How Am I Supposed To Make A Cute Baby Quilt With Neutrals?

My youngest sister who lives in a land far far away (California) called me at the end of March,

"Katrina is expecting a baby boy in July. They are going to call him Ryder. When she goes back to work I'm going to watch him 3 days a week. Oh, and the nursery is done in neutrals." 

I'm not on Facebook so I usually get news of a new family addition after the baby's arrival from siblings or in-laws - the proud grandparents.  I don't think I have ever known the colors or theme of a new baby's nursery so when I gift a baby quilt it is a Cathy's Choice quilt. And most of the time I send a quilt to the proud grandparents to pass on to baby's parents or to keep for when baby visits.  

I'm sure my sister gabbed on about more things on that phone call because she is a gabber and sometimes a repeater. Usually I am a listener but after she told me the new baby news all I could think of was --how the heck am I supposed to make a cute baby quilt with neutrals?

In those days after the phone call I issued myself a challenge - try to make a cute baby quilt with neutrals. I like to challenge myself because it helps me to get things done and sometimes I even get to experience the feeling- of -accomplishment high.

 I pulled all the neutrals in my stash that seemed like they might be okay in a quilt for a baby. I piled them all at the end of the ironing board and looked at them for days. The pile was not really a pile but more like a mole hill. When I used to buy fabric I usually bought a half yard at the most so I could have a lot of variety. Most of the neutral pieces in my mole hill were less than half yards and they kind of said "blah" to me. Blah, blah, blah. 

I like Sawtooth Stars so I decided I'd make a few with my neutrals -- 3.5 inch and 2 inch width pieces were cut. Then I cut my Flying Geese parts with the Easy Angle and Easy Angle Companion rulers from the 2 inch width fabrics. 

Ok. So I thought the little six inch (finished) Sawtooth Stars were kind of cute and before I knew it there were 49 of them and then a quilt top 42 inches square. 

Well then I had a bunch of 3.5 inch width scraps left over. This year when that happens I usually make Four Patches. But there were a lot of leftovers and so I first decided to make HSTs and then Pinwheels but then changed my mind and made Broken Dishes which are really more like broken Pinwheels to me because if you put the bottom two HSTs of a Broken Dishes block on top of the top two HSTs of a Broken Dishes block you actually have a Pinwheel. (And that is why you can see Pinwheels in a Broken Dishes quilt. Well, at least I can.)

After I made 49 Broken Dishes I had used most of the leftover 3.5 inch scraps and then some and I had another little quilt top that is also 42 inches square. 

So maybe baby Ryder gets two quilts - one for his house and one for Grandma's house since in the future he will be there three days a week. 

But did I meet the challenge? Are those cute baby quilts?? Well, kind of but there is not a novelty fabric in sight. How can a kid love a quilt with no bright colors or novelties? 

Then I remembered a baggie of four inch dog themed squares a friend sent me. And I pulled out the neutral dogs counting to see if I had enough for 36 Four Patches. I was shy squares for about four blocks but I had some dog fabrics to supplement. 

And since my neutral mole hill was still at the end of my ironing board I cut some 4 inch squares and made some Four Patches. 

 And then a third quilt 42 inches square was made. It has some novelties so it has to be cute. Right?

Maybe cute is in the eye of the beholder. 

Now to get these finished and mailed off for some California dreaming with Ryder. But first I need to find some cute backings. 

My OMG (One Monthly Goal) for May is to finish all 3 of these quilts. 

OMG at Elm Street Quilts