Bunny Baby Blanket

I just finished what I think is the cutest baby quilt I've ever made. The top is made out of large squares of blue fabric with little animals printed on it (it has more than just bunnies, but the bunnies are my favorite...it also includes owls, ducks and mice) and 4-patch squares out of green and yellow flannel for the other blocks.


I was a little hesitant when I started cutting these blocks. I'm so happy I measured twice and cut once! I almost cut the 4-patch squares a 1/4 inch too small (I wasn't counting the extra seam!). So, I'm happy that my brain was telling me that something wasn't quite right with my math and made me calculate again. Too bad that skill didn't kick in in calculus class years ago! :)

The other thing I didn't really plan out was how many squares I would be able to cut out of each fabric. I bought all of the fabric for the top as a fat quarter pack from JoAnn Fabrics. Now, I love JoAnn's, but I've never really gotten great cuts from these pre-made packages. Somehow, I've been blessed enough to make it work each time I've used one. After cutting all of the 5 inch blue squares and 2 3/4 inch yellow and green squares, I realized that I had the exact amount of blue squares that I needed and would have one extra 4-patch. Talk about lucky! The fabric pack came with 5 fabrics, so i decided to use the blue gingham ducky print as a border. That also just barely made it around. I think I have 1 piece of that fabric (about 1 inch x 2 1/2 inches) left. I cut the border strip to 2 1/2 inches wide so it would be 2 inches finished.

For the backing, I made my first ever pieced back! I had some blue and yellow zoo animal prints left over from a baby quilt I made for my godson about 4 years ago. (I can't believe he's 3 already!) I cut big 8 inch squares out of a blue giraffe print and a yellow elephant print. I sewed those together and strung them down the center of the back. Then, I had just enough plain blue and yellow busy print to make the sides of the back. It took a little patience to get it all together, but I love the feel of it. The whole quilt is super soft with all of the flannel and will be really warm and cuddly. I love that there are different categories of animals depending on which side of the quilt you're looking at. I also like that the back is pieced, so if the baby pukes (or does anything else) on the front, you can flip it over and the back will still look cute. :)

My mother-in-law told me that babies really like the feel of satin as well. She said one of her kids loved the satin edge on his baby blanket. After I thought about it, I remembered having a clown blanket that had a red satin edging that I always wanted on my bed. I loved how it felt tucked up under my chin when I was little. So, I figured I'd give it a try on the baby quilt. I really wanted to use 2 inch ribbon, but I could only find 1 1/2 inch or 3 inch ribbon at JoAnn's. So, I decided I would make the 1 1/2 inch ribbon work. I didn't want a huge edge, just enough to be a silky finish. I think it turned out nicely, and the 3 yards of ribbon that came on the spool were just enough! (Again, I should have measured that before I left to go pick up just one spool of ribbon! I'll have to get my act together for the next quilt... maybe...)

For the quilting, I just did a simple diamond pattern through the 4-patch squares. I think it will give the quilt a puffy, soft feel. I was debating between doing a circular doodle all over the quilt, but I compromised and did the diamond pattern and added a loop-de-loop in the border to finish it off. I love my free motion quilting foot!

I'm glad I don't have kids yet, because if I did this quilt would be staying home with me and I'd have to find a replacement gift! Someday my kids will have something this cute. Until then, I'll just give them away to other people. This quilt is for my coworker. He is having his first baby (a boy!) this summer and their baby shower is tomorrow. He is what I would consider a man's man - very in to strong, burly, tough things. So, I wanted something soft for the baby since I think he'll be playing with power tools by the time he's able to hold his head up. :)

Happy crafting!