Carousel Lap Quilt, Baby Sized

I recently found out that I'm going to be a great aunt in August. I'm so happy. My nephew is a doll and his wife is a sweetheart and they're going to make fabulous parents. Even better, they have just relocated right near my son and his family, which means I'll be able to swing by to visit them when I'm in town to see the grandkids. More babies to cuddle, yes!

I was so excited that I popped out a quick quilt for Baby Girl. I used my favorite quilt pattern book, Cozy Modern Quilts, by Kim Schaefer. She includes a lot of easy patterns that use big pieces; good for playing with cute kid prints. This pattern here is the Carousel Lap Quilt.

I thought I'd do an animal theme, so I went to Hart's with my advising aesthetician, Jessica, and together we tore apart the animal print section of the store. The nice Hart's ladies were probably glad to see the back of us that day.

We came up with some very cute options though; to wit:

Tigers on an orange background

Octopuses undersea

Skateboarding bears

and greedy gators.

This pattern is super quick and easy to put together. The finished block size is 8 by 8 and the offset corners mean that you don't have to actually match anything. Well, not precisely anyway.

I pieced the top in just a few days and, during a quick stop in Pacific Grove, I found a very cute animal print fabric for the backing.

I'm hoping Baby Girl Niece will spend happy hours pointing out all the little animals romping on her quilt.

Later, Gator!