Sunday, February 12, 2017

Five ABC 123 Rainbow I Spy Happy Block Tops

Five Quilt Tops 
ABC 123 Rainbow I Spy Happy Blocks

My husband and I have thirty-one nieces and nephews. So we can usually count on someone to have a baby almost every year.   The new year started with four mothers - one pregnant with twins - expecting babies in 2017. (Unfortunately one mom miscarried and the mother expecting twins lost one twin).  

 I try to welcome all new grand nieces and nephews into the world with a quilt.  


Over the years I've participated in numerous ABC novelty swaps and have stockpiled complete sets of novelties representing each letter of the alphabet.  They are nice to have on hand to whip up a quick baby quilt.  I quit swapping several years ago but need to start once again because with these 5 tops I've depleted my stash of ABC novelty sets. 

These are 6.5 inch centers bordered by 1.5 inch polka dot fabrics in rainbow colors.  The extra four squares to make the 30 blocks needed for a 40 x 48 quilt are different number and letter fabrics.   After quilting I'll iron on the letters of the alphabet to the appropriate squares.  Little hard back books for ABCs, Numbers and Colors complete the gift. 

O always stands for Owl but P is sometimes pear...




...or pumpkin or...

...popsicle or...

...pretzel or....


...paper clip.   

Poor kid that gets Telephone for T!! They will be wondering what the heck kind of telephone is that. And does anyone still say telephone? Or are they just phones now?  Maybe P will be for Phone in the next quilt. 




22 comments:

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Cathy, those are such fun quilts, and what a perfect gift for your family. I bet these quilts are well loved!

gayle said...

Those are terrific!
Now I want to go shop for fabric with olives on it. Or oranges. Or ocelots. Or oilcans...

Monica said...

Telephone -- LOL! You are wise to have been stockpiling these fabrics. They are fabulous gifts! And they look quite awesome all together there. :D

Quilting Babcia said...

Love these ABC quilts! This is one of my go-to designs for baby quilts, though I've typically done them with 4-1/2 inch squares. The larger size makes much more sense, and faster!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

These are fantastic! What a great idea for those novelty prints. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

The Joyful Quilter said...

LOVE that you will be adding the actual letters to the quilt!! If you are adhering them AFTER the quilting, does that mean that you don't sew them down? Or does that just add a level of ease for the quilting process? I'm guessing you just sew them on once the quilting is done.

SandraC said...

I love this idea for I-Spy quilts! I think I will start collecting fabrics for this idea. We had twin grandbabies born on Friday, so today is being spent finishing up their quilts!

Marly said...

What a great idea; you are so well organised to have saved all these fabrics.

Karen said...

These I Spy Quilts are adorable. I have lots of 5" and 6.5" I Spy squares. Thanks for an idea for using them.

Sue SA said...

I made a alphabet I Spy wall hanging for my boys but quilted the letters onto the block. I think I have finally used the last bit of glow in the dark skeleton fabric for X-ray, but had to make a mini quilt for Q! And finding a J fabric was tricky, so very impressed with your collection that includes quails and queens!

Ariane said...

These are such fun quilts! Definitely great gifts for new baby's. Love them!!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Wow that is a lot of nephews and nieces. I have three! How sweet of you to make quilts for each new addition to the family. These ABC quilts are wonderful - education and cuddly!

Quiltdivajulie said...

We use both (phone / telephone). Your quilts are marvelous -- what a stash you had to create these!

Crystal_235 said...

Love them all. I have a stash of I spy blocks (but mine are only 4")

Louise said...

Gosh, these are SO. FLIPPIN'. CUTE!! I've never heard of ABC blocks but I totally get how you could collect these and have fun with it for a long, long time. Especially with the number of nieces and nephews in your family!

Jenny said...

Such fun - you have done a great job. I'm also wondering how you will attach the letters? Stitch them on before layering and quilting perhaps?

---"Love" said...

All are very cute and will be so much more special when you get the letter on them. Family treasures for sure! ---"Love"

liniecat said...

LOL
Well no one can say they didn't get as good as the others and these are great fun for I Spying and look smashing : )

Anonymous said...

I have made some I Spy quilts, but have not done an ABC one. This is a fun idea and yours are great. May I ask where you did the swaps, was it from a guild or online, and if online where did you find them? Thanks!
Valerie
valekort at yahoo dot com

maggie fellow said...

wonderful quilts and wonderful photo - love it

Kate said...

Very fun quilts! What a great idea for baby quilts.

ES said...

Such great quilts!! My small kids still seem to recognize telephones and know what they're for, but the word is unfamiliar to them!! But it's a great word to teach them as it has the sometimes difficult to pronounce 'f' sound in the middle of the word :) x