Hipster Baby Quilt {Gender Neutral Quilt}

Whoa.  Monday.  Too soon.

Nate and I were busy little DIYers again this weekend.  Don't worry.  We also managed to sneak in quite a bit of fun and sleep.  Lots of glorious sleep.

I spent a few hours finishing up this hipster gender neural baby quilt.  A friend asked me back in the beginning of June if she could hire me.  She didn't need the quilt until September.  I'm pretty good at saying "yes" and forgetting that I don't know how to manage my time.  I finished this sucker a couple of weeks early.  Check out those time management skills.

(Don't mind the poorly photo-shopped blob above the quilt.  Nate snapped this photo super fast and my crazy pony tail was sneaking out of the top.)

My friend wanted a gender neutral quilt that wasn't the traditional green or yellow.  I found the awesome Jay Cyn Designs for Birch at fabricworm.  Gender neutral is hard for me because I feel like it still tends to lean towards one sex or the other.  I'm hoping the eclectic mix of fabrics will work either a baby boy or girl.

I really like the Birch organic line of fabrics.  They are ridiculously soft!  I will definitely be using these for quilts in the future!

Everyone is always impressed by quilting. The basics really aren't hard.  You truthfully don't even have to sew super straight.  I mean straight is probably important if you are entering a quilting contest or something.  If you're making something for a friend's baby, you're golden with sort of straight.  The other beauty of quilting is that the quilts tend to crinkle as they are washed.  The "crinkling" will also cover anything that isn't 100% straight.  This is still hard for my Type A self to handle but Kim has taught me well.

I started by cutting out my rectangles.  Mine are 11.5"x4".  I laid them out in the pattern that I liked.  I then sewed each row together.  I then connected the rows. I used a 1/4" seam allowance for each step.  I then placed the quilt top on top of the batting and quilt backing and pinned together.  I "quilted" along each horizontal and vertical row.  I then squared the quilt and added the binding.  (I used this tutorial for machine binding because I don't have the patience to hand sew.)

Of course, I couldn't have completed this quilt without my trusty assistant.

So helpful.

I have some of this fabric leftover and I think it will also make an adorable pennant quilt!

Have I convinced any of you to take up quilting?  Who thinks everyone should find out the sex of their baby before birth so their friends have an easier time picking out gifts? ;)