Thursday, May 31, 2018

Fun and Done: The Chicago Cubbies Baby Quilt

When I first started working on the baby quilt this week, I didn't know what the gender of the baby-to-be but I knew the baby was going to a future Chicago Cubs fan.  The Chicago Cubbies Baby Quilt is for the son of Mary, one of my closet peep, who I swear it was only yesterday he was sitting in the backseat of his mother's car slurping his ice cream and driving me nuts but that's what little boys do.  
Knowing that he and his wife are big Chicago Cubs Fans and one day will be starting a family, I purchased these Chicago Cubs fabrics several years ago right after their wedding and these two pieces have been sitting in my stash waiting to be used.  I mentioned in a previous post that I find it challenging when I make a quilt with only a few fabrics, and this one was no exception.  Thankfully again, I had the right shade of red and the dot fabric, which is from my Crazy Mom's Good Neighbor stash and was the perfect shade and scale. Sad to say, the red dot print is almost depleted, there's no more to be bought,  but I have enough to make another Cubbie Quilt for myself since I love this quilt.
I had the perfect pattern to showcase the fabrics, the the Jungle Crosswalk Baby Quilt which I just made earlier this year for the 30 Quilt Blocks in 30 Days Quilt Blog Hop.  I made some modifications to this pattern as follows:
  • only one focus print (3/4 yard) was used for the blocks (Yes Shannon, it does work)
  • only two prints (one yard of each) were used for the checkerboard squares
  • the blocks finished 8", so the focus print was cut 4-1/2" x 8-1/2" and the strips were cut 2-1/2", twenty-five blocks were sewn, thirteen of Type A and 12 of Type B and set with a five by five layout
  • a 2" finished border was added after the top was made since I thought the quilt would look boring without it and once I found out the baby-to-be was a girl, I knew I could add more red dots to this quilt
  • this quilt measures 44" square and I was able to use the WOF of the other Cub fabric since it was 60" wide.
Since I added the border to this quilt, I wasn't looking forward to having to bury all of the threads when I quilted each row/pass.  While I was basting the quilt, I had the bright idea that I could still do edge-to-edge quilting since the border was only 2" and I like how it looks.  As with the Jungle Crosswalk Baby Quilt, I just did simple quilting with diagonal crosshatch lines and stitch in the ditch around each block with red thread.
It's a good thing that I am a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan having grown up several miles from Wrigley Fields.  Otherwise, this quilt which screams Chicago Cubs would not have been so fun to make, like the time I made a quilt with Chicago White Sox fabric for a gift. This is the last of the baby quilts needed to be made and I am now ready to work on the QALs, which I am so far behind, but only for a short time since we leave for another vacation next week.  After that,  I will be free for big time Summer Sewing. Yay!

17 comments :

  1. Great quilt for a Cubs fan, or a Cubs fan in the making! How nice that you bought this fabric years ago waiting to make this quilt, and now it's finally made!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this pattern for a focus fabric. It also qualifies as a 3 fabric quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great quilt and great pattern! I love this for a “fan” or “theme” baby quilt. And you can die cut it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Another great quilt finish Rose! You do have the knack for combining the right pattern with the right fabrics!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks good. Perfect baby quilt. It is sure to be well used!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is such a cute quilt, Rose! It almost makes me want to be a Cubs fan, but as a Minnesotan -- Go Twins! (sorry). Anyhoo, I love the fabric and the happy colors. It's perfect for those great nights at the game when the air gets a little cool, or cuddling under watching the game at home! You hit a homer with this one! Touch 'em all, Rose!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great planning by purchasing the fabric after the wedding! And how great is it that the backing fabric was 60" wide! Great finish for a little Cubs fan! Have a great vacay!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm so impressed that you have made all your baby quilts. I feel like a sloth in comparison. This one turned out as great as the others.

    ReplyDelete
  9. so cute, I love the colors!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You made a cute quilt! It was the perfect pattern to show off the fabric. I'm sure the new parents and baby will love it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cute baby quilt. Another great finish.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great way to use the Cubs fabric! This is an adorable baby quilt. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is so fun! I have a friend who is a life-long Cubs fan and I've been wanting to make a quilt for him and was never sure what to make, knowing it would have to be Cubs colors. This is such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really like the way you modified the pattern to use just the three fabrics. It really worked out well, proof that it's an excellent pattern :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh goodnight! I had some of that fabric and chopped it into small pieces because, well, what else do you do with it in Louisiana? No future Cub fans around here.
    You were brilliant to buy it before-hand. Finding discontinued fabric can be a bear. And the quilt is so cute that clearly it wants to be at Cubs game!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Rose! You were forced to make a White Sox quilt?! How rude. That's southsiders for ya. This turned out so darn cute!! I had to make a Cub's Clark quilt last summer - who even knew the name of the little cub mascot?! Not me, but now that nephew is about to get married and I think his bride-to-be does let him use that quilt. Oh well - I know your's will be well loved and used, and that baby will feel all the love you stitched into it. Safe travels on your upcoming vacay, but enjoy the week of sewing before you go! Happy Saturday! ~smile~ Roseanne

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments but due to traveling and my ineptitude with typing on either my iPhone or iPad, my response may be somewhat delayed. Thank You for your understanding.