Batik Stack-the-Deck Baby Quilt

[tendstowardschaos]

When I found out that I was expecting, I decided I wanted to make something special for the baby.

I went to the fabric store and picked out a bunch of batik fabrics that I thought would go well together. I was chatting with the lady cutting my fabrics about my intended project, and I mentioned that I'd probably just be doing a simple layout as I'd never before done anything intricate for a quilt top. She said that she thought I'd manage just fine if I decided to do something elaborate. I thought to myself, 'maybe I could use a good challenge.'

So, I went to the library and checked out a few books with quilting patterns. I ended up going with the quilt on the cover of New Cuts for New Quilts: More Ways to Stack the Deck by Karla Alexander. I learned a lot about cutting and piecing through making this quilt (mostly that I'm rubbish at cutting).

I was really nervous about doing the free-motion quilting on this project because I had so much time (and money) invested in the top. Even though the stitching isn't perfect - it got a little sloppy in a few places where it was difficult to move the quilt under my machine arm - I'm quite pleased with the results.

After quilting, it measures 47.75"x62".







Thanks for looking! (More info and pictures on my blog...WIP posts on quilt: here, here, and here.)

[jennieingram]

It came out really well!  And congrats on your little one!!!

[MareMare]

Oh I really like it! Wonderful colors too!

[Padester]

Very pretty!  Was this very hard to do??  I love batiks, and this came out so nicely.  Congrats!

[tendstowardschaos]

Very pretty!  Was this very hard to do??  I love batiks, and this came out so nicely.  Congrats!

Thanks!

It really looks more intricate than it was. It's a lot of cutting, then, a lot of straight-seam-sewing and ironing. So, easy enough, but time-consuming. This was my first time doing a quilt top that wasn't just large rectangles.

The quilting, on the other hand, was not so easy. I have just a basic sewing machine, and it is difficult to move the bulk of the quilt under the arm of it. But, I was determined to do everything on this quilt by myself.


jennieingram- Thank you! on both accounts. I have about a month til he's due, so I was really rushing to get this done first.

MareMare- Thank you! The room we were turning into the nursery was already blue and we didn't want to re-paint, so I just picked coordinating colors (to do an ocean theme)...found out we were having a boy after I had started on the quilt.

[lovesclutter]

Inez, like everything else you do, this is amazing. Your job on the free motion is lovely, and I wish I could get my machine to do so.  Congratulations on your new family member.