A Quilt for a Nephew

I started quilting during the 2020 shutdown. While everyone else was making sourdough I was learning how to piece a quilt top on my friend’s great-grandmother’s sewing machine. 2020 also happens to be the year my first nephew was born. In honor of this sweet addition and my newfound hobby, I decided that each new niece and nephew would receive a personalized baby quilt made by yours truly. Now this was well before I bought my longarm, so I used my domestic machine and Emily Dennis’s zigzag walking foot tutorial to do the quilting. I also used her Hopscotch II pattern, which is one of my favorites and my go-to recommendation for beginners. The patterned fabric is from the Brave Enough to Dream collection by Dear Stella.

Hopscotch II pattern by Quilty Love. Quilted on a domestic machine.

Fast Forward to 2021, and I have another nephew, but also a sweet foster baby, and very little time for quilting. I am sad to say that I did not even start working on this baby quilt until my nephew was almost one. I used the same quilt pattern as before, but this time with buttery soft Art Gallery Fabrics solids and patterned fabric from their Little Forrester collection. I put this quilt on my fancy new longarm machine and quilted it with the Ikat #1 pantograph from Urban Elementz.

Hopscotch II pattern from Quilty Love. Ikat #1 Pantograph from Urban Elementz.

I am thrilled with how this quilt turned out. I had been eyeing the Ikat pantograph on Instagram, and I knew this was my perfect chance to use it. It almost mimics woodgrain, which goes along with the woodland creatures on the fabric. This was my first time using Art Gallery Fabrics, and I have to admit, I am a total convert. The feel of the fabric is like nothing else. And as if I needed any other reason to choose this collection, my nephew was named for a famous Hufflepuff, so of course I had to use fabric that featured a little badger. Oh, the sweetness.