Nine Little Elephants: A Baby Quilt

Nine Little Elephants 

My newest baby quilt creation -  nine little elephants from nine different fabrics. I used the same nine fabrics for the ear and border. I saw a pattern here, but created my own. This finished quilt is about 45"x48".

Using Wonder-Under and a high iron, I attached each pachyderm onto a 7"x8" white rectangle.  Then I top-stitched each one with a zig-zag stitch, and added the border (again the border and ear are the same material).  The finished squares were 12" each.  Next I joined each square and row with a white border (the same fabric the elephants were mounted on).

I sent the quilt top to Bayberry Quilts for the finishing touches. They quilted and bound it with the blue fabric I used for the upper right elephant and the border in the opposite corner.

Finally I included a handmade elephant card and gave this quilt for a baby shower gift.  

Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt in Blue

The Eric Carle fabrics have inspired me to create another crib-size quilt.   This quilt also sparked my creativity.  Thanks, Mom, for finding it!

All the fabric (with the exception of the blue, yellow, and green pieces) is from the Eric Carle Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric line.  I began in the center with the caterpillar from the draft stopper panel.   Then I added a 2" border of the color dots, followed by the 3" squares: yellow, green, fruit, and junk food.  Next I stitched a blue border around this center piece and another blue border around the food on the sides; and I joined them all together.  Finally, I sewed a strip of 8" squares - color dots, green fabric, and green caterpillars with texts - to finish the top and bottom.  This completed the top.  Again I brought this baby quilt to Bayberry Quilts to be professionally quilted and bound. I used the same blue fabric for the binding and also the back. 

NOTE: In order to stretch all the Eric Carle fabric I had, I interspersed the fruit and junk food squares with the yellow and green fabric and along the sides with the blue border.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

The children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has metamorphosized into another crib-size quilt!  This baby quilt is a gift for my friend's new baby girl.  My friend is an art educator and Eric Carle is close to her heart, so I know they will treasure it for years to come.  

I purchased  four separate Very Hungry Caterpillar fabrics from The Eric Carle Museum: the fruit and junk food, very hungry caterpillar panel, very hungry caterpillar draft stopper for the sun, and color dots for the background.

The quilt is divided into three sections: top, middle, and bottom.  I cut pieces from the different fabrics and arranged them two per section.  Next I sewed the dot fabric around each piece and sewed the three sections together.   Most of the time (when I quilt) I center the blocks.  However, I saw another Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt that was off-centered, which reminded me that quilts do not have to be symmetrical.  In fact, the unbalanced blocks are pleasing to my eye.

Once I completed the quilt top, I brought the top and bottom pieces to The Bayberry Quilt and Gift Shoppe.  Within a few weeks, they quilted and bound it.   I am very pleased with the meandering orange lines throughout the quilt; it's as if the little insect really is inching its way over the leaf and through the fruit until it transforms into a beautiful butterfly.