Is it me or does it seem like I've turned into a quilting machine?

I've completed three quilts since mid-June and I'm well on my way to finishing my fourth by Wednesday. I've literally worked on this quilt ALL weekend.

I'm just over halfway through with the hand stitching on the binding, then it's wash and dry time.

I also found out earlier this week that another friend is pregnant.

Stop making babies, will ya?! Okay, totally kidding! Of course I could just find something less labor intensive to make, or, dare I say, buy something. But heck, this is just way too much fun and tons more gratifying than shopping!

I guess I wasn't the only one that was thinking neopolitan ice cream when I was putting this quilt together. My apologies for making you hungry for sweets!

This baby quilt was gifted to one of my college buddies who gave birth to a beautiful girl last month. Pink is her thing so these colors just naturally came together for me. I hope she likes this quilt as much as myself and our other friend. I was hoping to give it to her this weekend when I went down to LA (more on this later), but her baby girl got a little sick so they weren't able to meet up after all.

Front

Pattern: Neopolitan Quilt, inspired by My Aunt June
Size: 40" x 40"
Fabric: Country Cotton Solids
Amount of Craft Allowance Spent: $6.18 (for batting and a bag of peanut m&ms)

Notes:
I fell in love with the simplicity of My Aunt June's quilt when I first saw it. The twist on mine was that I had four colors to work with. Each finished block is 8" x 8" and is comprised of four 2.5" x 8.5" strips. Each block was randomly pieced together and the quilt top was assembled by alternating the stripe direction of each block just as in the original. And of course, the binding was hand stitched.

Back

The back was composed of a strip of 2.5" squares, flanked on each side by the fuschia and brown fabric. I finished it off by quiting in a straight forward geometric pattern. I first defined each quilt block by stitching in the ditch along each column and row and then diagonally, connecting each corner of the blocks. You can see the quilting detail a bit more clearly here. The only thing I would have changed on this quilt is to have selected a tan or a lighter brown instead of the beige I used. There's not enough contrast between the beige and pink in some lights. And in other lights, the beige gives off a yellow/greenish tint.

Rumply frumply goodness!

The Neopolitan Quilt is my 5th quilt and in the process of making this I've come to the following realizations:

1. I must learn how to free motion quilt. My machine has the ability to do this and I need to learn how. I'm getting tired of just sewing straight lines and I think it's stifling my creativity.
2. I love Kona Cotton. Country Cotton Solids is readily available at Joanns and fairly inexpensive. But after working with Kona Cotton on Ami's quilt, I find that I really like the weight of Kona Cotton better. It's heavier with a slightly rougher feel. However, I feel like this will hold the test of time for quilts that I hope will last a lifetime or be passed on from generation to generation. I think it's time to invest in Kona Cotton shade cards.
3. I need to learn how to play with prints. I love the understated and modern appeal of quilts made with solids. But I think it's time to get out of my comfort zone and start experimenting with prints.
4. Play with curves. I'm also thinking that it's time to start playing with piecing curves and doing circles. I'll slowly work my way onto this one.

With two more baby quilts in the pipeline (I just found out about another pregnancy after my last post!), I've got some time to practice. But seriously though, could you all hold off on the baby making for at least another 2-3 months? I've got a wardrobe to sew!