It seems like all of my friends are all having babies right now.  I try to hand-make at least one gift for each of them…but of course, time is usually too short.  (Sound familiar, anyone?)  My girlfriend, whom I’ve known since kindergarten (!!!) is pregnant and is expecting this week!  Her baby shower has already passed, but at least I was able to squeeze this quilt in before he’s born 😉

This stack of Handcrafted Indigo by Alison Glass for Andover Fabrics is like “whoa,” right?!?  I love love blues and all of these different variations are just killer!  These beauties were picked up at my little quilt shop when was first released about 5 months ago and they’ve just been sitting in my stash.  When I found out my friend was having a boy, I immediately went to these fabrics.  I was going to use solid white to have these blues “pop” but quickly reconsidered since this was for a baby.  Wise decision.  Instead, I went to Essex yarn-dyed Linen in nautical as one of my go-to blenders.  It’s such a nice alternative to a solid and gives a great layer of texture.

Although I didn’t have an exact quilt pattern in mind, I knew I wanted to make some Flying Geese and keep the quilt asymmetrical.  So I figured I’d kinda improv the design.  I used Connecting Threads tutorial to make two no waste geese blocks per fabric.  Each block is 6.5″ x 3.5″.  After lots of playing around, I settled on my random design of stacked geese with lots of negative space.

With so much Essex Linen, the binding on this quilt had to be scrappy in order to highlight the Indigo and add some fun.  It’s a bit of work to attach all the different binding fabrics, but well worth the effort.

The quilting was straight-line 1/4″ apart using Gutermann’s blue variegated thread.  This was my first time quilting with the 100% cotton thread and it won’t be my last.  The changes in the thread color are very subtle against the Essex and of course, the blues.

For the backing, I was lucky to have this Doe fabric from Carolyn Friedlander for on hand.  (1) It’s a nice contrast to the front design. (2) It really complements the quilting and (3) I’ve been on a fabric diet…

This quilt was so fun to make.  I loved every moment and hope baby boy enjoys it just as much!

 

Keep Stitchin’

Cristy