A Vintage Modern Baby Quilt

After seeing all the projects making the rounds lately made with Lecien's Flower Sugar line of fabrics, I bought a small fat quarter bundle myself on Etsy.  And I can heartily recommend Strawberry Blossom Mercantile - though at the risk of the rest of you grabbing up what's left of the fabrics.

 I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them, until I happened across a set of vintage embroidery patterns for a baby quilt.  I saved the files, resized them to fit my intended blocks, and printed them all out.

So I went out and got some Kona cotton in "snow" - which matches the cream in the Flower Sugar very nicely.  Then I sat down with pen and paper and worked out my blocks, and block sizes.  (Don't get too caught up in the math on the sheet.  Some of it ended up needing correcting.  I'll give you all the numbers later, I promise)

This quilt will have 10 embroidered blocks, and 10 patchwork blocks, plus some borders.  It's a variant on a Disappearing Nine Patch - with lots of white space.  All the empty space gives it a more modern look, contrasting nicely with the vintage embroidery.

The embroidery needs to be completed before the quilt is pieced.  I cut my embroidery blocks larger than the final block will be, so that I've got room to work and hoop the piece.  Each of my blocks was cut as a 7" square.  Then I taped the pattern to my light box, followed by the fabric square (with centers marked on both) and traced.

My weapon of choice for tracing embroidery patterns is a Frixion pen.  Yes, I know, there are all sorts of mixed reviews on them.  I like them a lot.  I get a nice, sharp line to work with.  And I've never had the lines NOT disappear.  Now, I do not starch my fabric before I work, which might have something to do with lines not disappearing.  And I've only tried the black pens.  YMMV.

Next, I cut squares of cotton batiste the same size as my embroidery blocks and used basting spray to stick them together.  This both stabilizes my work AND gives some coverage so I can be a bit more cavalier about carrying the thread on the back of the work without it showing through.

I'm using Cosmo embroidery floss, by Lecien.  I love it, because it's got a lovely sheen and great working properties.  I DO use Thread Heaven while I work - especially with this piece, which is worked with one strand.  The floss color is 240.  It's not a Turkey Red, or even a "red" red - but it matches the ground of the red fabric pretty closely, with a slightly pinkish cast.  (Later, I'll have a trial/review of different brands of floss for you.  Promise.)

For the most part, I'm using stem stitch for the critters and letters, back stitch for fine details, and the occasional lazy daisy or peking knot as appropriate.  I find peking knots a little more stable than French knots.  That makes them a bit easier for me to work, and probably less likely to pop through with use.

The puppy does have some satin stitch for his spots.  I didn't want long floats, so it's "feathered" in the middle of the larger areas - the long float tacked in place by a shorter stitch.  I'm setting aside each block as I go and moving on to the next.  The set actually only has nine blocks, so I'm trying to decide what to put on the last block.  Maybe just another critter, without any text.  What do you think?

Next up, the patchwork blocks!