Jungle Quilt

My friends' little boy Aidan isn't a baby any longer.  He is graduating to a toddler bed and needs a new big boy cover.  The last quilt I made him was a giraffe, which he still loves to drag about, so keeping with the same jungle theme, I made him a new quilt.

I found a really cute baby quilt called Yoo Hoo on the Internet, but it only measured 35" x 44" and I needed it to be bigger.  So using it as my guide, I made my own version.  (You can click on the picture and it will take you to the Lambs & Ivy website where I found it.)

With the animals in mind, I made my background first, using big scraps of fabrics I had on hand  The overall background measured approximately 36" x 40".  The left side measured 12" x 40" and the right side was a little wider at 16" x 40".

Once the background was made, I drew my animals on the back side of Christmas paper (my favorite pattern paper)  and appliqued them in place. 

I added a 3" pale blue gingham border to the quilt.


For their faces, I used slick fabric paint (I used Tulip brand).  I could have embroidered their features, too, but since this is for a rambunctious little boy and the quilt is likely to be laundered often, I felt paint would better suit his needs.  (When I make quilts for babies and toddlers, I avoid using buttons or embellishments that can be removed and swallowed.)






 

I left the paint to dry overnight, then the next day I added the final borders to the quilt.  To the border of pale blue gingham I added a 1-1/2" turquoise blue border.  The last border was a 5" plaid print.  After binding the quilt, it measured approximately 46" x 60", the perfect size for Aidan's new toddler bed.