pinwheels

What do you do when your nephew turns one? Give him the quilt you started for the baby shower.

In fairness, I would have had this done on time, but I somehow picked out colors and prints that didn't go together. I had the grey-green, beige and dark and light blue solids put together, and then realized that the browns and oranges I was going to use for the larger pinwheels didn't match at. all. It was pretty disconcerting. Like I had suddenly forgotten how to tie my shoes or something.

So I picked out something else for the shower and did a second search for fabrics.

Fast forward a little more than one year later: the quilt top has been done for four months and the backing done for at least one, but I'm working on another quilt for the same family at the same time that has been in progress for almost two years now (which there are also very good reasons for...). The weekend before the first birthday party for the wee one, I finish quilting the other WIP and finally start quilting his present. It took me four (late) nights but I finished it with enough time before the party to add the binding to the other quilt too. The lesson here is probably something about procrastination, but I'm sticking to the "life was just busy" story. And besides, he got a really awesome present, thank you very much.

I was inspired by CrazyMomQuilt's Flock Block and while I usually go for brighter colors, Wes' room was done in more pastel and neutral tones. I love the combination of solids and small prints with this pattern, and the effect of the two different blocks. I quilted the center so the diamonds stand out. On the larger pinwheel blocks, I outlined the darker triangles and sewed around the outer border. I love the pattern this made on the back.

For the backing, my cousin gave me several pieces of his newborn clothing and asked I'd incorporate them somehow. Using the pattern from the "Little Bits" quilt in Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, I made two strips of solid grey and little patches of the baby clothes to frame some extra blocks from the front. It was a little tricky combining the cotton and tiny pieces of knits because they caused some uneven stretching, but I went slow and tried my best to keep everything even . I added a border to tie it all together and quilted with a grey thread that matches the grey on the back.

As a bonus I had an extra shirt and some other clothing scraps, so I figured a 12"x12" pillow would be a nice paring with the quilt. Hopefully I'll find this in his room still 10 years from now well loved.