Swoon Baby Quilt the Second

Swoon Baby Quilt the Second was actually finished in March, but didn’t reach its recipient until July. Such is life.

In six months, I made three quilts in this same style. For this one, I chose a Cotton + Steel fabric as the backing: Steamer Trunk in Gray Green from Alexia Abegg’s Hatbox line. Once that was decided, I set about finding coordinating solids. Since the light green color didn’t have an exact match on my Kona color card, I matched the fabrics in person at Quiltworks Northwest, during a Seattle Modern Quilt Guild sew in. I don’t remember the names of each fabric, but they are a combination of Kona and Art Gallery solids. The binding is Dottie, also from Cotton + Steel.

Like my other versions, this one was constructed with a 24” Swoon block and 6” borders and finishes at 36” square. I machined quilted it with diagonal lines one inch apart. It’s quicker than my usual ½” apart lines, and makes for a softer quilt that will still stand up to repeated washings.

Even though I’ve made the same quilt three times now, it continues to be my go-to baby quilt and I anticipate whipping up more should the need arise. They’re quick, cute, and I enjoy making them.

Swoon Baby Quilt the Third

Last fall, I discovered the perfect formula for a fast and fun baby quilt: choose a print fabric for the backing, make a Swoon block out of coordinating solids, add a 6” border all around, quilt, bind and give away! This is actually the third baby quilt that I’ve made this way, but I haven’t managed to give the second one to its new owner yet, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer to see that one.

For this quilt, I matched the fabric to the new baby’s nursery theme (ocean) and colors (yellow and blue). The backing fabric I found at Hawthorne Threads was a perfect match: Whales in Bright by Ann Kelle from her Urban Zoologie collection. Once I had the backing fabric in my hands, I picked out coordinating Kona solids from Fat Quarter Shop: Cheddar, Prussian, Snow and Water. Since this was the third time I made this pattern, I barely had to think about it as I sewed it together.

For the quilting, I marked one diagonal line through the center, and used that as a guide to quilt lines 1” apart across the entire quilt. Again, quick and easy. So quick, that I was able to present it to the new mom-to-be before she went on maternity leave. While I enjoyed every minute of planning and making this quilt, the best part was seeing how much my friend liked it and knowing that she and her new baby will enjoy it for years to come.

Swoon Baby Quilt the First

This is definitely one of my favorite quilts this year. I love that the front is all solids with cozy printed flannel on the back, I love the simple, modern feel of it, I love that it came together in only a couple of weeks, and I love that it was given to a close friend for her upcoming baby.

Let’s start with the pattern. I used the Swoon pattern from Thimble Blossoms and made just one 24” block. I added a 6” border for a 36” square quilt. You can see my inspirations here. It’s a very easy to follow pattern, with color diagrams that I found helpful. Normally, I don’t like to add borders, but I didn’t mind it on this small quilt.

All the fabric is from Pacific Fabrics in Everett. I knew that this quilt needed to feature green, blue and at least one jungle animal. I could not for the life of my find any jungle fabric I liked online, so I hit up Pacific Fabrics in person. There I found this mini elephant flannel from Timeless Treasures. Once I had my backing sorted, I chose four Kona solids from what was in stock in the store: Bleached White, Clover, Royal and Blueberry.

My goodness, I love using flannel as a backing! I polled my Instagram followers for tips on sewing with flannel and prewashed the fabric, according to their advice. It is so cozy and warm that I simply loved working with it. I almost didn’t want to finish hand sewing the binding, it was so comfy!

The quilting I chose is very similar to my Giant Snowburst Quilt: a big ‘x’ in the middle, then echo quilting to the edges. Instead of quilting the lines half an inch apart, this time I quilted them a full inch apart. It was quicker and I thought the less dense quilting would be comfier for a baby quilt. Another twist is that I used both white and green thread to quilt it. The central ‘x’ is green, along with every third line. The rest of the lines are white.

I cannot overstate how much I like this quilt. I might just keep making this one over and over for gifts, it’s so quick and satisfying!