Sunday, March 9, 2014

Baby Quilts: Bow Ties, Pinwheels, and Elephants

I have been wanting to try my hand at making a "real" baby quilt for a while now, because until now I've only made rag quilts and t-shirt quilts.  So, I got my chance when I found out two of my husband's nieces were expecting babies.  

For the first one, I needed a cute little boy design.  I found this adorable bow tie design via Pinterest.  Here's the link to the tutorial I used to make the blocks.  I decided to alternate the way the bows were turned instead of having them all go the same direction.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  
The bowties were all made from brightly colored scraps that I already had, and I made a cute bunting banner to match.  For the quilt backing I used a sweet little animal print, perfect for a baby boy.  This quilt traveled all the way to its new home in Turkey!


The second one I made was a little girl quilt, and I knew that her room would be decorated with pink and brown and elephants.  After looking at lots of different ideas, I decided that pinwheels would go perfectly with elephants.  Here's what I came up with:
I made pinwheel blocks of different pink prints and appliqued the elephants on top.


Then I made a cute little stuffed elephant to match.

I've decided that I probably won't be making baby quilts to sell; I would have to charge way to much for them if I wanted it to be worth my time.  But they are fun to make, and make wonderful gifts for special little people!