Saturday, January 28, 2023

Flannel-palooza, or Fluffy Side Up

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Today's blog is brought to you by Snicklefritz the cat, official quilt tester.  Three of these little flannel quilts will be going to the Community Baby Shower early next week.

I've been on a flannel kick lately, inspired by the winter and by an overabundance of the soft fluffy fabric. And what's better to make out of flannel than baby quilts?

Two of the quilts were made with these Tumbler shapes, cut with the Accuquilt die cutting machine.  This scrappy one has blue and green prints for the darker pieces, and various lights.

There are lots of fun prints here, from frogs and bugs to dogs and crocodiles.  I think this is the last of that Baby Boy print.  

I'm hoping someone's little guy will find this quilt warm and cuddly.

The second tumbler quilt is a classic two-color quilt in yellow with a green binding.

Duckies!  And a soft plain yellow.  It's easy to tell which side is the right side with printed flannel, but it's harder with solid colors.  Both sides are soft, of course, but there really is a difference.  I had to keep checking to make sure the fluffy side was on top.

Each of these quilts use 48 tumblers.  I cut 24 each of lights and darks for the scrappy one, and 24 each of duckies and solid yellow for the second one.

Once the rows were sewn together, I straightened the edge with a long ruler and a rotary cutter.  The quilts measure 33 in. x 35.5 in. finished.

More duckies on the back!  I got this fabric at the quilt group silent auction last fall.  It came from the stash of a very nice lady (Mary G.) who had passed away.

The third flannel quilt is a Trip Around the World, and it started like this, as a kit I cut from scraps.

I know some (most?) people strip piece this pattern, but I sew it from individual squares.  I keep track of the rows like this, pinning them to the makeshift design wall with paper row number labels.  It helps to keep me on track, especially since I don't usually sew for long blocks of time.

Plus there are furry distractions laying on the pieces!

In the end it came out okay.  The pieces are 5 in. squares (cut), and the quilt finished at 40.5 in. square.

And guess what the theme is---

That's right!  Even more duckies! 

The back is this gorgeous Hoffman print.  I don't remember where/when I acquired it, but I wish I had a whole bolt.

The Community Baby Shower contributions are due at the end of the month, which is Tuesday, believe it or not.  Since two of these quilts are meant for boys, I might try to make a pink one in the spirit of equality if I have time.  Plus the RSC color for February is pink!

In other news, here's my last dark blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge project for January.

I made these Capital T blocks a few years ago from reproduction 1800s fabrics.  The plan had always been to quilt them by the block, so now I'm finally getting going on it.

There will be some handwork, but I don't mind at all.

We're expecting snow here, so I'd better wind this up and get to the store before it starts.  I don't want to be stuck in the house like this guy!  (He wiggled out right away, of course.)

If we do get snowed in, we'll at least have plenty of chocolate brownies my Little Guy and I made yesterday.  Bet you can tell his favorite thing is licking the spoon!

I hope you have time for your favorite things (and people and animals!) today.  Happy Quilting!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Alycia at Finished or Not Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap













 



 



15 comments:

  1. Lovely baby quilts. Your Capital T blue blocks are beautiful and I am looking forward to seeing your quilt as you go finished. Snicklefritz the cat is just so funny. Little Guy is absolutly right is there somenthing better than licking the spoon? Have a nice weekend, Sylvia

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  2. Those baby quilts are sweet as can be, and they look nice and warm, too, Sylvia! Looks like they pass the snuggle-ability test, too. Yum on the chocolate brownies - I would be licking that spoon right along with your buddy!

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    1. Thanks, Diann! I have such good memories of licking the spoon when my mother and grandmother were baking.

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  3. Those are two very sweet little quilts, they look so snuggly too.

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    1. Thanks, Vicki! I'm a big fan of flannel quilts, even big ones, this time of year!

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  4. You inspire me to make some flannel tumber quilts too. Do you have the 4.5" die or the bigger one. I know I have a box of flannel but the question is if any are appropriate for babies. Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Hi, Bonnie! I have the big die, it's 6.5 inches tall. Good luck with your flannel!

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  5. Nice quilts. I've never learned the quilt blocks then put them together thing. I can quilt small things. Large things are hard to quilt (can't turn that much fabric under my small arm on my machine).

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl. I have the same problem with quilting large items. Quilt as you go is one way to solve that problem. Here's a link to some directions I made if you're interested: https://treadlestitches.blogspot.com/2016/06/farewell-to-downton-abbey.html

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  6. What fun Duckie fabrics! I too have an abundance of flannel that I plan to make into some usable projects. You always inspire me with your projects to make a little progress as I can. --TerryK@OnGoingProjects

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    1. Thanks, Terry! Little by little, things get done. Have a good week!

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  7. wonderful baby quilts - I miss my brownie faces - they grow so fast

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  8. Oh Snicklefritz!!!what a charachter!! Those flannel quilts are so soft and cuddly looking - I want to come over now!!!
    your RSC blocks are GORGEOUS!!!!

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  9. I just got off the phone call discussing a baby quilt commission so I'm looking for ideas! Love the chocolate smile.

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Thanks for reading! Post a comment--I want to know what you think!