Pastel baby quilt

Edit March 2023: It seems almost all of people who come to this page are directed here from Pinterest. Since I don’t come to this blog much anymore (this is the first time in at least a year that I’ve been back here), I’d like to address the questions I get asked about the quilt most often:

• I didn’t have a pattern to make this quilt – I just cut a heap of 6-8 inch squares and arranged them in a way that I liked.
• I machine pieced the quilt, but hand quilted it, again without using a template.
• Because I hand quilted it, The hoop didn’t reach the very edge of the quilt, so the borders are not quilted. They would look better if they were. I exclusively machine quilt now and don’t have the patience for hand quilting, even though there are times when hand quilting looks way better.
• The borders were made from scraps left over from the squares I had cut.
• The batting is a thick polyester. This works well to make the quilt puffy, but polyester fibres came through the quilt. I don’t quilt with man-made fibres anymore, preferring wool, cotton, bamboo and even silk. Those quilts are heavier, more expensive, less puffy, but warmer in winter and cooler in summer, and there are fewer fibres poking through.
• Yes, you can copy the quilt. I’m sorry I don’t have a pattern for you to follow, but just do as I did and guess. It’s very forgiving and you can’t really screw it up.
• If you feel inclined to send me a picture of the quilt you made that is inspired by this one, or a comment about this quilt, I’d love to hear from you. My email is thepurplegiraffe@gmail.com
• The quilt was made in 2006ish. It didn’t really stand the test of time, but I did treat it poorly. I have since had two children and they lay on it, played on it, pooped and puked on it, dragged it around the house and even used it outside as a picnic blanket. It was thrown in the washing machine on a regular cycle with regular detergent and hung out in the sun to dry. It faded a lot, but the biggest damage came from the fabric perishing. It was cheap fabric, cheap batting and cheap thread, and eventually it started ripping along the machine- and hand-quilted seams. I still have it in storage somewhere, where it’s probably perishing even more. All my quilts are made to use and they are never treated gently. The quilts made with better quality materials have all lasted much longer than the cheaper ones. So don’t make my mistake – use as good quality materials as you can afford and your quilt will last much longer.
• If you have further questions, please email me at thepurplegiraffe@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to answer. I clearly haven’t been answering questions on this page – sorry about that.

Initially made for a friend’s baby, but I liked it too much to give away.