Diaper Bags and Quilts for New Babies

A week away from work

My son Paul and his wife Leah live 7 hours away in Ottawa, and because of that, we have a hard time scheduling around work and events to get enough visiting time with them. This is especially important now that the two of them are expecting twins!

Last week was our scheduled time away to visit with them at their home. They both work, so we visit in the mornings over breakfast and in the evenings and on the weekend. Rob and I busy ourselves doing the cooking and marketing for them and usually bring along something to keep us busy in the day. Sometimes we go hiking or fishing or whatever the weather allows for.

This time we did manage to slip out between rain showers and sewing to do a bit of walking, first at Hogsback Falls nearby, and later out of town at Blakeney Rapids in the Mississippi Mills area. The water was running hard and fast over the rapids and rocks.

Diaper bag and baby quilts

Because things have gotten so busy at home with my new studio renovation, I’d not had time to make the diaper bag I had cut out for Leah in March. I had also planned on making two baby quilts for the two new ‘peanuts’, a boy and a girl, but all I had managed to accomplish was to gather up the fabric I might need. I hadn’t even picked out a pattern when I bought the fabric.

Diaper Bag

My ambitious goal was to make the Me & My Baby Bag, a diaper bag with a change pad and bottle warmer, and get started on the two baby quilts. It isn’t much fun not having a plan, so the night before we left I decided to rescale my Piccadilly Quilt pattern smaller, to suit a panel with baby animals I had purchased years ago. I also had flannel to match the newly painted babies room. Leah had sent me a picture of the room and the new drapes to plan with.

If you’ve made the Me & My Baby Bag you know it takes some time to complete – about 3 days start to finish. It was cut out already so by Wednesday I had it made. Leah is due in June sometime and will need it pretty soon.

Two quilts for twins

Deciding on which of the fabrics to use for the baby quilts seemed to take up a lot of time but with two days to go, I managed to make one a day. The kid’s rec room started to take on the look of my home studio – sewing stuff everywhere.

The panel used was an ABC panel. There were some really cute cuddly baby animals included like ‘L’ for the Lamb and ‘Q’ for Quail. Those were the animals I would naturally gravitate to for the girls quilt and then there was an ‘A’ for Alligator and ‘J’ for Jaguar – the more boy-like choices.

But not wanting to do the stereotypical thing, I thought it best if Rob and I put all the animal squares in a bag and blind pick them. I’d take a turn picking one square for the girl quilt and then he’d pick for the boy’s quilt until all the blocks were taken. Guess what, I picked the Lamb and the Quail and Rob got the Alligator and the Jaguar. Some weird huh? They both look super cute, now I just have to quilt them…

Paul’s first quilt project

Now you might think that was plenty enough sewing for a holiday away, but on our last day, Paul wanted some help making my pattern for the Raggy Baby Quilt. He figured it was about time that he, my son, should be quilting his first quilt.

I was still working on finishing up the boy’s quilt while helping Paul. Leah took over after a while since she’s made that same pattern several times herself as a gift for friends. Rob and Leah pinned and pressed while Paul sewed up a storm. It was just like an old-fashioned sewing bee.

The day was coming to a close when all four of us sat down to clip the Raggy Baby Quilt. Each ½ inch seam gets clipped every ½ inch before it gets washed and dried in a dryer to give it its fluffy look.

The next morning we all admired the quilt made with love and lots of helping hands. Well done, Paul and Leah!