My husband asked me to make another baby quilt for a coworker who is expecting a baby this summer so I found this quilt that I thought would be fun for a new baby boy.
This quilt pattern is called “Big Bear” by Annie Brady. I found it online and I think at one time it was a free pattern using the Big Sky fabric line by Annie Brady for Moda. I was able to buy the pattern download directly from Annie Brady’s website here.
I only saw the cute bear and thought – that would make an adorable baby blanket. I didn’t look too closely at the pattern or the size of the quilt. I also thought I would have enough fabrics in my stash for a little bear quilt until I started cutting. Most of the blocks are 4 inch or 7 1/2 inches. This is a big bear!
I had to do some scrap matching and swapping as I ran out of fabrics.
Once I got all the pieces cut out, I put them up on my design wall so that I could sew them together correctly. It felt a little like a puzzle! Really, this quilt was quick and easy and a lot of fun to put together.
These eyeballs reminded me of all my flower circle appliques from last summer. I’m a pro at them now!
So the quilt from the pattern measures 59 1/2 inches X 70 inches but I wanted it to be more of a baby quilt so I didn’t add the last border which measures 7 inches. My quilt came out to 46 inches X 55 1/2 inches. It’s a little bigger than I would normally make a baby quilt but maybe this one will take the baby through the toddler years too.
Another option would have been to cut the block measurements in half but that sounds like too much math for me.
I wanted to quilt an all over design on this that would be quick and easy for me to do on my sewing machine so I went with horizontal lines a little over an inch apart.
I marked the lines and used my walking foot. I’ll need to wash out the marking lines when I finish the quilt.
I thought I might go back and outline the bear after I finished the horizontal lines but I decided that might be too much. I don’t like to have too much quilting so that the quilt is a little softer.
I found this blue polka dot fabric at a fabric sale downtown so I used it as backing and I have plenty left over for the binding.
My binding is finished and ready to be sewn on and after a quick wash, this baby gift is ready to go!
