DIY Baby Growth Chart Quilt aka Lines Quilt

Now that I am half way through this pregnancy reality has hit, I need to start planning and creating! We are excited to announce that the new baby is a GIRL, Mackenzie !!!  Of course I want to make as much as possible, but where to start? I need to make curtains, a crib skirt, a quilt, a blanket, and a mobile!  Reading Lindsey quilt updates has really got me interested in making another quilt so I guess I should start there. The other good thing about starting with a quilt is that it will bring all of the colors and fabric together.


You may not know that I have actually made a quilt before. It was before Braelyn, my now 10 month old, was born. I didn't have the experience or the help from an actual quilter but with help from trusted customers and youtube I made I cute lines quilt for Braelyn.  Being as the girls will only be 15 months apart, everything else in their lives will be so similar. Why not start it off right?

The first quilt, known as a lines quilt because...you guessed it...it's just lines, allowed me to use eight different fabrics. It was so easy to use this as my inspiration for other fabric choices in Braelyn's room.
I used multiple shades of purple, lime green, golden yellow and teal. The animal fabric in the quilt is also the curtain fabric in her room. Her walls are bright purple and she has almost every shade of purple throughout her room. Her chair is lime green and teal is accented throughout.

Another reason I love making a lines quilt is that I can use it as a growth chart. I just line Braelyn up along the same grey line for each milestone and watch her grow...

Tell me that's not the cutest thing? I can't wait to get a whole bunch of them together and make a frame college to hang in her room.

Braelyn's quilt is 40" x 54" I can't remember why I choose to that size, but I like it, so I think I will do it again.

Real quilt sizes are as follows.

Quilt Sizes

Baby Quilt	36" x 54"
Afghan/Lap Size	54" x 72"
Twin Quilt	54" x 90"
Double Quilt	72" x 90"
Queen Quilt	90" x 108"
King Quilt	108" x 108"

Here's how it's done:
To start this quilt I picked out 10 fabrics! The more the merrier, right? I know that is a lot but I could not narrow it down. Thankfully, with line quilts, there really is no limit.

Starting with an overall theme for her room, I decided I wanted to use Coral, Pink, and Navy, opposite of Braelyn's:) So, for my quilt, I new I needed a variety of these colors to make it easy to match other areas of the room.
I started by piling up fabrics I liked and then narrowed it down.

My original pile!!

Pictured above is: 

• Michael Miller Nautical Map
• Michael Miller Find The Narwhale
• Michael Miller Mermaid Play Breeze
• Michael Miller solid coral
• Michael Miller Anchors Away
• Moda Sophie Houndstooth Cotton
• Anna Maria Horner Pastry Coral
• Riley Blake Two Tone Aqua Chevron
• Pink Seersucker
• Solid Bubblegum Cotton
• Navy Gingham

After this photo was taken I ended up adding the Moda Hot Pink Dumb Dot and taking out the Navy Gingham.

Next step is cutting the strips. There really isn't a scientific way of doing this but with engineering in my blood, I can't help but to plan it out as much as possible.

To map out my quilt I started by drawing a rectangle. I drew wider and thinner segments assigning them to fabric as I go. I know I want the pink houndstooth to be the back so I started and ended with the houndstooth and only used it there. I also know I want the coral solid to be the border around the outside so I will use it sparingly just as an accent throughout. They key to making these decisions is to get the fabrics spread out enough so one doesn't overpower the entire quilt.

After that I write down measurements and play around with the widths until I get to a total length of 54". I actually ended with 55"...oops :) When maping it out I added .5" to each strip since I am using 1/4 inch seam allowances. As you are going, it's important to notate the measurements you'll cut. Then, when adding up the measurements to determine if you've got enough, subtract out the 0.5". In other words, don't include the seam allowances (0.5") in your overall quilt math. Otherwise, you'll end up with a quilt significantly smaller than you're supposed to.

My "Map".

I used a rotary cutter, mat, and grid ruler to cut them out. Of course, as I laid it all out I moved somethings around.

I took out the light voile coral almost 10 times before I decided to keep it in. Here is my final layout.

Next step: sewing them together. First, sew the pieced strips together (horizontally, if you will). Then, sew all of those strips together (vertically). I ironed as I went. I either opened the seam flat or pressed the seam toward the darker fabric. Press the back first, then flip the piece and iron again, gently pulling the seam open.

The Back. Seams pressed.

The front. 

For the batting I am going to use bamboo batting. I cut the rectangle needed and soaked it in water for about an hour then rung it out and dried it on low. I then washed the backing fabric, pink houndstooth and dried it on low. I do not love pre-washing but I want to make sure I could wash this quilt over and over agian without shrinkage.

To sew the quilt together I am going to use the "stitch in the ditch" technique. I'll be honest and admit I have not mastered this technique but using matching thread does help. I am using a pink bobbin at all times (bottom thread) and alternate between coral thread around the dark coral blocks and navy thread around the anchors and chevrons for my top thread. On Braelyn's quilt, I used the golden wood grain fabric as my backing and you can hardly see where I sewed in the ditch. I did not sew every seam, just enough so that no more than 6" of the quilt was seamless.

The backing of Braelyn's quilt.

I am going to use the dark coral fabric for the binding. I learned how to do this by watching a lot of Youtube videos. Because this requires a lot of hand sewing, cutting on the bias, and folding around corners I suggest asking for help. I am going to save the instructional information for our Beginner's Quilting Series.

The top of Braelyn's quilt.

Here is Braelyn's finished quilt! Can you see where I monogramed her name at the top? I will post a picture of Mackenzie's as soon as I finish this binding :) You know me and hand sewing...it takes awhile:)