This is the third quilt for a baby/child in the family that I have made. I made an 'I Spy' quilt for each of my 2 cousins first children. This quilt is for the second child in one family. I went out for the wedding on 1-1-2011. The second child was born in late January this year. Next week I am traveling from the east coast where I live, to the west coast where they live, to hand deliver this new quilt. It should be fun to see them again as well as their 2 year old and the new baby.
The Matching Game
Although I do not expect this will be used as a game for a couple of years, it is still colorful enough to catch anyone's eye. Lots of interesting things for a baby to look at. I imagine Kai, the toddler, will be more interested than the baby Viola in the beginning. I made both of their quilts rather large so they could also be used as beach blankets since they are a quick car ride from the beach at Carmel-by-the-Sea. I also did not use any filling since it is so warm there and also the weight of cotton batting on a quilt 40" x 56" would be way too heavy for a child to lug around. I backed it with flannel in a music print because both parents hold Doctorates in Musicology.
I know this is not like anything anyone has every seen. It is not a pretty pattern that we use for our adult quilts. My view is that we like those patterned quilts, but I think a child will find this quilt more interesting. Therefore, I dubbed it, "A Quilt for a Child."
It is an odd number of squares making a perfectly rectangular quilt. One square, the large one with the children playing different musical instruments matches 3 small squares, one of each child. Another square with a woman and a girl have 2 small squares containing each of the images shown on the large square as their matches. That was the way I made the matches of an odd number work. I needed the odd number because of the size as well as the fact that it would be too too hard to match if it were all small squares. It is also difficult to find enough plain colors that can be seen as really different. The solid colors help make it a little easier to find the "matches".
Each block seam is pressed to one side then stitched down. I do not want a lot of lumps when it is tossed into the washer and dryer. When everything was neatly stitched down, I pinned the back on, then stitched with a meandering line, pausing now and then to add a heart. I used a patterned fabric for the binding because I did not want it to show the dirt a child always adds.
