another quilt for a new baby

I love making baby quilts. They’re usually pretty quick and a great chance to try out new designs. But best of all of course, is the thought of the new little one who will use the quilt. Babies on quilts — the best!

This little one was a quick quilt for a neighbor friend having her second little boy. I wasn’t too sure about their colors or likes/dislikes, so I decided to go simple here. As I considered my options, I was once again drawn to blues and oranges as a good color option (usually pretty safe!) and I made up the little stack that I showed here. Then I remembered that I had recently pulled a little inspiration from a magazine also in blue and orange.

Usually I pull out these types of images to use as inspiration, but in this case I liked this one just as it was, so here you have it, this bowl design as a quilt!

I used Kona White, Blue & Amber as the solids, along with a little Lotta Jansdotter crosshatch and a bit of a polka dot from the Children at Play line.

At the last minute I realized that the background of Heather Ross’s goldfish print nearly perfectly matched the Kona Blue, so I pieced in just a couple goldfish for fun (and as you can see, the goldfish are fun to point at!).

And what better backing than some super soft Heather Ross? I’ve been hoarding this Mendocino swim class print, but honestly, I really couldn’t think of anything better suited for this quilt and for a sweet new baby!

I still can’t lay out a quilt without Max thinking he needs to settle in on it. This time he brought his cars and a book, so apparently he was ready to stay for a while. Um, toddler tested, I guess. Anyway, I hope the new baby will get lots of use out of this quilt!

[As an aside, I pieced the top blue and white section, and it wasn’t until I was finished with all those narrow little strips that I realized that a striped fabric would have been much simpler! (This one from Jennifer Moore’s Fox Hollow line would be great). I’m happy I pieced it though, as I could alter the width of the strips, and it gave me a chance to add in those three little goldfish. But I’m intrigued by the thought of using a striped fabric, so later this week I’ll show you a version using a stripe.]