Baby Baby

We are all wrapped up in babies these days with my new granddaughter only two months old and a step-daughter getting ready for her third in October. There is a baby shower in August for the October baby and I already bought a backpack diaper bag that was requested so I considered my job done. Not so: our granddaughter, Sarina, who has been sewing with me, came over on Saturday and brought her sewing machine along. She showed me the photos taken on her iPad last winter of the fabric she wanted to use in her next project. Of course, I had forgotten all about it so we dug out the Minky and flannel trying to think up a project. It didn't take her long to decide it would be nice to make a baby blanket for her newest cousin. This is something I really like about Sarina: she always wants to make something for someone else. One of her first projects were pillowcases for her cousins and now a baby quilt. What a sweetie.

Here was our plan: aqua Minky fabric in the center with a cream print border in flannel, another border in aqua print flannel, and then a final border in blue floral Minky. We picked a blue print flannel for the back and got cutting. Of course, the fuzzy and stretchy fleece was going to be difficult to sew on but after consulting Tips on quilting with minky fabric from Superior Threads I remembered I had a Brother walking foot we could use. This was a new idea to Sarina but she took to it like a duck to water and most of the sewing went off without a hitch:

Minky fabric center with first border

By the time we added the second border we could see it was getting too big so we stopped right there.

Two borders was just right for size

 Adding the blue flannel backing just didn't settle right with we so we took it to a higher authority: Grandpa. Sarina argued we had an animal theme going on so the white sheep on the blue flannel was great but I argued the blue looked too much like a boy and this was a baby girl so she needed some pink, not blue. Grandpa encouraged us to make a trip to JoAnn's to see what they would have in a better color match. Off we went to the fabric store only to find there were too many matches! We took our top three to the counter so see in better light and decided the baby's mom would like the print with baby onesies on a clothesline the best. We bought what was left on the bolt and rushed home to wash and dry it. While it was fluffing up Sarina played Battleship with Grandpa and then Cribbage and I made up pizza fondue for supper. When the table was all cleared off we got things set up again and Sarina did the final sewing.  One final pressing job and she asked me to do the top stitching all around since it was going to show. I thought it also needed more stitching so I added stitches around the Minky section for added stability. Here it is, all done and Sarina is so proud of her work:

Sarina with her new baby quilt

It amazed me how well that little Brother sewing machine worked. The walking foot was a real help but I think Sarina just needs to keep sewing straight lines to gain more confidence. It was her plan and design with only a little assistance from Grandma, especially when planning on how wide and long to cut the borders. That's right , you even use math in everyday life!

Final quilt with backing showing