Ashley's Baby quilt

Now I don't know anyone who wants to announce they made their quilt on a budget ... but right now ... that's what I am all about (still looking for the right job ;-).  Funny how this works, when you're unemployed you have all the time in the world to do the things you want ... but unfortunately ... lack the key ingredient ... $$$. 

But, I have learned to quilt, which, in itself has been a great gift!

So ... Ashley's baby quilt.  Ashley is a friend of mine who is about to have her 2nd baby.  She's a traditional mom, so we're going to wait and hear what she had once the little one arrives.  So gender neutral it is!  So off I went to my favorite quilt fabric shop (the Quilting Loft for those of you near Seattle) and spent a little time looking for a few high-impact prints.  Found the fish fabric and then a couple of fat quarters of complimentary fabric and I was on my way for less than $12. 

A quick stop by JoAnns on the way home to pick up 2 yards of white sateen with my 40% off coupon.  This quilt is small enough that I was able to use the cast off batting from another quilt.   I trust we all have those pieces left over.  I now had the makings of a hand-made baby quilt for under $20 (of course I'll tell you that budget was a major factor ... but I hope that the quilt doesn't reflect that to Ashley !).

I love white space (or negative space, which I believe is the proper term).  My eye likes complex with restful spaces ... there have been some brilliant quilts that I have seen that really reflect that (like here & here). 

I went really tight with the meandering quilting ... almost taking it down to a stipple.  To me, the vast white space requires something to bring it to life.  And as the colors are pale, minimizing the risk of running, I also washed in hot to maximize the shrinkage & corresponding "krinkle".

The back is very simple ... it had to be based on the front.  My very first quilt had piecing on the back because I ran out of material ... this was before I even knew that piecing was the "in thing".  Now I can't put a back together without some sort of piecing, it just looks naked to me without it.  I used a pieced binding, because I didn't want to introduce any new colors into the simple scheme.  I'm kind of neutral on it ... probably would have been better to use one color since it is so simple, but I'm ok with it.  In the end, it's 36" x 39", which is a perfect size for the little one!

Off to package it up and get it ready to deliver to Ashely on Monday.  Have a great weekend!