Baby Girl Quilt...Cat in the Hat

Baby Girl Quilt... Cat in the Hat

 I should be typing up a report for uni which is due next week, however  I'd much rather be doing this. (Well...I'd much rather be sewing!) So I have made a deal with myself, once I get this blog post done and out of my system. (Let's consider this my warm up for my report writing?) It is report time!!

This baby quilt is the size of a cot quilt. The quilt is a long overdue baby gift for a little baby girl. The little baby girl's, mum's nick name is Kat, so I am being very witty by giving them a Cat in the Hat quilt. Plus it's just too cute...how could I resist? I wish that I'd been able to source fabrics like this when my little guy was a bub!

In the background of the Cat in the Hat panel it features text from the famous Dr. Seuss book. I'm sure by the time baby girl is a teenager...both mum and dad will be able to recite the entire thing!

The quilt panel was purchased at a Spotlight store. The red fabric that I used to 'frame' the panel was also purchased from Spotlight (although it was originally intended to be a backing fabric for a different quilt project).  The blue binding (edging) fabric was originally purchased to be the 'framing' fabric on the quilt top. However when I laid the fabrics out next to each other it was just too much blue, especially considering that this was a quilt for a little baby girl.

 

The batik fabrics were purchased from a speciality fabric store. The batik fabric strips were approximately 20cms wide (which is usually a store's minimum cut for batiks).

 

The wadding was pre-cut cotton quilt wadding which is sold in bags at Spotlight. I love this stuff... it's always the size that it states it is on the bag. It's easy to quilt and it's warm. Perfection in a bag.

 

 

  

 

 

The backing consists of seven batik designs. I have sewed the quilt top first and then used the 'quilt as you go method' to both quilt and complete the backing at the same time. The stitching for the backing is not visible in the method. As always... I YouTube how to do this, as it's great to have a refresher on how it's done. To learn how to do this, check out 'quilt as you go' by the Missouri Star Quilt Company on their YouTube channel.

 

 

I have used blue variegated thread for where the stitches show on the quilt top. The binding was finished in slip stitch, with a light blue thread that matches the light blue geometric print that was used. This time I  purchased the threads needed at the same time as the fabric, which is very organised on my part. (This almost never happens!) I usually end up running out of thread and need to try and match the thread I've already used.

 

I actually finished the last two edges of the quilt while I was visiting with mum and bub last week.  It was either that or I would have them waiting at least another week on me to finish the quilt. I'm happy that the quilt is with its new owner, already being used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Hectic Electic Quilt up for sale

 

Single Hectic Eclectic

 

Unfortunately the blog post on this little quilt is long overdue. Mainly due to the wonders of technology and having to reprioritise everything else as a result.  My five (or six year old?) laptop decided it was cactus a few months back, right when I was about to write up  a 2500 word essay for uni. Good times. A week away from a deadline and I was greeted with the 'blue screen of death' from my laptop. I chewed through the internet usage on my Smartphone searching for a new laptop within my budget.  Two days of laptop shopping saw me being messed around by macho sales staff trying to sell me expensive junk that was more outdated than my deceased laptop which left me   running on my last wit due to the stress of the situation. It's all sorted now  and my photos were actually able to be saved by my tech savvy boyfriend, however I still have no idea how to access them. But they're safe....somewhere. So please excuse me not having my usual awesome photos for every stage.

This quilt was intended to be another double bed sized quilt made in the same style as the first quilt that I ever attempted. Cut up pieces of fabric have sat lonely in a shoe box for years while I moved house and misplaced the shoe box.

When I finally found the shoe box, I decided to make two single bed sized quilts instead of the double bed. It was my hope that they would be easier to finish and machine quilt on my sewing machine. As I really struggled with machine quilting the double bed quilt. My collarbones ached, my back hurt and I could only do an hour or two quilting before I had to make myself stop and go do something else.

This poor little quilt top has been quilted and has sat draped over the back of a chair in the lounge room for months. Waiting for me to slip stitch the binding while I sip a glass of wine and watch late night TV when I get the chance.  Unfortunately this quilt had to be set aside a few times while I madly tried to finish off the binding of a few baby quilts that I wanted to give as  gifts for  new arrivals.

I love the fabrics in this quilt. Some of these I bought specially for this quilt or for my quilting stash (back when I was new to quilting  reading in quilt magazines that having a fabric stash was the thing to do.)

This quilt is laid out in the 7 block by 7 block style.  The sister quilt to this one is currently just the top (who knows when I will actually get around to quilting that one!) The sister quilt is slightly smaller, so I've added a boarder on that one to make it up to a single bed size.

 

The backing for this quilt is a purple homespun and the binding is premade binding purchased from Spotlight (seriously I'm  loving the premade binding!!).

This item is listed for sale and can be found at www.madeit.com.au/Netto