As some of you know, I’m a little obsessed with giving gift “sets” for baby gifts. Generally the set will be a quilt and bibs, burps and a ball. But, this time it is a bear. And I actually saw the pattern for the bear first and then whipped up this quick quilt to go with the bear.
I am not a big fan of using patterns since my motivation in sewing is seeing the ideas in my head become a reality BUT, sometimes I see a pattern too cute to pass up. Enter Kwik Sew Pattern 3246. I glanced at it while browsing at my local fabric shop and immediately envisioned a soft cuddly classic teddy bear and a clean modern quilt to match. I just knew this would be the gift for my co-worker Sasha who was expecting her second little boy. I even thought that since it would be a classic teddy bear that I should make the quilt in super classic baby boy colors – blue. This is not in my normal color scheme. You know I LOVE bright, bold, and crazy colors but, it is fun stepping out of what I normally do and still create something true to my design aesthetic. Plus, I needed a simple pattern I could throw together quickly. I was able to get 1/8 yd cuts of most of the fabric (most quilt shops don’t do this and should!) and I loved the thought of short wide strips.
To achieve that “classic” look I used the super creamy Kona Eggshell as the background fabric and framed and bound the quilt in a dark Kona Nightfall. Uber- classic! I used Alexander Henry’s Granville in blue as the inspiration print and picked lots of fun blues and creams to coordinate.
I love how it turned out, Simple, clean, quick:
For the quilting, I stippled the main patchwork quilting area and for the cream background area I alternated decorative stitches with a straight line stitch using a different decorative stitch each time. I very rarely use decorative stitches on my quilts but, I find that they can be great for some baby quilts. In this case, they help to create a sort of classic heirloom feel to the quilt.
The quilt is backed in a soft tan gingham flannel fabric. I thought a gingham added to the “classic” factor and the flannel is perfect since it is so cuddly and soft.
And, I especially love the Teddy Bear. Once again, it pains me to use patterns but, this pattern was more than worth it. It is even more cuddly and soft and perfect in person. This will definitely be difficult to part with! And, my awesome friend Chris suggested Harold for the bears name and it kinda stuck! I realized there were a lot of B’s associated with this quilt, Blue, Boy, Baby, so of course it became the B-Boy Quilt!
Just look at Harold. Don’t you just want to pick him up and squeeze him!
For anyone curious, this is the bear pattern. It was fairly easy to put together. I of course chose the most difficult material to work with – fur. I was covered in fur and my sewing area was one big furry mess when I got finished. But, with a little patience I was able to put the bear together in a couple hours. Super quick and easy. And, the fur wasn’t THAT difficult to use – I just had to relax and accept that I and my sewing space would be covered in fur until the end of the project. Then I was able to barrel through the actual sewing. It was my first time using a Kwik Sew pattern for anything and I found it to be clear and easy to understand. This bear is huge though. I made the small one and it is 20″!
