Custom Quilts at Little Blue Machine

I have been wanting to offer custom quilts in my Etsy shop for a while now, but I just wasn't sure how to go about it.  I'm so happy to announce that they are finally here!  I think that every baby deserves a special quilt made just for them, but let's face it, buying and even making a homemade quilt can be really expensive.  So I needed a way to be able to make custom quilts that wouldn't break the bank--for me or the people buying them!  In my research I stumbled upon a few patterns that come together quickly, don't cost an arm and a leg to make and can be easily changed up a little to fit the tastes and styles of many different people.  I currently offer three different custom quilt styles in my shop, and plan to add more over the next few weeks. 

My favorite thing about making baby quilts is the size.  When I made my son his first quilt before he was born, I made it to lay pretty evenly over his crib mattress.  As he got a little older, I discovered that this was a bit to big.  He wanted something drag around the house with him, and I wanted something separate from the one he slept on at night, since it usually gets dirty during the dragging time!  I think the perfect size for a baby quilt is around 36 inches square, although I do have some little bigger and a little large in my shop.  To me, that is the perfect size for dragging, for loading in the car or stroller, or for tummy time for little babies.  Even though Jaxon is 2 1/2 now, he still carries it everywhere, and it's invaluable on long road trips when he goes straight in the car in his pajamas!

Herringbone Baby Quilt

The first of my three quilts is a two-color herringbone pattern.  I love this pattern so much!  It's simple and straightforward.  While I love it in simple solids, it would be pretty in so many different patterns, too.  The example quilt that's for sale currently is gender neutral with soft green fabric on the front and a thin yellow stripe print on the back.  It's bound with a steel-gray solid, which is one of my favorite shades for binding.

Zigzag Baby Quilt

The second quilt is a zigzag or chevron pattern.  As the mom of one boy, and another boy on the way, I don't get to sew with pink much, so I decided to make my example quilt in girly colors for this one.  While I love the pink on the front, the polka dot backing makes me drool, and the green binding with pink berries is the perfect finish.  I have to say, this one will be hard to let go!

Custom Swoon Baby Quilt

The third custom quilt that I offer right now is my favorite of all time.  It's made from a single large block and a wide border.  It's a popular pattern from Camille Roskelly, who is one of my favorite fabric and pattern designers.  I don't currently have an example quilt available in my shop right now, because the original was made special for my niece, who's due this month.  This quilt would look equally as beautiful just hanging on the wall as it does being snuggled by a sweet baby. 

I have several quilts ready to ship in my shop as well, and more custom designs and ready-to-ship options coming soon.  I'm so excited that I've been able to take this big leap in my creative adventures!  I hope you like one (or more!) of the quilts I've shown here today.  Click over to my shop to see all of my quilts and other quilted products I offer there!

Lyndsie

Chief Sealth Quilt--Finally a Finish!

Back in February a very nice thing happened to me. Sara Lawson, who is a fabric designer for Art Gallery Fabrics posted a picture of her new fabric line, Fantasia, and offered to give some of it away!  She asked that you send her an email telling her what you would make with the fabric, and she'd pick some people to send some to.  I sent an email, but honestly didn't expect to be chosen.  I was so surprised when she emailed me back and asked for my address!  

Chief Sealth Quilt in Fantasia Fabric



This fabric is beautiful!  I love using Art Gallery Fabrics, because they are so soft.  They almost feel like silk to me.  I love the colors in this line.  They are so unusual, and probably not something I would have paired together on my own, but I love the final result.  The quilt I chose to make is called "Chief Sealth" and the pattern comes from Jera Brandvig's book Quilt As You Go Made Modern.  This is one of my favorite quilting books, and I've made several of the projects in it, some of them multiple times.  The quilts in it are beautiful, and come together pretty quickly and aren't complicated.  I also love that they are made with precuts, which I LOVE to use!  I searched through the book to find a pattern and when I realized that the Chief Sealth example quilt was made with another of Sara Lawson's lines, I knew that was the one I wanted.   I did have to make some adaptions.  The original pattern calls for 20 fat quarters, and has twenty blocks.  I only had 18 fat quarters, so I left out my two least favorites and made 16 blocks.  The quilt ended up being about 48" square.  I thinks it's a nice size lap quilt.  I decided to use a dark purple backing fabric to pull out the purples in the prints.  My original plan was to bind with orange, but I couldn't find the quite right shade.  This yellow seemed to work. 

 

The Fantasia collection is so whimsical, and really does have a little girl fantasy quality.   I love the little mushroom print, and the large-scale flowers.  I also love the horseshoes and the stripes.  But I think if I had to choose just one favorite, it would be the little yellow and pink flowers on a white background.  It reminds me of the vintage sheets on my great-grandmother's bed when I was little.   I am so thrilled to have been able to make a quilt from this beautiful fabric!  And I'm really, really happy to have a finished project!  The top of this quilt has been done for over a month now, but I kept putting off the backing and binding.  I messed up the piecing of the backing fabric once, and put it away in my frustration.  When I actually sat down to finish it, it only took about three hours.  Now I can't figure out why I put it off at all!  This pattern is fast, and simple and I'm so pleased with the results.  Now, let's go finish something else from my "In Progress" list!

Oh Boy! Baby Love Quilt

 

There is just something special about a classic quilt block.  Maybe it's the knowledge that women have been piecing them for years and years--many with scraps from old clothes.  One of my favorite quilt blocks is a Churn Dash.  With modern piecing methods it comes together in a flash.  I lean towards using more modern fabrics in classic blocks, and this one fits that description perfectly.  It's actually a pattern I've made before, and I loved how it turned out both times.  This finished quilt is about 36" square, and I think it's perfect for a sweet baby boy!  I love that size because it's so easy to carry along with you. 

This Churn Dash pattern is from Camille Roskelley's book Simply Retro and uses super-simple 5" squares and makes a finished 12" block.  I love that just nine blocks makes a great baby quilt. 

I used fabric from Lori Whitlock's "Oh Boy!" collection for Riley Blake designs for this quilt.  I love all of the cute boy-themed prints!  Cars, helicopters, lions, giraffes and elephants are all featured in bright yellows, oranges and blues.  The background fabric is a Bella Solid.  I think the bright white really makes the colors pop.  I decided to just quilt it lightly with straight lines.  It really makes the fabrics shine.

I always prewash my quilts before listing them in the shop.  I just love that soft, crinkly look that a quilt gets after it's washed.   

I chose the blue elephant fabric from the collection for the backing, and the orange triangles for the binding.  Those fabrics actually ended up in the same block on the front, too, which was not my plan, but I guess it proves how well I thought they went together!  I've recently learned how to machine bind quilts instead of doing it by hand.  It takes less than half the time, and while it's admittedly not as pretty, it really makes the quilt more durable.

As the mom of an adorable baby boy, I had a really hard time listing this one in the shop at all. But my lose is your gain!  This super-soft quilt is listed in my Etsy shop for you to purchase!  I do have plans to make a baby girl version one day (maybe more that one!), but if you'd like one especially for you, please feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to make one for you! 

Visit Little Blue Machine on Etsy to see this quilt and all of my other quilty items!

Lyndsie