Michael Miller came out with this cute Safari Friends fabric line and I couldn’t resist it for a quilt for a baby boy. I love blue and white together, and the grey in the fabric was the perfect third color. The line also had a really cute dotted fabric and then I pulled some great Kona solids to match the colors in the fabric.
I really wanted to highlight the safari fabric on the front of the quilt, but the characters on the fabric were so large that it would not have made sense to cut those into 2″ or 3″ squares – the animals would have been lost. So I ended up cutting 6.5″ squares of that fabric and then did 6.5″ nine-patch blocks out of the other fabrics.
I made the nine-patch blocks by cutting 2.5″ strips of fabric, sewing them into 3-strip sets and then subcutting those into 2.5″ segments. I then mixed them up and sewed three segments together to get the nine-patch blocks.
The quilt ended up being 36″ x 48″, with 48 blocks total.
I used a different batting with this quilt and I think maybe I have found the perfect batting. It was Quilter’s Dream Cotton batting and I really liked everything about it. I use Warm and Natural most of the time, but this batting can be a bit stiff (it does soften up the more you wash your quilt) and can cause creases in a quilt when the quilt is folded for a long time. I have used Hobbs 80/20, but that batting did not have enough weight for me – it was too light. The Quilter’s Dream was softer than the Warm and Natural but had more heft to it than the Hobbs. I can’t wait to try this batting on a larger quilt, where I will use two layers of it (which I’ve been doing lately with my larger quilts). I’ll keep you posted.
I used the Safari Friends animal fabric for the backing and I just think it’s so cute. I quilted the whole thing with Aurifil thread – Light Delft Blue – at 4.0 stitches per inch. I usually do a lot more quilting, but because the front of the quilt was a little busy, I felt I didn’t want to quilt every single line, so I outlined the larger blocks and left it at that.
The binding is a striped fabric from Hawthorne Threads. Have you ever ordered fabric from this online shop? Not only do they have a great selection of designer fabrics, but they digitally print their own line of fabrics and this stripe is one of those. If you like stripes, they have a great selection and so many colors.
I used my regular machine binding technique to do the mitered binding.
And because I think they are so cute, I went ahead and make a reading pillow to go with the quilt! The front has a pocket where you can slip a couple of books inside.
Thanks for dropping by – I hope you’re making something!
Elaine
Beech Tree Lane Handmade 
Just lovely and the book pillow just great, never thought of that ,thank you
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Another gorgeous quilt! I love all your designs.
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You find the cutest fabrics.
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I have never tried Quilter’s Dream batting – I’ve always been a Hobbs user. I will have to try that – I’ve seen it, but never bought it.
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That is so cute! I wish I had a baby boy to make it for. I just love the materials you used.
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Fab! Would love try this in maybe light greens and cream.
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Looks really cute, and the pillow is a great addition, practical. What size is the pillow?
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The pillow is 18×18.
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Love it, Elaine and thanks for the batting tip. I made two of those book pillows a few years back…so fun.
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This could not be any more darling. I love everything about this quilt!
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This is a lovely quilt. The fabric is adorable. I love Quilters Dream Cotton batting too. It’s so soft.
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You did a outstanding job on this quilt. Yes, I have bought from Hawthorne Threads. Almost every piece of fabric I buy is from them. The quality of their in-house fabric is the best out there. The prices are pretty good & they have great sales. Do I sound like their biggest fan? Well I kinda am. lol
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What loft of the Quilters Dream Cotton did you use. There are four: Request, Select, Deluxe and Supreme?
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I used Supreme. I like the extra loft.
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This little quilt is very sweet! The fabrics look great together and I love your layout. The additional reading pillow is a clever way to accent the quilt! Thank you for sharing!
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This looks so beautiful, I never tried quilting but now I will look for that nice fabric in Belgium ! That will take some time I am afraid, so maybe next year I can start also. Thank you so much for the explanation !
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