Baby quilt for a new little MQG member

Jessie, the president of the DC Modern Quilt Guild, just had a baby.  I was lucky enough to get to put together the blocks from the MQG members to make the quilt for the new little bundle.

Vivian and her quilt

I was inspired by Teaginny's Tiny Log Cabin Quilt.  So I asked for monochromatic log cabin blocks in each member's favorite color, out of their favorite fabrics and measuring only four to five inches.  I also asked each person to send some pale neutral scrap for the sashing.

Once I received quite a few blocks in the mail, I arranged them on my design floor.  I like to use the back of a picnic tablecloth.  The flannel side is very sticky and the other side is slippery so it is easy to roll up or fold and then flatten it back out without my blocks getting rearranged.

starting layout


Then I started improv piecing around each colorful block with whatever low volume bits I could find that worked.  Here is the first quarter,

1st quarter


the second quarter (after Henry trampled on it),

2nd quarter


the third quarter,

3rd quarter


and the fourth.

4th quarter


Once the top was all assembled I basted it,

needs hand quilting
and then did some quilting with white 20wt thread.


Then I added some black hand quilting around each block...

quilting


quilting


quilting


quilting


quilting
(that cerise block is mine!)


...and I hand stamped the back of the quilt with the first name of the person that made that block.

names


Linda attached the binding and hand stitched most of it and Anne finished the rest.  I'm so grateful that some people like to add binding because it is my least favorite step of the process.

Linda and Anne are awesome


I stamped DCMQG and wrote the year on it.

label 


These are 11 of the 24(!) people that submitted blocks for this quilt.

some contributors on retreat

36 comments:

  1. Melinda, it's amazing! The hand quilting and stamping are beautiful personal touches. Jessie will have to bring it to a meeting once she's out and about so we can all see it in person.

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  2. Love the idea of stamping everyone's name. What a treasure of a quilt!

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  3. That's so beautiful. What a lucky baby, I'm sure she'll treasure it!

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  4. Thanks for going through your process in photos. The quilt is absolutely exquisite!

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  5. Holy crap-o-la, lady! Now I need one of these...

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  6. This is fantastic quilt! I love how you mixed low volumes with colours! x Teje

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  7. Totally gorgeous! The stamping and hand quilting are beautiful additions!

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  8. It looks great. What a good idea for a bee quilt/multi maker quilt. Thanks for the shout out.

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  9. Oh my goodness that is the perfect quilt - I love it! I bet it will be treasured and loved.

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  10. So pretty! Love the details and the black stitching for contrast.

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  11. What an awesome quilt project with all it's details. I like the freedom given each member to make a block, the black hand stitching, the bright colors among the neutrals.... This will be enjoyed....

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  12. Such a treasure. Really beautiful!
    J Martin

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  13. Oh it's just gorgeous, Melinda - you did an amazing job with it (yet again!). Thank you so much for putting it together - can't wait to see it in person!

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  14. It came out so, so gorgeous. You ladies outdid yourselves! The stamping is perfect! How does that hold up in the wash?

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  15. What a delightful little quilt. Baby is lucky to be born into such a wonderful 'guild' family

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  16. Everything came together beautifully! You put so much thought and care into it, Melinda. A special quilt for our lovely Jessie and her baby.

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  17. Wow! So gorgeous! I love using a tablecloth too. The black stitches really make an already special quilt even more so. Love it!!

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  18. What a lovely quilt for the new baby. You did a great job putting everything together.

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  19. The whole thing came together beautifully. I love it!

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  20. You gave it lots of unique details and made the whole crew of quilters feel and look like a family. Cheers!

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  21. It's a beautiful quilt, Melinda! I love the hand stitching.

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  22. It's so do cute! I love the hand stitching too.

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  23. this is crazy-amazing!!!
    what a wonderful group project, i bet jessie was completely in love when she saw it! love that top photo with baby... swoon!

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  24. You probably won't remember me but I met you at the MidAtlantic Mod retreat. I did not realize that you were from WI (my husband and I are both UW=Madison alums and my daughter lives there now:).

    I love the black hand quilting stitch around the focal blocks - I often forget that I _can_ combine hand and machine quilting stitches. :)

    Linda

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  25. Beautiful gift! You were so generous in your contribution. Binding is probably my least favourite part too. I machine bind everything these days. Cuts off so much time!

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  26. One of my all-time favorite quilts EVER!!!

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  27. I'm loving everything about this! From the scrappy improv piecing, to all the thoughtful little details, especially the name stamping on the back.

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  28. That's such a wonderful baby present from all of you! And so pretty! :)

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  29. That is just the prettiest log cabin quilt ever! I love how you used the black quilting around each block to make them stand out just a little bit. Gorgeous!

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  30. So beautiful and inspiring to me! Thanks for posting.

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You are awesome! Thanks for leaving a comment :)