If you follow me on instagram you saw a peak of this quilt right before I gave it to my sister, and a little while before Oliver was actually born. And now that he's here I suppose it's about time I actually share the details for those who are interested! The pattern is the Pinwheel Baby Quilt by Moda, and I used the April Showers Charm Pack. This was my first patchwork quilt, and I found the process to be fairly straightforward. A baby quilt is a great project to start with because it's small, obviously, and that makes it fast and also easy to maneuver around on your machine for the quilting part. I quilted in the "ditch" of the stitches in the pinwheel part, and then used the darning foot on my machine to do sort of loopy free quilting in the outer white border. My favorite part of this pattern is definitely the little 3D prairie points that border the pinwheels. My only real regret is using regular cotton quilt batting instead of just a thin layer of cotton flannel inside, since the quilt turned out a little stiffer than I had hoped, but it should function well as a floor blanket for tummy time and playing for baby Ollie.

This post could be titled "Summer Sewing in the Depth of Winter," because I really sewed these things back in January and then put them in my closet right away (since they're not really winter wear) and honestly sort of forgot about them. Alan had been bugging me to use the new machine he bought me, since I hadn't really done much on it yet except a few minor repairs, and I'm sure I made him regret it. I don't sew often because every time I do it's a huge ordeal: bits of thread and scrap fabric strewn absolutely everywhere, patterns unfolded on the floor, iron steaming away on the dining room table. And I can't just work on it in little spurts, oh no. Once I get started I have a one track mind and I ain't stopping for hell or high water until it is done. If I'm going to sew regularly, I need to get better at keeping it contained and streamlining it into everyday life. Of course a sewing room all my own with lots of tables wouldn't hurt either ;)

Both of these are from Simplicity pattern #2215, by Cynthia Rowley. I sewed the skirt according to pattern, but I modified the dress by adding the cap sleeves and peter pan collar. The dress fabric is the same I used to trim Indigo's Easter dress last year, and the skirt fabric is vintage, picked up at the Kane County flea market. I lined the skirt with some plain unbleached muslin since it is rather sheer otherwise. Both have vintage wooden buttons that I ordered from Etsy. Now that warm weather just needs to hurry up so that I can actually put these to good use!