Baby Kylie’s Tummy Time Party Mat

I just finished this blanket I have been working on for months upon months!  It’s for my brand-new niece Kylie, who was born on June 23.

Why did this simple fleece blanket take me so long?

For one, I cut the fabrics out like an idiot – hacking away and assuming I’d have enough to make 12inch blocks.  I didn’t.  So this became the incredible shrinking quilt where the blocks are, I’m not sure, something like 9.5 inches squared all said and done.

It’s a super fun guitar and boom box flannel pattern.  I learned a lot about quilting with this fabric.  I learned that you must must must pre-wash it because it super shrinks (good think I learned that before I started this baby).  I learned that it doesn’t care for a steam ironing, in that strips and squares will soon become ambiguous amoeba shapes.    (I really should work on pressing rather than ironing my quilt pieces regardless of fabric choice).

I used a super light-weight denim for the back, and I love it!  It’s soft and flexible, and has a tiny bit of a sheen to it.

I quilted free-motion stars with a silver metallic thread, and bordered the sashing with a pink metallic.   Using these threads, I learned the importance of buying a proper metallic needle and using a bit of Sewer’s Aid on the spool.

I’m also so happy to report that I am finally using the proper tools!  I used a free-motion foot that my mom found in storage, and a walking foot that a friend leant me.  Let’s hope she doesn’t want it back anytime soon because I am definitely a walking-foot-believer now!

AND joy of joys my sewing pedal finally arrived!  After having not shown up for 15 days, I decided to track the order… only to find that FedEx didn’t have that tracking number on record… because my order had never been fully submitted by the sewing supply company I used.  WHOMP WHOMP.   Well they finally shipped it out, and I’m enjoying sewing freely without concern that a small electrical fire might combust at any moment.

I used pre-bought double binding for this blanket, but never again.  Time to be a big girl and learn how to make my own.

I do love my little embroidered patches, however : )   Yay for me being an aunt, and I hope my little niece spends lots of hours throwing awesome tummy-time parties on her new little mat (to be delivered at the end of this month when I meet my little squirt!).