Time flies. Really, it does. It’s so cliche, but when it hits me how quickly hours become days, days become weeks, weeks become months, and then, surely, the months become years, it makes me slow down and remember how important it is to make the most of each moment. Three months have already passed since little Finn joined us on the outside. The first quarter of his first year is complete. I actually planned ahead this month, too, so that means a quarter of his monthly milestones baby quilt is complete.
As promised, I finally settled on an overall layout and design for this quilt, and now I’m even more excited for the outcome.
I settled on a color scheme of dark and light teal and blacks/greys, both because they are fabulous colors, but also because I have plenty of teal and black/grey fabric in my scraps pile and stash. I also added a slightly skewed log cabin block to help provide the appearance of some curves and to add some interest to the overall quilt.
This month I made a Block 2, with wide light teal and narrow black/grey pieces. Creating the illusion of a curve is really quite simple with log cabin blocks. I drafted this block from the outside in, with 1″ strips on two edges and 2″ strips on the opposite two edges, ending with a 2″ square in the off-set center.
The finished quilt will require five (5) block 1s and seven (7) block 2s. Block 1 is a more improv, scrappy log cabin with strips varying in widths, but generally around 2″ or 2.5″ in width. Both blocks are quick and easy to make.
Enough about the quilt, though; I know you really want to hear about Finn! He is truly a blessing. He still loves to “talk” back and lights up whenever anyone looks him in the eye. His favorite thing as far as I can tell is having conversations with anyone who will sit and look at him, replying to his baby babble and grunts. He is generous and unbiased with his smiles, but the looks of true adoration are directed toward his siblings.
Finn just recently started finding his hands, which is really fun to watch. I love seeing him deep in thought, examining his hands and clearly working hard at figuring out how to get them to do his bidding. He grabs my arm or hand when it’s within his reach, but he’s not quite reaching out to grab things yet.
Now that I have a clear plan for the quilt, I’m even more excited to see it come together as Finn grows. While I’m tempted to up the ante to two blocks per month (one every 2 weeks feels doable), I am going to be easy on myself and stick with the one block per month plan. A finished 36″x48″ will be a great drag-around size as he grows into toddlerhood.
I’m linking up with Show off Saturday with Sew Can She.
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Night Quilter 
Finn is so handsome. … and so is his quilt.
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Oh my gosh, I love log cabin quilts! Love your fantastic colors, but especially adore sweet Finn. 🙂
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Happy 3 months to Mr. Finn! He seems to glow with the love you are infusing into him, Kitty. ❤
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What a sweetie he seems to be – and definitely a cute little guy. Your quilt for him will be beautiful too.
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That quilt is going to be gorgeous! I love the asymmetry and the colors. I sometimes think about the same thing- it really seems like weeks go by so quickly lately, especially when working. I’ve been counting the weeks by weekends and it seems like Saturday comes so quickly.
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Oh my goodness…he is just precious! :0) and so is your quilt ;D mari
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What a gorgeous little man! I don’t understand how you find the time to sew. I’m 8 months in now and the only thing I’ve managed since he was born was a pair of curtains. I’m beginning to forget what my sewing machine looks like!
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Watching Finn and this quilt grow every month is a privilege! I love your unique design. He will definitely treasure it. 🙂
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Rotate your image 90* counter-clockwise. I’m seeing something maybe I shouldn’t be, but if you’re not, then all is good. 🙂
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You’re terrible, Muriel
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Terrible in an endearing way, of course! Molli, I have no idea what you’re seeing! LOL
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Fab design! I just love the progression – Finn’s growth into an adorable little man, and the quilt. I might have to steal your idea, or at least aspects of it when I have kids!
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Cunnin’ Finn is definitely the star of this post, but the blocks are a very close second! I love the teals with the blacks/grays–would never have thought of this combo and it’s terrific–thanks for the kick in the seat of my pants! 🙂
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Finn looks like a very happy baby. Your design is awesome. Stick with your block per month, so you can continue with the monthly photo updates.
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I just love the photo – the colours are gorgeous and the pattern so unique – who knew that log cabins could be so versatile. Finn is such a gorgeous baby.
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Beautiful – the baby and quilt design both! Good luck with figuring out how to slow down time, I’d love to know that trick myself. I still can’t believe it’s September and I saw them setting out the Christmas decorations in Myer on Friday….yikes!
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ahh, love those smiling photos. I really like your colour scheme and can see this finished in my head already!
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Love the design you came up with, and my goodness, Finn is one adorable baby. Just love those smiles. Sometimes I miss those days of when they are that little. And then I remember diapers… 🙂
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We are about to celebrate the big “3” in just a few short days, and it’s almost mind blowing that my littlest has now started kindergarten!
Oh, the baby babble time is such a fun time. It would appear that talking is still my big guys thing… sometimes he comes in to me and says, “Mama, should we talk?” What woman could ask for more, right?!?
I agree with the going easy on yourself strategy… it’s super frustrating when you can’t meet what feel like such small goals, but super satisfying when you exceed the small goals.
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Such a cute boy! And what a wonderful way to mark the milestones of his first year. Great idea!
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What a great design for the quilt, Kitty! Little Finn is adorable, and how fun to have conversations with him. My youngest still likes to talk constantly, to anyone and everyone who will listen. When he can’t think of actual things to talk about he just sings snippets of songs, or repeats dialogue from the shows he watches, or just makes random noises. My husband thinks Nathan views silence as something that must be filled at all times!
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I keep going back hoping I missed it, but did you print out the sizes for you strips. I would love to try the log cabins.
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I don’t think I’ve specified sizes for the strips. For the ones that include black, I used strips that finish at 1″ for the black side and strips that finish at 2″ for the light teal side (aka 1.5″ strips and 2.5″ strips), with a 2″ finished center square. For the ones that are light teal and dark teal, I’ve just been improving strips based on the scraps I have, ranging from a bit larger than 1.5″ to around 3″ at the largest, until the finished log cabin block measures 12.5″. If you look closely, my most recent block is “missing” the outermost strip since it measured 12.5″ before I got there (oops!). I hope this helps and I’d love to see yours if you try!
Best,
Kitty
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