Baby Life Quilt

Last week, I teased you all with some sneak peaks of this project.  Did anyone guess that jumble of letters would turn into this?

I've realized I'm a pretty inconsistent gift giver.  If I have an idea of something really fun to make, I'll go all out...otherwise, not so much.  So my sister Maleena lucked out that I've had this quilt on the brain for a while.  When I saw the idea on V & Co a while back, and loved it.  She includes a template for the letters with her post or It's something a little different from the typical quilt, but SO easy. 

Plus...I've still got fabric from Maleena's wedding table runners to use up. 

You might remember this quilt I made her for Christmas. 

I couldn't work the pink into a boy quilt...especially for a boy named Hunter, but the orange worked, and they seemed to like it. 

I thought about maybe adding "poop." in there somewhere too...but thought better of it. I also thought of making some burp clothes that said, "burp." to match...but I ran out of time.

I changed the dimensions a little because I wanted the quilt to be a bit bigger.  I also sewed down the edges of the letters with a large zigzag stitch using matching thread.  I was pleasantly surprised with how little it showed.  Otherwise I was worried that the letters would come off as the blanket got used.  (I can never bring myself to quite trust the iron-on stuff that way.)

I also love the scrappy quilt binding.  I've had a small bias tape maker for years and never used it.  Then Dana's tutorial on MADE inspired me to buy some bigger bias tape makers and actually try them.  I used Dana's tutorial, except my strips weren't cut on a bias since they were left over strips from making the quilt.  It worked okay for this project that it wasn't cut on a bias since the edges were so straight.  (And if you don't know what I mean by bias, you'll want to check out Dana's tutorial.)

This was also my first attempt at machine quilting.  I've had the foot for it for years (kinda like the bias tape maker) but never tried it.  After trying it...I've decided that I prefer the regular foot for it (or I need a better walking foot) and that the results are good enough that I'll definitely be trying it again.

And because things were so crazy getting it made and driving out-of-town for the baby shower...I only took a few pics of the finished quilt.  So you can look at the same one again...