Zoe's Quilt

The big reveal
Originally uploaded by kerner

My friends Matt and Meredith are adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia. They passed court and will be traveling sometime this month to pick up their new daughter Zoe. Since my close group of friends starting having kids a couple of years ago, I have sort of created a tradition of making a baby quilt for each of them.

So far I've made four. Before Zoe's quilt, I've made a pink & brown quilt for a baby girl, and primary colors + neon green quilt for a baby boy, and an orange and green zoo animals quilt for soon-to-be niece or nephew (they're not finding out).

My favorite square
Originally uploaded by kerner

For Zoe, I wanted to do something different. I ordered a charm pack and a fat quarter bundle of African fabrics, to make a modern patchwork quilt with an African twist. I lucked out on my trip to San Francisco and found a large remnant of fabric from Mali at Britex Fabrics that I used as the backing. More pictures here.

I really love how this quilt turned out. Originally I was going to butt all the squares up together, but my husband/style advisor (ha!) thought it was too much. I added the black cotton sashing and it all just came together.

I really got frustrated with my quilting on this project. I have just been doing it by setting the stitch length as long is it will go, basting and pinning, and hoping everything turns out ok. In my post-project cleaning frenzy, I found all the sewing machine feet and got them organized - hot dang, I have a walking foot and I didn't even know it! For the next babe that makes its appearance, I promise a much more evenly quilted quilt!

Handmade by
Originally uploaded by kerner