A Special Baby Quilt

A dear friend is expecting her first grandchild any day now.  I wanted to make a quilt for the baby, but wanted to use up some of my scraps.  I found plenty in my chosen colors of gray pink and turquoise.  

Not being one to follow a pattern, I just jumped in and started making little nine patch blocks from 2 1/2 inch squares.  To bring some unity to the blocks, I used a white square in the center of each.  I pieced the blocks with more white Kona sashing, adding a wide strip on which I'd embroidered (by machine) the baby's name. 

 Here's the finished product.

I wish I'd taken some closeups, because the quilting is hard to see...  I quilted pebbles using white Aurifil everywhere you see white.  The rest was left unquilted.  The quilt is bound in a tiny gray chevron and backed with a pink print. 

I also forgot to take a picture of the back, and now the quilt is no longer with me!  I will confess, however, that I wasn't nearly as happy with the appearance of the back as I was with the front.  In my attempt to add lots of texture, I quilted around each pebble 3-4 times.  It looks a little messy on the back.

What did I learn with this quilt?  First, pebbling is VERY time- and thread-consuming!  Next,  I still have lots of work to do on accurate piecing.  (But thankfully, the heavy quilting hides a multitude of sins!)  I learned it might be a good idea to match bobbin thread to backing fabric when doing heavy quilting like pebbling.  Lastly, I learned that I LOVE PEBBLING!!!  Can't wait to do more!