I have a thing about ‘Plus’ quilts, I don’t know what it is but I love the look of them. So I was thinking about a colleague who was due to go off on maternity leave and making a quilt for the baby. The gender of the baby will be revealed when it arrives so I needed to come up with a gender neutral colour palette, and I remembered that I had some fat quarters of Alphabet Soup by Riley Blake in the cupboard so I pulled them out:
In Riley Blake’s eyes these are from the boy version of the range but I think they are suitable for either gender. I then searched around for other fat quarters that could go with them; this was my first selection:
I asked the IG community for advice and refined my choice:
I cut 4″ strips from each fabric and divided those into 4″ square, 7.5″ strips and 11″ strips and played with a layout on the kitchen floor; at this point I realised I needed to cut a bit more fabric.
Soon enough I’d finalised a layout and got sewing. I opted to quilt it either side of each seam line and also the seam lines that would have existed if I’d cut squares for the middle of each cross:
I used Aurifil 50 wt 1104 which I’d bought for quilting the Groove quilt; it’s a perfect match for Kona Torch – the orange solid in the quilt and also used for binding.
The backing fabric is a Walkabout Square by Beth Studley and I bought 4 metres of it a couple of years ago with quilt backs in mind. I love backing baby quilts because the width of them means there is no need to piece the back.
A relatively quick and easy make, all ready to keep the newborn snug and warm. 
Have you ever used the same quilt pattern more than once? This is one I’m happy to repeat.
Quilt stats:
Pattern: Inspired by Jeni Bakers Plus Quilt
Finished size: 38″ x 52″ approx (I forgot to measure it and it’s now wrapped ready to gift!)
Fabrics: Alphabet Soup by Riley Blake, Kona: Torch, Canary, Cardinal, Lime, Blueberry Park Allotment, Pearl Bracelets, Rings by Holly Holderman, green pinstripe by Marisa and Creative Thursday, Metro Circles, Summersville by Lu Summers and some unknown other bits!
Backing fabric: Walkabout Squares by Beth Studley for Makower
Binding fabric: Kona Torch
Quilted using Aurifil 50 wt 1104
what a lovely fabric combination! You are very good at fitting fabrcs to quilt designs!
Such a cheerful quilt, and a great pattern! And I think you’re right, it’s a great baby quilt for either gender!
Adorable! You picked the perfect fabrics to go with that line!
I love your choice of colors in your plus quilt! I’ve been wanting to make one of these for quite a while and now I’m motivated to move this up on the ‘to do’ list! =)