plus one

“I know you prefer messaging, but this deserves a phone call”, my friend said when I answered the phone, just a couple of hours after we’d last chatted in person. I’d spent a lovely twenty minutes snuggling her brand new baby, rocking him to sleep and clucking over the tiny noises and adorable faces he was pulling in his dreams. In exchange for the baby cuddles, I’d left a little parcel, wrapped in tissue, topped with a cute little card.

On both the podcast and here on the blog, I’ve chatted previously about the hierarchy of making; the order in which people get (or don’t) handmade gifts. I had made a couple of projects for this friend previously, still in use; definitely a safe person to make a handmade baby gift for. There is nothing more joyful for me as a crafter, to spend time on a gift especially for something, and then see that item used and loved.

In typical me fashion, I’ve been planning on making a quilt for this sweet baby since at least November. Because a) life has a way of Happening and b) I am a world class procrastinator, baby arrived and not only had I not started the quilt, but I hadn’t even bought fabric. I had a rough idea of what I wanted, and knew I had a trip to a city with a reasonably sized Spotlight** coming up. It would be fine. Until I got there, and they had nothing like what my mind had dreamt up that I wanted. A quick pivot, and I had a plan B.

In the end, I think plan B is better than what I had in mind for plan A.

I went with a simple plus style layout of 4.5″ squares. The cute rainbow fabric is Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufmann, and was my starting point to then mix in coordinating blender prints. With the layout being a bunch of squares, and being rather behind the eight ball in the time stakes, I decided I would try web peicing the top, and…wow. How have I never done this before? So quick, easy, super satisfying and neat.

The quilt top came together quickly, and then the quilting…didn’t. I decided to do a square “loop the loop”, and attempt one was with a FMQ foot. Less than successful, would be the kind way of putting it. Out came the unpicker, and attempt two with the walking foot was much neater and almost exactly what I had in mind.

I found a cute “confetti” print fabric at my local indie fabric store that was perfect for the binding. Once I found it, the backing then fell into place. Being a smaller quilt, I was able to use plain homespun as the backing, and there was one that was almost a perfect match for the background of the confetti. Being a summer babe, the quilt is more likely to be a play quilt than a bed quilt, so the darker backing is perfect for that use.

To finish of the parcel, I made a little card on my Cricut, and when I went searching the project options, the obvious choice jumped straight off the screen. I’d splurged on a month of Access** over Christmas and still use on occasion. Boy2, you might recall, is dinosaur mad. How then, could I resist making this baby card?

It was such a shame I didn’t have a perforation blade and had to swing by Harvey Norman and pick one up. I really hate projects where I’m forced to buy new toys to play with tools to work with. Worst part of crafting really.

And so the baby was snuggled. The parcel delivered. On her entry table lay the runner I had made for her. A reminder that this was a family that would find joy in a quilt added to their baby’s room. Later, the quilt was opened, and then my friend was on the phone, telling how much she loved it, and how she would treasure it and use it. Exactly what a handmade quilt needs.

**I am a Spotlight and Cricut affiliate, which means if you click this link and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only ever affiliate link to products and places I genuinely use and love. Thank you for supporting my blog!