Big Bear + Little Bear Quilt - Finished!

Honestly I've had so many family members adding babies to their families this year!  Three cousins this summer alone!

Big Bear + Little Bear Quilt
Thompson Pass, Alaska
the wind was blowing the quilt against Jeff, but he was happy to have his feet/legs hidden...

After my cousin Erin announced her pregnancy, her mom started pinning ideas for baby quilts incorporating some Native American designs (part of baby's heritage).  When I saw that, I knew that I had the perfect fabric for a baby quilt for her!  And click here to see the quilt that my aunt Loretta made for her new granddaughter!

I dd not use the totem pole fabric in this quilt.

I had purchased this Big Bear Little Bear fabric through Massdrop about a year and a half ago because my director at the time was expecting (you can see that finished quilt here).  I had plenty of fabric left over, plus some other pieces I had ordered, so I just had to find a good layout.

I looked on Pinterest for a Plus Quilt, and found this FREE pattern from For the Love of George (link here to show her some love).  I downloaded the pattern which was very easy to use and following it produced this lovely little quilt!  I didn't have enough of each color to follow the pattern exactly, but I was able to fill in (mainly around the edges) with other fabrics.  Honestly, there might be 15 or 16 different fabrics there...

Some things I really liked about this pattern:  She tells you where to place your fabrics, depending on how many different ones you have, and is very specific on how much fabric you need what sizes to cut, etc.  Also, she has a coloring page if you want to create your own design.  AND she has this pattern for queen size.  I just might end up using that...

Worthington Glacier

I did add a brown border on the outside, the same color as my binding, because I knew I would be long-arm quilting it on my friend's machine.  From the first time I used her machine I learned that it is helpful to have a border on the quilt for long-arm quilting; if nothing else, it allows a bit that you can cut off when you trim it.  Plus, I do like the look of a wide binding, and this border gives that allusion.

Mile 61(ish) of the Richardson Highway, facing North.

For the back I purchased more of the Kona solid brown (I think it's Chocolate) but I didn't buy enough!  As I was making the backing (the day before going to my friend's to quilt it), I realized that I didn't have enough fabric to make the backing as big as one should for long-arm quilting.  Luckily, I did have a piece in my stash that worked well.  It's a fabric that looks like old world maps.  The color was perfect and you can even find the US on it (including Alaska).

bad photo, but you get the point...
the all-over quilting pattern is hearts, and about 1/4 of the hearts have a swirl coming off of them
I think that swirl looks like the heart is flexing; be strong baby Ellie!

The quilt got to my cousin's house prior to baby's arrival, so we had time to chat a bit about it (I love that texting exists!).  I was so happy to hear that they liked the quilt!  I've been able to see pics of my newest cousin, who has now arrived, and has the adorable name Ellie!  Oh, I love it!  Enjoy your quilt, Ellie!  Make sure your momma introduces us before you're super big!

I called this the Big Bear + Little Bear Quilt, to incorporate both the name of the fabric and the name of the pattern.

Worthington Glacier

Big Bear + Little Bear is my seventh quilty finish of 2017.  Whew!  :-)


Linking up to:
Moving it Forward
Main Crush Monday
Love Laugh Quilt
Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Freemotion by the River
Sew Can She
Needle & Thread