(sew)everyday notions

When a close friend has a baby, I like to make up a baby quilt for the new arrival. In the planning I like to make sure I give them a design that fits in with the parents aesthetic. This quilt for Baby A turned out just how I envisioned it- cool, modern and not too "babyish". I used this pin (and it's subsequent blog post) as my inspiration. I debated which colour and sort of thread I would use (yellow, black or grey? Upholstery weight?) but in the end just used normal (Gutermann) thead in black. There's so many quilting lines it that I think this was the best outcome. testing the thread & pattern First I quilted the long lines that run vertical, then measured the first few horizontal chevrons from the centre of the quilt, and just eyeballed the distance as I sewed - changing the distance up to make for a more "organic" style (that is, it didn't matter if I got a bit lazy wonky).  Aren't chevrons pretty? ...

Any day now, I'm going to become an Aunty for the first time! It's all pretty exciting and of course I had to make something for him or her. A baby quilt is always a winner, it looks like you spent a lot of time & effort on it (which I guess I did!) but it's also practical - something to throw on the ground for tummy time, take for play dates, and of course keep for always as a keepsake. I still have a few quilts my mum made when I was a baby and they are very precious to me. I tried to pick fairly neutral colours, although the peach colour probably makes it look a bit more girly than I originally had planned. I then found this cute rainclouds print for the backing (organic cotton on sale for a great price) and decided to add a small pop into the front of the quilt too. I did a very random strip quilt pattern, just chopping different lengths & using the width of the fabric.To break up the strips, I sliced one long edge off, then just inverted and sewed it a...