Friday, March 9, 2012

Baby Megan's Whirlygiggles

Note to all the babies-to-be I know (or will soon meet): If you are born in the month of December, or even in early January, your baby quilt will be late.  Please plan accordingly.


I have just (finally!) finished a baby quilt for my first little niece, Megan.  She was born in mid-December but I was so buried in Christmas gift making, other projects and a broken hand (in a brace for a few weeks in January) that I'm just now finishing up her quilt.  I had the fabric well in advance and knew what colors I'd use, I just didn't make the time to put it all together.


I *so* badly wanted to take fabulous pictures of this outside in the beautiful South Florida sun but alas, 
it has been overcast and dreary here for 3 days.


As usual, I started with a pattern I liked (I used AmandaJean's Whirlygiggles - she has a great tutorial here) and then added a few things of my own.  Of course, I changed the measurements some (started with smaller blocks), cut some of the fabric upside down (Doh!) and ended up with fewer, smaller whirlies than I had planned.  Oh well... I still think it came out great and I will most definitely use my "backwards" whirlies for another project.




The white background fabric (with the flowers and ladybugs) is from a crib sheet.  Megan's mom (my sister-in-law) had this on her baby registry so I was pretty sure she'd like it!  I put Megan's name on the quilt with big appliqued letters and added an embroidered quilt tag with her birth stats.  





This was my very first time trying free motion quilting.  I am SOOO excited about it!  I clearly have a lot to learn in terms of FMQ patterns.... I went with a pattern I'm calling "seaweed" because I think it looks like those underwater plant tentacle thingies (yes, pretty sure that's the scientific name) you see on Finding Nemo.  (I'm actually hoping someone will tell me this is a real FMQ pattern and it has a real name.... that way I'll feel like I did FMQ the right way, even if it was only by accident!)






The FMQ made the quilt a little "stiffer" than I'm used to (I've only used stitch-in-the-ditch or other straight line quilting in the past), but I am in *love* with the "pucker" that the FMQ gave it after it was washed and dried.


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Linking up (for the very first time!) with: 


~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

21 comments:

  1. Oh what a great quilt. I love the heart with all the birth details. I'll definitely use that in the future.

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  2. Great label! Great quilt - so sweet for a little girl.

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  3. What a beautiful feminine quilt. It turned out just lovely in spite of the "Oops". We've all made them. :)

    I, too, love that pucker when a quilt is washed and dried. It makes all the work worthwhile!

    Congrats on a snugly finish!

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  4. That is the sweetest! And big congrats to you on your FMQ success! It looks wonderful!

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  5. I love it!! And I love the disclaimer - too true!! Megan will love her quilt!!

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  6. Beautiful FMQ work and I think whatever design you come up with totally goes! That is the true freedom with FMQ:)

    I love the scallops and the complete girlishness!!

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  7. How beautiful! I don't think I've ever seen a more gorgeous baby quilt! Trina in NC

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  8. Your fabric choices are so cute and the ladybugs are adorable. Little Megan will cherish this!

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  9. I love those pink whirlygiggles...what a special quilt for your neice! Sure to be loved for a very long time.
    Smiles~Beth

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  10. That is just precious! Well worth the wait, I'd say! Love the idea of using a sheet from her registry in the quilt. Brilliant!

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  11. Soft and pink and gigglely....perfect!

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  12. Wonderful quilt and I really love the scalloped edging

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  13. Ahh, sweet. Congrats on the lovely finish

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  14. Such a beautiful little quilt! Love your choice of color and fabric!! Whoop whoop!!

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  15. What a lovely quilt! you FMQing looks great - good job!

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  16. OK, That's *too* stinkin' cute. :D Love the heart with her name and all - very nice little touch.

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  17. Oh, I love this little baby quilt. Thanks for the idea of using the crib sheet for the quilt -- Genius!! I love the name and scalloped edge, too.

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  18. Very cute. Great idea using the crib sheet. Love the scallops. You will get the hang of FMQ and the nice thing is you can always say you meant to do that!

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  19. loving this quilt - colourway, scalloped edge, labelling - really fab.

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