I had just a little over a week to make a baby shower gift for a dear family friend. Luckily, I had previously purchased a cute little Persimmon Charm Pack from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. and a matching Bella Solids peach fabric at the same time. I even had some cotton batting in my stash. With all the ingredients and some dedicated time, I put together this little quilt following a suggested quilt layout that I found on the internet.

I cut 40 squares from the solid peach fabric to go with the charm pack, so that I could make nine 9 patch squares. I cut each of these large squares in half – horizontally and vertically. Then I rearranged all the cut squares into a pleasing order and sewed them together creating nine large squares. I sewed rows of three, and then sewed the rows together.

To contrast nicely with the peach and make the quilt a little more masculine, I used a blue cotton with a subtle pattern for the back. I cut the  back bigger than the quilt so that I could turn the edges onto the front for a self-binding. After the quilt was pinned together using quilting pins, I topstitched with cotton quilting thread 1/4 inch around each rectangle. This took some time and my neck ached a bit from all of the concentrated work, but it turned out looking very nice!

I added my personal label to the back!

I thought I might stipple within each square, so I did my research and learned a lot about free-motion stitching. I even made a practice quilt-sandwich and had a fun time “drawing” with my sewing machine.

I decided not to attempt it on this quilt, however. Maybe on my next one! My friend, Hannah, who is expecting a baby boy, really loved it and appreciates the fact that it is handmade.

Here’s a link to another baby quilt I made using Civil War Era Fabric.

Wishing everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving a happy fun time with friends and family. I’ll be in Peru for the holiday! I’m going on a cultural trip starting in Lima, then Cusco, The Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and back to Lima. I can’t wait to see the sites and see all the textiles! (I’ll post pictures when I return!)

Happy Sewing!