Diana's baby quilt

This baby quilt was designed by my friend, Diana. She asked me to quilt and bind it for her. She has a great eye for colors and how to put things together. I think this is a fabulous design to highlight a fun print in the 4" center squares, framed by green and yellow sashing and red cornerstones that pop!

I spent a little bit of time pondering how to quilt this because of the different pieces. I considered an all-over grid, but the diagonal measurements from cornerstone to cornerstone don't fit a 1" pattern, which I like to have on this size quilt; however, each square is 4" and that makes for an easy grid line to follow. I started by quilting-in-the-ditch next to the sashing. Then I chalked lines 1" apart and quilted continuously up and down vertically through the length of the quilt, traveling in the ditch to get to the next line.

I finished the border with a 1" diagonal line, changing direction at the corners. Then I added the red binding. It's OK to bind a quilt before all the inside quilting is complete. As long as the border is completely quilted, the binding can be sewn on. Sometimes I add more quilting. In this case, I only quilted the ditch of the inner border. I could have cross-hatched a grid in the 4" squares, but I decided to leave it with only the vertical lines 1" apart. All the seam lines were stitched-in-the-ditch, giving this quilt enough stability to withstand the tugging and washing that comes with using a baby quilt.

Next, I'll give some tips on care/washing and choosing a batting for baby quilts.

Copyright©2011, Sharon Baggs