Iris Ann’s Baby Quilt Finish OMG

For our July OMG project, we made a baby quilt for a coworker whose niece is expecting her first baby in September.  The baby is a girl and they are expecting to name her Iris Ann.  To say we are thrilled and happy to be making a baby quilt for Iris Ann following the specifics set forth by her mom is an understatement.  We will share this finish on Patty’s Elm Street Quilts linky party just as soon as it opens.

Iris Ann’s Beginning

Sue and I debated the dynamics of Iris’ quilt for a good month or longer.  Was this block composed of 60-degree triangles or were the blocks made from half rectangle triangles (HRTs)?  We had to decide and stick with the decision – HRTs it is.

The color palette that the new mom-to-be decided on is white, cream, black, pink, and two shades of grey.  I have wanted to make a quilt using this block for ages.  Plus, I have some new Bloc-Loc rulers that are begging to be used.  Along with the rulers came some cutting recommendations which we faithfully adhered to.

Iris Ann HRTs

As per usual, Sue and I see the HRTs going in different directions.  I envision using the “B” ruler while Sue visualizes the “A” ruler . . . and we thought we went with “A”.  Here’s our initial layout on the left from EQ8 with just a tad more pink fabrics used as a nod to Iris Ann.  It turns out that it makes a difference which way you draw the lines and sew them.  Hmm.  Layout option #2 using ruler “B” in the end.

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We had all of the fabrics in our stash except for the perfect pink.  Riley Blake Confetti Cottons in Baby Pink came to the rescue.  The hardest part of making an HRT is matching up the fabric like this diagram shows below.

I did draw a line on the lightest fabric of the pairs and then laid them as shown above for sewing.  Our test blocks were made with black, pink, and light gray.  That’s when we noticed the change in layout was needed.  Ooose, as Dominic would say.

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Iris Ann Design Wall

It didn’t take long and all the blocks were together on the design wall.  Matching the EQ8 layout – take #2 – might have even happened, for the most part.

I couldn’t help but switch one or two blocks around as I started to pick up each row for sewing.  Others got by me and I didn’t notice that the same colors were together until I was pressing after a row was added.  Oh well, it’s a design choice now as we have a quilt top!

It’s really modern-looking, isn’t it?!!

Iris Ann Finishing Details

Before I could get to quilting, I had to add an embroidery embellishment to the Minky backing.  Iris Ann spelled out with a script-like font in a bright pink thread.

Next, we layered up the quilt top with the gray Minky as the backing and a cotton batting in between.  The walking-foot did its job with straight-line and a medium gray thread.  I had issues with the first two passes because the thread kept breaking.  That called for an urgent emergency run to the LQS to find some new gray thread that worked just fine.

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Finally, it was a wrap. It is ready for my coworker.  Unfortunately, we aren’t in the office at the same time so I’ll have to leave it for her to mail off. 

We were able to take a photo with it hanging on our new clothesline . . . on the porch.  It was nice of the grass to green up for us!  HAHA!  The sky looks so nice and blue and the colors are fairly true in this last photo.

Join us each Tuesday for our hosted linky party called To-Do Tuesday.  Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link above or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!