To the moon!

Last week, a friend of mine adopted a baby. She only knew about a week before it was born that she was matched to the baby. She only got the bare necessities for the baby in case it wouldn't go through, but it did! So now with just one-week's notice, she has a newborn! I immediately knew I wanted to make the baby a quilt! 

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I went to my stash and found this set of 4" wide flannel strips leftover from this quilt I made last summer. I also had a 1-yard cut of light blue dot minky fabric for the back. A plan was made!

I used the Aurifil 50wt thread that was already threaded on my machine and just started sewing the strips together. Just 14 minutes later, the quilt top was finished!

I loaded the quilt on the longarm with the dot minky and 80/20 batting. Now, the 1-yard cut of dot minky had to be turned sideways to fit the quilt top. So technically the knap of the minky goes sideways instead of top to bottom. But I figured the baby won't care, so I did it anyways. (Don't tell the quilt police!) 

I've been using SewTite Magnums on my longarm for awhile now, and I love them! They're so fast and require zero effort of my getting-old hands. 

I have always used an 80/20 batting when quilting with minky. I love the added weight and "cuddliness" that it gives the quilt! 

I quilted a medium-sized meander all over the quilt using a variegated blue thread that was already loaded in my longarm. I was going for a fast finish!

Once quilted, I realized I had just 8 1/2" of the fabric I really wanted to use for the binding. I normally cut my binding 2 1/4" wide, and this quilt had minky, batting, and flannel - and the binding fabric was flannel! - so it was thicker than a usual quilt! The biggest binding strips I could cut were 2 1/8" wide. I was going to make it work!

I sewed the binding on with my usual 1/4" seam, and pulled it very taut over to the back when machine sewing it on (tutorial here). And it worked!! 

I love my little satin labels next to the rainbow binding!

And just look at that backing! All the heart eyes!

The flannel top and minky back make this quilt SO cuddly! It's just begging to be wrapped up with a baby inside!

I know the new mom will use this quilt lots for tummy time and baby snuggles!

I can't wait to gift it to her this week!

And maybe I'll even get a quilt photo back with a baby on it!

The finished quilt is about 36" x 36", and it took less than two hours to make! Win, win, win!