Pastel Seashell & Seahorse Baby Girl Quilt

This quilt was expertly pieced by the niece of a good friend. Then I added a wide border using my Bernina 240, and embroidered the baby girl's name. 

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 60" x 60"

(click on photos to enlarge)

🐚FINISHED QUILT:🐚

Front piecing: The niece of a close friend pieced the center of this quilt (a 5x5 grid), made of alternating 9-patches & square-in-squares, using lovely pastel prints of flowers, seashells, and water themes. She finished the center by surrounding it with a 3" light purple floral border. She eventually gave the flimsy to her aunt (my friend), who gifted it to me to border and quilt.

Borders: I added a 6" wide final outer border, bringing it up to a perfect baby size of 60"x60".

Backing: The colorful back is Home Essentials "Sea Horses", yardage I recently purchased at a discounted cost from an Etsy store that was downsizing.

Quilt Stitching, Pattern: I quilted using edge-to-edge "Circle Fun (fka Blow Bubbles)" from Wasatch Quilting.

Quilt Stitching, Thread: I used "Blizzard" (So Fine 50 #451) thread for the front and "Snow Cone" (So Fine 50 #401) on the back of the quilt.

Label: I embroidered my initials right onto the binding, one of my favorite ways to label a quilt. (I didn't need to add the year since that was embroidered as part of the quilt's name monogram).

🐚INSPIRATION:🐚

This quilt is a gift for a first-time mom to welcome her sweet little Emilia Rose into the world.

🐚PROGRESS PHOTOS:🐚

Construction-Border & Fabric Choices:

For the wide outer border, I auditioned a few bolder fabric choices to see if they worked with the already-pieced quilt top's various colors, but nothing seemed exactly right.

 However, when I laid the top onto the yard of discontinued Timeless Treasures turquoise print I had in my stash, I knew it was the perfect compliment for the outer border.

Choosing the backing was easy-peasy after that! The seashell white-on-white pieced fabrics plus the bubble-theme of the outer border, as well as the blues, aquas, mint greens and pinks, all blended perfectly with the ocean theme of Home Essentials' "Seahorses" (recently purchased from an Etsy store that was liquidating their inventory).

Before attaching the outer 6.5" border, I carefully trimmed the lilac-floral inner border first. I do a lot of sliver-trimming throughout quilt construction, and it almost always leads to a near-perfect squared quilt at the end.

Monogramming:

After piecing is finished, before the quilting begins, I used my Brother PE700 embroidery machine to monogram a corner with baby's first & middle name and her year of birth.

Quilting:

The backing and batting are loaded, and the top is floated to be sure everything is squared and ready. I baste each quilt sandwich completely, down one side, across the belly bar, and back up the other side, advancing and repeating, before I actually quilt it.

First time using edge-to-edge "Circle Fun (fka Blow Bubbles)" from Wasatch Quilting. It provided the exact bubbly, flowing motion I wanted and was very easy to modify (resize, join, repeat, etc) in my ProStitcher software.

Very happy with the thread color choices. They provide just enough texture to the quilt stitching, but don't overpower the beautiful, soft colors of the quilt front or back.

Post-Quilting Trimming:

I lined up my ruler to cut exactly 6" from the outer side of the lilac inner border. That way the quilt's outer edge will be straight, and the two borders will be parallel.

Binding:

Recently a long-time friend gave me countless yards of beautiful quilting fabric that she had collected but never used. I chose some small print florals/calicos she gave me to audition for binding fabric.

I ended up picking a purple/lilac mini-floral calico, which really made the inner border and central blocks pop. Loved the overall impression of this final color combination!

I joined together 2.5" wide strips, then pressed them in half, making approximately 265" inches of binding.

Then I embroidered my initials onto the prepared binding fabric. 

First I attached the binding fabric to the back of the quilt, using my sewing machine and a scant 1/4" seam.

Then I wrapped the binding around to the front of the quilt. 

I machine attach bindings using my Bernina 240's blind hem foot, which helps to make clean, even seams. 

I always use a couple thick straight pins to get perfectly mitered corners.

Washing:

I machine washed the finished quilt twice (cold water, no bleach) using dye trapping sheets (I like either Color Catchers or Color Grabbers). The catchers help to remove much of the fabric dyes.

I also made a set of Monogrammed Stuffed Rattle Blocks for baby Emilia.

🐚QUILT SUMMARY:🐚

This quilt was expertly pieced by the niece of a good friend. Then I added a wide outer border using my Bernina 240.

I quilted this quilt on my Janome QMP-18 long arm.

Finished size: 60" x 60"

Front piecing: A 5x5 grid, made of alternating 9-patches & square-in-squares, using lovely pastel prints.

Borders: 2 borders: 3" inner border, followed by a 6" outer border.

Back: Floral cotton print of purples, blues and neutrals.

Binding: Machine attached binding of light purple floral/calico.

Quilting: Edge-to-edge "Circle Fun (fka Blow Bubbles)" from Wasatch Quilting. "Blizzard" (So Fine 50 #451) thread for the front and "Snow Cone" (So Fine 50 #401) thread for the back of the quilt.

🐙🐙🐙

Return to Home Page