Tag / ombre

by Bethe

The Story of My Strip & Flip Baby Quilt

Some of my friends may remember that for several years I was a Big Sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Since at the time I was terrified of young children (silly me), I signed up for a teenager, and I ended up getting the coolest teenager in town – Stephanie. We spent four years together, going through some pretty major life experiences and changes, and I got to watch her grow up to be a beautiful woman.

That was several years ago. When I found out that Stephanie was expecting a baby boy, I just had to make little Grayson a baby quilt. I used this tutorial, and was able to whip it up in just a few sittings.

 Again, I used a Moda jelly roll for the front, and then snagged this back fabric on sale from JoAnn’s. Mr. Right thinks it makes him dizzy, but I thought the colors and crazy pattern tie in well with the LOUD front. Sometimes I love stepping out of my muted color comfort zone and just “going for it.”

I quilted in the “ditch” on all the colored fabric, then did several vertical lines up the white sashing to add a little extra texture. I try not to over-quilt baby quilts because I want them to stay soft and squishy for the little ones using them.

Last night I got to give the quilt to sweet Stephanie, mama-to-be, and my forever friend. I can’t wait to hold that sweet baby boy of hers!

by Bethe

Strip & flip ombre baby quilt

By now you’re probably thinking, “All that crazy girl sews is yellow and gray triangle quilts.” And you would be right… almost. I have been in a weird phase lately, but I’ve also got dozens of quilt ideas swimming around in my head, just waiting to make it out onto my sewing studio floor. The only thing that’s stopping me is time and money. Those silly quilts require a lot of both!

One of the quilts I’ve been aching to make is the strip and flip quilt I found on Cluck Cluck Sew’s blog. She posted a great tutorial, and I had been jonesing to do some sort of strip quilt, so it was a match made in heaven.

This is just the unfinished quilt top, which I made with a Moda jelly roll I picked up at my local quilting store. I’d never sewn from a jelly roll before – they’re expensive (this one cost $41), and I typically only buy fabric on sale, but it saved me from having to cut much of anything, and the entire quilt took me less than two hours to piece. Plus, I love ombre rainbow effect – such a nice change from the muted colors I’ve been addicted to lately.

I picked up a brightly colored backing and am in the process of quilting it right now – I hope to have pictures of the finished quilt up on the blog next week!

This quilt will be going to a special someone at a later date – I’ll tell you more later, but for now, it’s a secret.