Fox and Friends Baby Quilt - Finish #013

Our friends are having another boy.  It is the same couple that received the Dinosaur baby quilt, my 4th quilt.  This is the 13th and I love seeing how my quilting skills have improved.

Fabric - Fox and Friends.  I got a layered cake from Massdrop that included these fabrics and a matching pillow panel and planned to use it on the next boy quilt I would be making.  I know that it has oranges like the Dinosaur quilt since it is going to the same family.

Pattern - Sassafras Lane Alligator Alley.  As soon as I saw this pattern, I knew it would be a good fit for the Fox and Friends layered cake I had. I wish the pattern had more detail, but I figured it out.  Once I had it figured out, it was pretty easy to put together!  I was able to make the quilt top in an afternoon.  I added borders to make the quilt a bit bigger and so I would have borders to quilt :).

Quilting - I went a bit crazy on this one, but I love how it turned out.  I've been interested in trying ruler quilting. Since I would be giving this quilt away, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try  it out.  I loved using the straight ruler to make my lines much straighter.  I ended up using the straight ruler to assist in the quilting of the non-focal print triangles. Ruler work takes longer than free motion, but it was definitely worth the extra time. I tried to use some of the curved rulers, but I wasn't loving the result, so I ended up just using the straight ruler.

In each of the focal print triangles, I rotates different free motion quilting designs.  FMQ designs were triangle paisley, wood grain, spirals with loops, loops, and pebbles.  If you look closely at the center most focal triangles, you will see the baby boys initials....... J.W.  I love this added detail.

Batting - I've continued trying new batting.  This one was the thinner version of the Quilters Dream Cotton.  Very easy to quilt with and obviously lighter than the thicker version.

Binding - I wanted to throw in more orange with the binding.  This is the second binding I've done orange on and I love the results.  Additionally, I did the thick, 1 inch binding which I think frames the quilt well.

Lastly, after the Latifah Saafir class with the Music City Modern Quilters Guild, I had to get a design wall.  It was super helpful when laying out the focal prints to make sure it was balances (much easier than using the floor).