Duck, Duck, Frog

It was 9PM Friday night.  We talked to some friends on the phone and decided we would finally go visit them on Sunday afternoon. Haven’t seen them in quite some time.  Long enough that we have yet to meet their youngest son, now three whole months old.  Shame, shame, shame.  Anyways, plans were made for Sunday.

And here I am, thinking… how can I go out and meet a very good friend’s new baby and not bring him a quilt?

So I ran upstairs (where I had been in the middle of working on my strip sets for the Old Red Barn Co quilt-along) and look at the stack of fat quarters I picked up in Maine.  Hello, duck and frog novelty prints! Won’t you be cute with that white-on-navy polka dot? But what is simple and quick enough to get from start to finish in 36 hours, when you still have to take care of two toddlers?

I sketched out a little sunshine and shadows thing, three fabrics, 4.5″ squares, 7 across and 7 down.  Need 16 squares of two of the prints, 17 of the one that lands in the center and the outside corners.  Start cutting. DOH!  Genius, you can only get 16 4.5″ squares from a fat quarter. Hrm. Improvise.  Center square will be a different yellow fabric, but I’ll use it to embroider the baby’s initials.  Sweet!

The top was pieced by 11PM Friday night.  The next morning, I ran out to Joann’s to get some fabric for the back and the binding, as I wasn’t thrilled with my stash options.  Quilted quick diagonal lines in a variegated red/orange/yellow thread, except for the center block, which got three concentric squares around the embroidered initials.  Had it bound and in the washing machine by midnight.

Sunday morning, threw it in the dryer.  Shrinky, crinkly goodness. Made and stitched on a quick label.  While packing a bag for the excursion out to our friends’ house and rounding up the kids into the car, made my husband hold it up so I could snap a picture.

Ran out to get friends’ oldest son a birthday present, grabbed lunch with the kiddos.  Packed them into the car just as they were getting nice and drowsy, ready for them to sleep on the way to our friends’ house (about an hour away).  Started the car.  Phone rang.  Friends sick. Plans canceled.

Scrambled to keep kids awake on the way home so they’d take an actual nap when we got there.

Quilt finished. No idea when we’ll see them.

Sigh.  After all that rush, it comes to a screeching halt.

It’s not the fanciest or funkiest design you’ve ever seen.  It’s super simple, and it’s small (26″ square after dryer shrinkage).  But it’s cute and snuggly.  How much do you love that Duck Duck Goose print?  Or the little frog holding his own doll?  Backing is a cute frog print from Joann’s, and the striped binding (yes, I’m in a striped binding zone right now) is, I believe, from the same line as the backing.

At any rate, hopefully we’ll get around to seeing them soon.  Or maybe I’ll just throw this in the mail, in case it takes us another 3-6 months to coordinate a weekend.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled quilting.