Babies are special.

Grandbabies even more so (if that is even possible!)

So, what does The Destashifier do when a grandbaby (the First Grandbaby!) is due?

Make a quilt, of course. Or better yet… TWO QUILTS! One  bassinet-sized, and one crib-sized.

And not just from any fabric in The Stash… from The Stash of his father’s shirts.  (Yes, I have a stash of my son’s shirts, collected just to make quilts for his babies!  Doesn’t everyone?)

Quilts of checked fabrics are more a challenge than one might think.  Many quilt patterns look over-busy when pieced with a variety of checks.  Simple triangle patterns seemed to work best.

Opening the quilt at the baby shower

The smaller quilt was half-square triangles (HSTs) of a light blue check with a darker checked border.  It was hand quilted.  

Note to Self:  NEVER, EVER, EVER attempt to hand quilt shirting fabrics.  NEVER. 

Making the tiny quilt was a Labor of Love, but pliers, rubberized grips, and occasionally my husband, were required to push/pull the needle through the high thread count fabric of those shirts!

To save my hands, the crib-sized isosceles triangle quilt was long-arm quilted. 

A few prints were added to the blue-checked shirting fabrics as more contrast was required – and all checks made for a very busy quilt top.

Drone picture of piecing layout.

After rotary cutting all the triangles, the pieces were carefully laid out to ensure like fabrics were not side-by-side.

I then took a picture to help remember where each piece went – and carefully moved each row of pieces to the sewing machine.

And promptly forget which row was which and whether I started from the top or the bottom!

So, the layout and the final quilt are not the same!

Piecing the triangles of checked fabrics was also a challenge.   The horizontal row of two checks must be perfectly straight as any misalignment was obvious.

Poke and Pin Point

So., the horizontal row was sewn first.

Sewing the bias seams later in the process did create some stretching, but lots of pins helped.

The same “poke and pin” process for the points used in this Ohio Star Quilt..

After much poking, pinning and alignment checks, the quilt top was complete and off to the Long Arm Quilter.

Checks and Prints

The cream and navy check shirting was used to bind both quilts – again requiring those hand saving rubberized grips!