OOOPS I just hit “Publish” before there was anything to publish! Result: Empty blog entry and all of you receiving an email of my mistake! Sorry!!!
This is what I wanted to tell you:
Last Friday I linked up with several other blogs celebrating “Friday Finishes”. Wow, that was just incredible! I was so overwhelmed by all of the clicks and comments! Thank you all. You made my day(s)!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
One of my co-workers at school became a grandfather this week, so a baby quilt was in order! I found a reason to play with fabrics…again! I just could not resist cutting into some of the vintage fabrics I found this Saturday. I wanted to try out the larger (8 inch) patterns of “Take a Bow”. I used a soft blue fabrics for the bows and the squares. The bows are paper pieced and the squares were made with the “Scrappy Trip Along”-trick! This “trip” was so easy! The squares came together rather quick. If you have not tried this technique before, please give it a go! It was very gratifying to work on them.
I changed the “scrappy trip” by not building diagonals but zig zags. I like that better for a small quilt like this.
After piecing the top I changed my mind about the backing and ended up using a remnant of gray fleece. Of course the fleece was toooooo small!!! I went ahead anyway and decided on cutting the top back to fit the fleece after quilting. I had to cut about 1 inch of all around. Not too bad, right?
I used a tutorial on “orange peel quilting” from “Oh, Fransson”. The stiches are not as perfect as I had wanted, but they are fine… so that is how they stayed! 😉
I quilted in the ditch around each of the bows.
Some creative piecing was necessary for this last bow as I miscalculated the fabric I needed…The centre of the bow is now made of three pieces instead of one. Luckily the flower pattern is very forgiving! Phew!
I bound the quilt with a light gray fabric that matched much better than a very dark blue I had in mind before. That was soooo harsh! I am glad I did not use that.
The orange peels on the back! And of course a picture of the whole baby quilt before it went into the washing machine (now already drying!) The finished quilt was made with vintage fabrics only, except for the fleece. It measures 28 x 29 inches.
And of course I had to try making a pink one on a request from my mother who really like the blue one. I am making this one bigger and will create a diamond shape in the centre of the “square section”. I think I will also need to make more than three of those pretty bows!
I am linking up with Lily’s Quilts. Just click on the button for the “Small Blog Meet”.
Esther
ipatchandquilt 
I love the baby quilt! Very nice!
Thank you Nina! Nice of you to visit my blog. Have a great week!
Esther, This is another winner. How do you get so many quilts finished so fast? You are phenomenal. I love blue and white quilts and your bow pattern is perfect for a baby boy quilt. Ann
Hi Ann, I don’t watch much TV anymore… do not spend time in front/in the fridge (Yeah! Lost about 40 pounds already!)… and I can not stop myself! LOL!!!
Lovely quilt! I love the detail of the bows, and the way the patchwork zig-zags.
Hi Kate!
Thank you for visiting my blog and also for the compliment! I will give the quilt away tomorrow. I am curious to see how my co-worker reacts!
I love the “orange peel quilting!” Great job. I have that on my to-try list!
Thank you Jessica! Please let me know how your oranges turn out! 🙂
Lots of luck and fun with those!
Esther
I like your versions of the Trip Around the World blocks. There seems to be a lot of quilt blogs featuring scrappy Trips blocks
Hi Sue,
Yes blogland seems to be swamped by the “Scrappies”! I wanted to try it out with a simple colour scheme. I am quite happy with how it turned out!
Esther
Your project is so cute and your quilting is perfect for it. Your curves are so even and smooth. This design is something that I have been meaning to try and it’s perfect with the simple square patchwork. Thank you for the inspiration!
Hi Julie! Thank you for your visit to my blog and for the compliment! ;-). I do recommend you try the Scrappy Trip Along! It is so much fun, and it gives you the freedom to experiment!
I hope you have a great week!
Esther
I love your quilt – the bows are great and I’m really impressed with your quilting!
Hi Jennie! Thank you for the nice compliment! So nice of you to visit my blog!
Esther
Hi Esther:
What a lovely quilt .. am sure the new grandparents will love it. It is almost too beautiful to use. I would be tempted to hang it on the wall as a decoration. The combination of the bow and block pattern is a nice balance. It reminds me of the ribbons on pillow cases (made by my mother) and blocked pattern blankets used during my childhood..
Annie
Ha ha, you know what? Yesterday Mom and I talked about those pillowcases. I have them and love them to bits. Use them mostly in the summertime. Pink with blue bows, right?
The bow block on the baby quilt is a lovely block- I haven’t seen that before.
Hi Karen,
Thank you for visiting my blog and the lovely comment! I designed the bows myself. I have made two angular bows and three patterns with rounder bows! I have completely fallen in love with them! At the moment I am working on more for the girl-baby quilt. I think I need four as I am making that quilt bigger than the blue one. I think Im will post more pictures soon!
Hope to see you again!
Esther
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Such a great use of the trip round the world technique. Love the blue and white and quilting too.
Hi Vicki!
So nice to meet you! Thank you for visiting my blog. I really love the blue and white combo. I will definitely use it again. I might even make a copy of this particular quilt, i like it that much! 🙂
I think i will change the “orange peel” for a “dogwood” pattern I have tried after finishing this quilt, though. The flowery shapes of the orange oeel dissapear in the checker pattern on the top.
Hope to see you again and have a nice day!
Esther