"Children at Play" Stroller Quilt

Okay, do you all remember (what might as well have been called) my "Ode to Sarah Jane" post recently?  Well, this week's quilt comes out of that same Sarah-Jane-fabric obsession.

It's all crinkly because it's pre-washed and ready for baby-lovin'!

It all started when I got pregnant with my fourth.  I had already made my twin-size quilts for Elyse and Henry's beds, Charlotte had her crib-size quilt, so how could we leave Baby #4 out of all the "Children at Play" fun?  My friend, Tracy, knew that I had so many scraps leftover from my previous two girl quilts that I planned to go ahead and make Marian's baby quilt from those.  Yet, she also knew she just had to give me a gift that could be described by "Children at Play" and "quilt" all at once. (And she was right!)  Enter: the stroller quilt.

Tracy got started using this Moda Bake Shop recipe.  But the half-square triangles just weren't working for her.  So she started over and made my Marian's quilt from regular 5-inch blocks.

The mysterious Marian on the quilt which Tracy made for me her.

The blocks for today's quilt are the half-square triangles that Tracy had left over from my baby's quilt.  (Fun fact: at the baby shower, Tracy addressed the quilt to "Baby Mirabelle", and even the cake had "Mirabelle's" name on it.  That's right... we did a little switcheroo at the last minute, so "Marian" did not come into existence until about 3 hours after her birth!)

Does this little girl look like your daughter?  Then this is the quilt for you!

Here's Tracy's "Betsy", just smelling the flowers.

From left to right: hopscotch in light pink, doll & bow tie, flowers in fuschia 

Little pink shoes in one corner - so sweet!

A summertime romper, pinwheels, and more hopscotch.

Come on... you know you're in love with these fabrics now, too!

Since spring is coming up, I did not put a layer of batting in the middle.  So it's just the cotton quilt top, and the minky backing.  I did some straight-line quilting only on the white sashing.  That keeps it light and fluffy.

The minky back is pieced because, guess what - that's what I had leftover from previous projects!  This is the spirit of quilting at its best: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."  But it works perfectly that the part that folds over when tied is the pink part!

See the ties on the side? 

The ties on the side allow you to tie it to a stroller or to a car seat. I found that it didn't work too well for Marian in her car seat - she was drowning in it!  

But it works just great to be tied onto a stroller for a child up to (probably) 2 1/2 years old.

It can also be used to line the base of a pack 'n play.  (Be sure to take out your tape measure so that you won't be disappointed.)  This is how I use mine; see Marian modeling this use at the beginning of the post.

It just screams "Spring!", don't you think?

"Charlotte is under the weather today; she sends her regrets.  But I am so happy to be modeling this week's quilt!"

Quilt stats:
Measures: 25 x 31.5 inches
Pieced by: Tracy and me
Quilted by: me
Fabrics: Children at Play by Sarah Jane, and others from our stash.
(Note: no batting in this quilt)


Auction Details:
Please place a bid in the comment section at the end of this post.  If you are posting as "anonymous" please be sure to leave your name in the comment (e.g. Jane Doe bids $75).
-Starting bid: $75 (increasing by $5 minimum)
(100% of proceeds go toward brain cancer research!)
 -Auction ends Wednesday, March 27 at 8 pm EST.

Making my home prettier, one piece of Sarah Jane fabric at a time.  :)

P.S.  How cute is this little burp cloth / lovey that I put together for Marian this week?  The top is actually pieced from three different scraps of the same "Just Stay Little" fabric.  I think it's my favorite out of the whole line.  I like to do little projects like this because 1) they're quick! and 2) it gives me an opportunity to try new skills that I don't want to test on bigger projects that are more important to me.
  For example, on this little mini-quilt I learned:
1) the way I quilted it made most of the patching indiscernible to most anyone except for me and Ms. Sarah Jane herself - success!
2) there is a real way to sew a Y-seam, and I need to learn it - not a success :(
3) it was harder than I thought to catch the binding on the back by sewing an invisible seam right next to the binding on the front - not a success :(