From fabric to finished: a quilt for my soon-to-be-born son.

I just finished stitching the last stitch of my latest quilt made especially for my baby boy! Yay! It took me 16 days to complete this project. Picked out fabric on the 15th of October and finished today, October 31st.

[Finished quilt dimensions: 41.5″ x 56.5″]

There is only one thing that I would do different if I had it to do all over again: I would make the blocks bigger. When originally cutting all the fabric for this quilt I decided to follow the direction outlined in the quilting book I was using as a guide (Radiant Nine Patch by Blanche Young, 1986). She suggests cutting all fabric in 2″ strips, use a 5/16″ seam allowance. The end result would be a 4″ block. I thought that sounded pretty good, so I got started. I thought I was cutting enough material to make TWO quilts – HAHAHAHA! Once I started laying out all the finished blocks I realized I only had enough for one quilt, and a very small quilt at that…so I decided I’d keep it for my baby boy (this quilt was originally going to be a Christmas gift for my nephew), and in the end I’m extremely pleased with the final results.

I started out machine quilting the quilt, but after two laborious passes of the quilt through my machine I decided that I’d hand quilt the quilt. It just looked terrible, and I knew it would look awesome if I did it by hand. Hand quilting takes a lot of time. I swore it off after the last quilt, then ended up doing it again this time. I guess it’s worth it in the end.

On a separate note, I had my 36 week doctors appointment today and I’m 2.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Baby boy will be here soon. Doctor said to go ahead and get a bag packed. :) I’m hoping he stays in the comfort of my womb for at LEAST another week. I really want his little lungs to be fully developed before he joins us on the outside.
[side note: my little sweet pea was born 2 days after my 36 week check up. I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced with her at this time, which is pretty close to where I am now with the boy…]

Below is a picture journal of the quilt from fabric selection to finished product. Enjoy!