Starting the year of 2020 with some baby quilts.

(Ok, still playing catch up- I know it's late May but I've still got stuff to show from January/February!)

Early this year, I treated myself to starting some brand new quilts.  Both of these quilts await the birth of a niece of nephew in the early summer.  I am ready for either gender.  The parents decided to not learn the baby's sex prior to birth and although it's a little frustrating to now know, I can't complain.  I chose not to learn the gender of three out of the four of my own children.

This pattern probably looks familiar if you've just read my last post.  The Growing Up Modern book is pretty handy for easy and quick baby quilts.  The star of this quilt is this "Dream World" fabric- I just love the children riding animals.  The book by Emily Winfield is delightful too.  Of course, I have a new copy waiting to be gifted with the quilt. 

I bought some plush minky fabric for the backing and it proved very difficult to work with.  This resulted in a lot of frustration when I quilted the quilt on my longarm.  I ended up going with very simple meandering lines on the quilt, that was all I could manage.  I also wanted to stay simple because it wasn't easy to choose a thread color that would play well with the dark navy and cream fabrics.

This second quilt is also a pattern from the Growing up Modern book.  I was in the mood to use some of my fun low volume fabrics.  I used a lavender Lizzy House pearl bracelet as a background fabric. 

I quilted on some thrifted minky I've had for ages and the quilting was easier this time.  It's a very snuggly quilt.

I really enjoy making baby quilts, they're not overwhelming like larger, more intricate projects can be.  I would love to continue this trend of having "spare" gift quilts waiting for the right occasion.  It helps lessen the pressure when a deadline is looming and still helps making the quilt feel purposeful.

If my brother and his wife have a girl, I think I might give them both of these quilts anyway because they already have a two year old son- see his quilt in this post.  Also, as a sidenote: I was actually aiming for a "gender neutral" quilt when I made the Dream World one- do you think it would work for both boys and girls?