Owls and raccoons in the trees.

I love that one day I will be that lady that makes all the new babies in her life a quilt (or 7).


So, after practicing on my mini giveaway quilts, I decide to try my own quilting on something real size, OK, baby size, but trust me, the baby is as real as it gets (at least in this house).

This is for a new baby soon to make its arrival to Jay's step-sister.

As I mentioned, this was my first real-sized other than straight-line quilting. I did stippling, and wasn't sure initially what I thought about it, but the more distance I have, the more I like it. I'd rate myself, "I don't love stippling, but hey, this turned out all right anyway."

The design:

I wanted something sort-of wonky-ish. So I cute a few strips of my focal fabric, Frolic, some Kona chocolate, a few pieces from some Love U alphabet books I have yet to get to, and a few other solids. I then did log-cabiny designs with just enough touch of irregularity. I'd make a block, and then adjust as I went. Width, borders... all those choices evolved along the way, but I am really happy with the over all look.

What I like about this quilt:

- the cute little peering owls, raccoons, birds, and squirrels

- the alternating chocolate bordered blocks

- the pops of red (I can't help it, it will forever be my favorite color)

- the scale of the fabrics is good.

What I don't love:

- the really light thread on dark chocolate fabric (hey, it was what I had, and it looks good on the light prints)

- the way the stippling looks like a camo outline (or worse in some places)

- that it still needs binding

- that I didn't get a picture of myself taking these pictures, with Steiger on my back in his beco, trying to pull out my hair.

The back is a piece of the focal fabric, a few pieces of a kona roll-up, a bit of kona chocolate, and some kona slate. The sun came out from behind a cloud for this picture, but the branches really work.

In case you ever wonder what Steiger's doing while I blog...