will bless others with warmth and love!
Someone else just let me know they were expecting too so now I get to do it again! (Chris, I'll try to make time for chores this time!)
My friend had her baby shower the other day. The ladies from our church showered her with fancy desserts, prayers and gifts to help her get ready for her new baby. It was a very sweet evening.
When my friend announced that she was expecting I got right to work on her gift. I knew exactly what I wanted to give her. My friend and I headed to the
quilting expo and I scored plenty of fabric for my project. And now because the gift has been given, I can share with you how it went . . . and what it was!
The first project was a nursing cover. It's fairly simple but from what I've heard, very handy to have when needing to nurse your baby in front of people or in a public setting. I used a material that was fairly feminine since the mother is the one who has to wear it. (The baby's gender is unknown). I found a tutorial online at
Prudent Baby that was easy to follow.
Here's the finished product:
The second project was a little more involved. These quilting expos had given me the quilting bug but I knew I would never finish a large quilt and I didn't know what I would do with it if I did actually make it. But a baby quilt is much smaller and would definitely be used. I searched for a while until I found a pattern that was just perfect. I found it at
Cluck Cluck Sew; the pattern is called "Disappearing Nine Patch" and it looked pretty complex. But I searched the blog a bit more and found a tutorial and it was actually much easier than it looked.
First step was cutting a lot of 5" squares
Then sewing nine squares together. I don't have a photo of them disappearing but that was done by cutting the 9 square blocks into 4 pieces
Laying out my pieces . . . it changed a few times
All the blocks were sewn together - the front is now done!
This is the back of the front piece, I just get a kick out of all those seams!
It's finished! The finished size is about 32" x 38"
The back -- didn't turn out as smooth as I would have liked, but it was a good attempt - next time I'll be more careful.
Close-up of the quilting on the front. I did an "echo" quilting pattern which echoes the block seams by sewing 1/4" on either side of the seam. It was easier than doing something freehand and went well with the block pattern.
Thanks to my husband I was able to spend two entire weekends working on the quilt so it was done in time for the baby shower. He covered my chores and encouraged me every step of the way. It's always nice to have your own cheering section!
I really enjoyed making these things. Quilting really isn't very difficult, it just takes time and patience (and precision with those 1/4" seams). I'm glad I found a new hobby -- one I hope will bless others with warmth and love!
Someone else just let me know they were expecting too so now I get to do it again! (Chris, I'll try to make time for chores this time!)
4 comments:
Wow Emily! Stylish and beautiful creations! How on did you manage to keep all the pieces together for the quilt before they were sown? And what kind of machine do you use? Curious minds want to know. :)
I'm impressed!!
Thank you for the compliments! I use a Brother CS-6000 sewing machine; It's electronic and pretty inexpensive. I use a lot of pins to keep everything together and only work with two blocks at a time so I don't get too confused! Hope that helps!
Fantastic Emily..Baby Gifts are very important part for every parents in there house and out-house relations.
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