Monday, November 18, 2013

To Keep Her Warm

Finally, the snowball and nine-patch top for grandbaby girl is finished.  With simple flowers appliqued on the scrappy border.  Unquilted it measures 43" x 55".  It will shrink after quilting, washing, and drying but it will be big enough for a baby even if she happens to be 8 or 9 pounds.  I layered and basted it on Saturday and began quilting it today.


I deliberated about batting.  Cotton?  Poly?  I love the cotton batting I've been using but, honestly, it doesn't seem very warm.  Or cuddly.  So I decided on poly.  I had some in the closet, pulled it out, cut it, and realized that it was way too thick.  If I'd used it, the quilt would have been a mat instead of a cuddly cover.  Besides that, polyester seems like it could be dangerous because it melts.  My daughter and her husband use a wood stove to heat their small home.  Let my imagination turn aside and go no further down that road. . . .

So I headed to the store and ended up with a bat that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester.  While I don't like the feel of it on my hands, I know it will be completely encased in fabric.  It seems cuddly and warm.  I'll write more about the brand and how it quilts in a later post.

I'm linking this post to WOW (WiPs on Wednesday) at Esther's Blog and to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, Esther and Lee.

I'm also linking this to A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts.  My original post claiming this as my goal for the month was posted on November 1.


--Nancy.
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10 comments:

  1. What an adorable baby quilt Nancy! I just finished up two baby quilts - aren't they fun??? Well, not as fun as the babies, but close LOL!!!

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  2. Very sweet quilt! Love the applique flowers on the border. Perfect touch!

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  3. Oh, how lovely! The flowers make it just perfect! It's obvious that your grand baby will be loved.

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  4. This turned out great, Nancy! It has a vintage-y little girl feel about it. I'm sure she'll love to snuggle under this.

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  5. What a pretty quilt! I love the deep border with the applique!

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  6. LOVE LOVE the quilt! That's one lucky grandbaby of yours ~ she's going to love it even more than I do!

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  7. What a beautiful quilt. Lucky girl. Thank you for sharing your handiwork with the rest of us.

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  8. I go back and forth between poly and poly/cotton and cotton, too. Hate the shrinkage of the cotton, so I tend to go with the needle punched thin poly batt.

    That quilt is exquisite. What a treasure. I always think babies should have smaller quilts, so that size should be perfect. Lovely!

    Elizabeth
    opquilt

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  9. Hi Nancy, I usually use Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 - yes it's thin, but I find it's snuggly and drapes softly, makes cuddly baby quilts. I cut the wadding a little larger than I need, fold it so that it will fit in the kitchen sink, and then give it a soak in warm water. I squeeze out the excess water (don't twist) and then put it into the spin cycle on the washer. Once it's out I put it over the bannister to support it until it's dry. I haven't had a wrinkly quilt since - unless I wanted one! I love the quilt top for the baby. Elaine

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    1. Thank you for the detailed information about preparing the batting, Elaine. I'll try the Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 on an upcoming quilt and try the soak/rinse/dry process for it. I don't mind the shrinking of quilts with cotton batting -- unless it shrinks smaller than the size I wanted! Thank you, too, for your kind words about the quilt. I appreciate them.

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