Baby Quilt

Hi Everyone,

Way back in January, while I was at a quilt retreat, my sister had to be induced and my nephew was born nearly 6 weeks early.  I had made a baby quilt for him, but I don't think I ever showed it to you.  I decided on the pattern and as soon as we found out that she was expecting a boy, I bought the fabric and has this pieced before Thanksgiving.  I kept putting off the quilting, thinking that I had plenty of time!  

When I finally decided to go ahead and quilt it, at the last minute, I decided to use Minky for the backing.  I had never quilted with it before.  It took a while (and more than a little frustration) determining what needle to use.  I began with a regular 80, then tried a 90, then a Microtex sharp 80 and 90, and I was going to tear out my hair with frustration when I decided to see if Google would know the correct needle.  Perfecto!  One quick query and I found my answer:  a ball point needle, size 90.  I had one, put it in the machine, and finally I could machine quilt without skipped stitches or shredded thread.

Here is the finished quilt.  When I saw the cute elephant fabric by Bunny Hill, I knew I wanted to make the elephant quilt.  

The other day I saw a photo of my nephew on facebook, and in it he was laying on the quilt.

My sister was trying really hard to get him to smile, and then the dog came over and Matthew smiled at the dog.  He doesn't like to smile for the camera, though!  Matthew's outfit coordinates nicely with the quilt, too.  You can see that I used yellow Minky--it's showing there behind him.

Oh, and about the quilt retreat I was on?  I have another one this week!  I'm off from Thursday to Sunday to get some power sewing done.  I can't wait! 

Have a great day,

JoAnne