.....One Down - 4,078 to go

Finished and presented!

Well, I finally finished the baby quilt I was working on for the last several months.  Did I mention how busy I have been?  Taking care of elderly parents; moving them, unpacking them, trying to organize their stuff (they have way more than fits in their apartment), and putting together the baby quilt that was needed June 4^th!

This quilt was made for my DDIL’s twin sister who is due next month with her first child.  She likes bright fabrics and I just happened to have these kitty blocks from an online exchange done in 2001!  Yes, that is 2001!  Better late than never!  I did at least a dozen block swaps in 2000-2001 and have only completed maybe four quilts out of the huge pile of blocks.  These exchanges were through the quilting forum at www.about.com.  Not sure if they still do them, but it motivated me to do tons of new kinds of blocks with new types of fabrics.

This baby quilt is made up of a kitty block and each kitty is made up of “kitty/cat” fabric!  So a person in the exchange made up 25 blocks all the same, sent 24 away to the hostess, and was returned 24 all different kitties sent to each participant.  These blocks were from all over the United States, so it was great fun to receive the different blocks and see what state they came from! 

So in this case, I chose various bright prints from the blocks I had, took them to one of the LQS, “Busy Bee Quilt Shop” in Yucaipa, CA,  and the owner, Heidi, helped me to chose the sashing and cornerstone fabrics with matching backing.  The fabric we found at her shop matched perfectly and brought all the various colors together!  I pieced the top adding hand-appliquéd hearts and added ribbon bows on alternate kitties, hand-quilted the quilt diagonally, added the binding and even though I personally am not a big “brights” fan, ended up LOVING the way it turned out!  I presented it to the mommy-to-be and it was a HUGE hit at the shower!!  Don’t you just love giving away quilts to people that really appreciate it!?

"Baby Brooklyn's Kitties"

Close up view

And the backing....