And baby makes...five!

My lovely niece Mary and her husband recently welcomed her THIRD baby -- another boy!  Yea!

When her oldest son was born, I made my 'traditional' Irish print fabric quilt, at his mother's request.

 Two years later, when his little brother was born, I decided to make the new baby something fun.  And a funny thing happened...Big Brother recognized the animals and wanted to claim it for his own!

I told my niece to let him have it, and Little Boy Two's blanket could be the Irish one. Now that Number Three Son has come along, I wonder if Mary's middle child, who is just two, will have the same reaction, and want this new quilt for himself!

This toddler blankie started life as a 24" by 44" panel called "Barnyard Counting," by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman fabrics.  My daughter and I found it at a quilt shop in Maine 18 months ago.  It has been in my stash, waiting for the next great-nephew to come along.

As with most of my quilts, I started with the sketch.  I decided to cut the panel into blocks, which measure 8 1/2" by 11", and mix them with brightly colored prints.

Digging through my stash, I found several prints that would work.  After trimming them into the same size block, I began to lay out the rows.

Sewing this together was easy-peasy!  The blanket is five blocks wide by four rows long.  I added a solid yellow border to tie everything together.  The green polka-dot fabric was used on the back of the quilt.

I also made bias binding out of the green polka-dot to finish the edges.

I used my sewing machine to make even lines of quilting, both horizontal and vertical, including stitching in 'the ditch' between the blocks.

It's so stinkin' cute, isn't it?!  I just love it, and I hope Number Three Son loves it, too!!