Circles and Rings Baby Quilt


Here's a quilt I made recently. It has been a while since I made a circle quilt...I had almost forgotten how fun and fast they are!!


This was a total impulse quilt instigated by an email from my aunt announcing a baby shower that I knew I would not be attending. So I decided to go check out the registry and just send something from that. There was just one small problem...while looking at the registry I didn't see a lot that I was super excited to buy. I know you need certain things for a new baby...but it is so much more fun to buy cute little outfits or toys than it is to buy nasal aspirators and diaper rash cream. However, while perusing the registry, I did see a cute Carter's crib sheet:


Now, I could have just bought the sheet...but when I saw it, of course my first thought was of a stack of fabrics these very same colors that I had been meaning to make into a quilt. I decided that since they liked this sheet enough to put on their registry, there was a good chance they would also like a quilt in the same colors...problem solved.


I ran straight down stairs, gathered up the fabrics and immediately began plotting it. I made the design up in Inkscape...just made a bunch of circles and rings, lots of different sizes, then moved them around and changed the colors until I was happy. Then I printed the shapes out for tracing. All the circles were made using the fusible interfacing applique method (like this quilt), and the rings were done with fusible web. I arranged it all on a single piece of white fabric and ironed everything on a little at a time and used a blanket stitch in matching thread to sew it down. 


The animal print fabric is Alexander Henry 2-D zoo and all the rest are Riley Blake circle prints from various lines. The binding is Teeny Tiny 2-D zoo in the brown. I probably would have just done a solid brown, but I had the matching mini print, so I figured I might as well use it! The back is a matching solid green, also from my stash, so yay, another quilt made entirely from fabrics I already had!!


The quilting was simple and fast...just chalked a grid of straight lines for the background and used a swirl groovy board for all the circles except the animal print ones...those I just did an echo around the main shapes. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out!


Yay for babies! One more perfect excuse to make quilts!

And good news...there is now a pattern for this quilt...HERE!!!

30 comments

  1. Wowow! It's truly adorable and creative! Truly neat where you got your inspiration from! A crib sheet! I'm in awe and happy for you. That friend of your sure is lucky to have a friend like you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a brilliant idea! I'm sure the parents will be thrilled with this custom made quilt. Well done, it looks so balanced and beautiful, all the better that you already had the fabrics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How cute is that?? Love it. I'll have to check out Inkscape, never used it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So unique and beautiful. I love the whole idea.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is an absolutely adorable quilt! What a really terrific balance of shapes/sizes you achieved. Super smile-worthy. :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! This is really, really great. I am in awe. Perfect interpretation of inspiration and execution. Love the grid quilting. I can't say enough about this quilt! I wish you could attend the shower so everyone could see who created this masterpiece!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Cynthia, your baby quilt looks fantastic! I love the design and the colors!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a beautiful baby quilt. Nice.
    AmandaK@whatthbobbin

    ReplyDelete
  9. WOW that is adorable and I am sure it will be well loved. Just love everything about it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is so great--I love how it coordinates with the sheets!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love it. The colors, the fabric, the circles. Perfect. Lucky baby.

    ReplyDelete
  12. LOVE it! There may well be one of these in my future!

    I swear, I love everything you make.

    (Oh, and... What is a "swirl groovy board?")

    ReplyDelete
  13. Another awesome little quilt you managed to pull out of thin air;). You are so creative.....I love it;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. OMG that is sooo cute girl!! And the quilting is just perfect for it. You have the best imagination and creativity. Thanks for the eye candy to go with my coffee this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love love love this one. It is so simple, clever, and perfect. I love everything about it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I LOVE the idea you used to make something matching from the baby registry. Now they'll have to get that particular sheet set for sure! :) They're lucky to have you making a fantastic quilt for them!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! that is soooo cute! it looks super hard to make. I love the way you quilted it!

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is stunning! I love circles for babies and this is just adorable and clever. I like that not all of the circles are solid, it has a lot of movement because of that.
    I just found your blog and truly enjoy your style of quilting. I've added you to my reader so I'll be back to delve deeper into your lovely quilts.
    Enjoy your weekend?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cynth, I love it! Such great colors and patterns!! It's so fun to look at. Great job, as usual!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lovely quilt. Glad to have found you in internet land. Will check back often. Happy creating!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow! this quilt is stunning! I would love to make a similar version sometime. I hope that's okay with you?

    Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I soooooo would put that on my bed and I have not been a baby for a long time. What an awesome job. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is so fun! Perfect quilting!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Pattern? Tutorial? ANYTHING?????

    ReplyDelete
  25. So super cute! I hope they appreciate it! :)

    ReplyDelete