Pink Heirloom Baby Quilt

This post is about an heirloom baby quilt I made around five or six years ago. When my daughter got engaged I really got into the heirloom sewing thing. I learned smocking, and with it, many heirloom techniques. At our local quilt shop was a class in making an heirloom baby quilt, and I just absolutely had to make it. This class was taught by Kathy Awender, who also taught us the Smocked Pockets Tote Bag, (now called French Smocked Tote Bag),  Bashful Bunny Diaper Clutch, and several other items I haven't yet mentioned.

The quilt is made of the palest pink lawn, Savannah pink blush by Kaufman fabrics. How on earth did I remember that? I have no idea. It consisted of 12 blocks, a few of which I'll show you below:

This heart block has a piece of a vintage handkerchief in ecru that I happened to have and didn't mind cutting up for this quilt.

Another bit of the handkerchief set in a crazy quilt block. It has scraps from this and quite a few other projects. This is about the closest I'll get to crazy quilting. Not that I have anything against crazy quilting, I'm just not enamored of it the way so many others are.

Sharks teeth! And ribbon roses on the sides of the basket.

Another block with some of the handkerchief and a bit of the quilting on the lower sash.

I made this quilt several years ago, while I was just learning all the heirloom sewing techniques by machine. It makes a great sampler quilt, with all the various techniques, such as lace shaping, puffing, and so many others. I'm sure you are asking if I hand quilted this, but no, I didn't. By the time I got around to putting it together I was so tired of it I just machine quilted it so I could be done with it. What is interesting is that it may have been very nice to hand quilt, as the batting is made of silk. I happened to attend Road to California, a quilt show held in Ontario, California every January, and came across a gentlemen from Michigan who sold silk batting. I ordered a queen size batting and used just a bit for this quilt. It is unbelievably soft and lightweight.

So, have you picked up on the fact that I made this quilt before my granddaughter was born? So how did I know it should be pink? I didn't, so I made a duplicate set of blocks in blue! They are all packed away (somewhere) with lavender sachets to keep them sweet while I await a baby grandson.