Project: Herringbone Baby Girl Quilt

So many inspirations on Pinterest, so little time. Am I right? 

So here it goes: ANOTHER baby quilt! This is the design I was working with:

But instead of "boy" colors 

(I love those colors but this is a baby girl we're doing it for), 

the mom-to-be and I picked out these three pinks:

So, I cut 41 white squares (5" squares) and 41 of the pink (5" squares again, TOTAL, not of each print) and marked a line in the middle of the white ones as a point of reference for sewing my quarter inch seam on each side of it, giving me 2 blocks. I know there are ways to make the herringbone pattern without doing half square triangles but I didn't want to try something too new on a baby quilt leaving me. Maybe next time (when I have more time and confidence to be brave). 

So, here they are all lined up and ready for sewing.

Chain piecing is ALWAYS going to be your best friend on these. Once again, with half square triangles, you sew your 1/4" seam on both sides of the line and then cut down the middle. After you cut them, press to the dark side (so the seam is under the dark fabric, not the light).  *These half square triangles, once sewn into rows, will end up being 4" squares and you will have 2 halves (1 white triangle and 1 pink triangle) as extra.*

Once that is done, my favorite part begins: LAYOUT!!

I know- this is already sewn together. What I did was sew each block into rows and then sewed row 1 and 2 together, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and left 9 hanging for a minute. Then you sew the 1-2 and the 3-4 combo rows together and 5-6 and 7-8 together with 9 still alone.. Then you sew 1-2-3-4 with 5-6-7-8 and add 9 on the end. Ta-da! Magic.

Here is the backing I picked out:

The first idea behind the quilting; 

I wasn't sure if I was going to outline just the white blocks or if I should do all of them:

I decided to outline both white and pink blocks:

I used my regular presser foot and used the width of it as the width of how far from the seam line I was going to quilt. The best part about quilting this quilt was not having to mark it up with a stencil. It made this a lot quicker. I know one day I'll be able to do much more quilting without marking a stencil but this is as far as my confidence goes right now.

All quilted and excess trimmed:

Final color choice for the binding:

Front view before wash:

Back view before wash:

Set out nice and pretty after the wash:

Front view after the wash:

Back view after wash:

Close up of the back (it almost looks like a cool tree branch):

I didn't realize how soon my friend was having her baby until I saw the picture of the baby online... Thankfully, I had all the pieces cut and ready to go (as I actually have 5 quilts in motion at this point). I was able to get all the piecing and quilting done within 2 days (which doesn't mean quality went down because I think this looks pretty dang good). I hope mom and baby enjoy this quilt. 

You can wait for the next post of a herringbone in different colors in just a few weeks or so to help inspire you perhaps.