Simple Baby Boy Little Brother Quilt

I made an elaborate quilt for my first nephew a few years ago, I agonized over every color, each fabric and the meaning it had at great length. It was a learning quilt with animals of the world on the back, Noah's ark images, ABC's in a barnyard style, etc. It was a lovely quilt and one that I spent many, many hours working on. To this day he sleeps with it every night.

Well my nephew is now going to be a big brother as my sister-in-law is expecting a little boy in five weeks. So in a rush, I wanted to make a simple quilt that had just as much love in it, but with a fraction of the time to make it.

My office was quickly turned into my sewing room. I brushed the dust off my boxes marked "for the quilting room" that have not been touched since the day we packed up our house and moved when I was nine months pregnant. With a Moda charm pack I decided to whip together the quickest quilt I know how to make one afternoon while my daughter played with my husband. 

 I have never made a charm pack quilt, but it was fun. The fabric's all go together perfectly as they are from the same designer and family, all cut perfectly, and ready to go! So In two hours time, I made a satisfying amount of progress.

 I like a lot of busy prints offset by some white on a cheerful baby quilt. I always try to make baby quilts that will get used well into the toddler stage or even older.

 I did my best at random placement but evenly spaced out similar prints. The general theme is barnyard with three or four extra squares that are out of place, but work I think.

 The white rows starting to take shape, I really like where this one is headed.

 So one morning this week I was without my laptop but on a two hour conference call so I put it on MUTE and SPEAKERPHONE and zipped through finishing up the top while listening to some new product training for work from my home office / sewing studio.

 I took these outside and the twig was the only way to keep the wind from whipping my quilt down the street. It was a chilly morning and I didn't want to be out long enough to find a cute way to take this picture, you get the idea.

This morning I stopped at my LQS and found the bugs. I love them for the back of this quilt. This quilt is about the earth and either what lives in it, on it, or grows out of it. You never know, maybe this new nephew of mine will be a farmer. Maybe a landscape architect, maybe a horticulturist. Maybe the silly bright bugs will make him smile and his Momma can ask "where is the pig", "where is a tractor"...

Now, with five weeks to her due date, I certainly hope I can find a few more hours to baste, quilt, and bind this so I can surprise her and her husband at the hospital on my new nephews birth day. Here goes nothing!