Sleepy Owl Quilt

Although I love quilts, I usually spend more time on children's garments and smocking.  That is until recently....I was asked to do a custom quilt for a nursery.  This wasn't just any nursery though, it was for a very good friend and neighbor's daughter in law.  It was going to be a quilt for their first granddaughter and first child and daughter for her daughter in law.

Thank heavens for technology !  We were able to create the quilt to fit into the nursery with pictures snapped and sent via email and our smartphones to decide exactly what style quilt would suit the mother-to-be.  She selected her fabrics and sent them back to mother-in-law (my neighbor) and that is where I come in!

I used crib measurements to decide on the quilt size.  The mother-to-be requested that the quilt not "tuck" into the sides of the crib but lay against the edge of the mattress.  (After all, that's just more bulk around the baby)  She has beautiful ruffles on her mattress cover anyway, (made by mother-in-law) why cover them up?



Next I drew out the measurements on graph paper and decided on which block size to use that best replicated the pictures of quilts that she liked best.  After counting and making a list of how many of each size block I needed, I labeled each block  on my graph with a number and letter.  For example, if I had 4-4x4 blocks, they were labeled A1,A2,A3,etc.

This is the part I love !  I got to color!!! I used colored pencils to color in my blocks to replicate my fabric choices prior to actually cutting to make sure I didn't have two like fabric choices next to each other.  It also gives me an idea of coherency (is that a word??) with the color selection.

Then I cut out each fabric based on my list of block sizes and the number in my list and appliquéd the sleepy owl on the center block. Next they got laid out in the floor just like my drawing.  A quick visit from my neighbor to verify that everything looked "a-ok" before I started sewing the blocks together!  I left the blocks in the floor and picked up each block one at a time to stitch them together in rows, then laid them back down once stitched.

After completing the top, I laid the backing down wrong side up and lightly sprayed fabric adhesive onto it. After laying the batting down very carefully, I sprayed it and slowly unrolled my top blocked piece onto the batting.  I took the time to hand baste the layers together to assure no shifting then used the "stitch in the ditch" method to quilt around each block on the machine.  The binding was added and hand stitched while I watched tv at night.

viola!  The sleepy Owl Quilt!

I'd love to hear about any nursery quilts you've done!

Happy Stitching,

Renee