Baby Blues II

I had thought for a couple of months now that I would make my youngest brother's first grandchild's quilt with leftovers from my little neighbor boy's construction-themed third birthday quilt.

Aside from me being too busy to get within ten feet of my sewing machine for the past several weeks, the construction theme just wasn't motivating me. I finally decided the fabric worked for the toddler because the toddler is "free" now and has the personality to warrant such a theme. He LOVES rocks and trucks that can carry rocks!


Baby Charlton is due this month, and I don't know anything about him yet, except that my brother had always hoped for a son but was blessed with four daughters. Now daughter number one is giving him a grandson! Mama-to-be loves music, so the temptation to try to quilt musical notes into plain blocks tugged at me.


Because the due date is getting extremely close, I decided I would use the leftovers from the quilt I made for Joel, my three-year-old nephew and second of four grandsons of my oldest brother (which leftovers I believe also may be at least in part leftovers from two earlier little boy quilts for my own grands!).




I decided to do a giant disappearing nine patch. I could teach Lizard the process, and the quilt top hopefully would work up rather quickly. I chose the two yards of gorgeous baby blue Grunge I picked up off a sale table as the background color because it fits in perfectly and lends a visual softness to the other marble-like fabric textures.


The nine-patch, measuring approximately 36 inches square, was easily finished in one night after work. Cutting it in half took a bit of strategy because my largest cutting board is 35 inches by 23 inches.

So I measured the edges of the center blocks in each direction and made the first cut, then the second and third cuts were easier because they fit nicely, one at a time.

Anyone who would like to try a giant-sized disappearing nine patch can pre-cut the edge center 4 12-inch blocks in half, then cut the true center 12-inch block in half twice. I'll do that next time, and I do think I'll try this again one day because I think the final product, with 6-inch sashing and borders to match the four edge center blocks turned out pretty darned sharp. Finished the 50-inch square top on the second night after work and still got to bed at a decent hour for work the next morning. Next comes the sandwiching and the quilting...

But first, I have to get more batting. I've actually used up every single usable piece in my entire stash!

Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Lizard said he'll pick up another bolt of batting for me while I'm at work!!! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! I don't have to go shopping!!!


Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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