Hello there! Just a quick post before I get back to work, but I wanted to tell you guys about a pattern I have in the works for a Lion Baby Quilt. A few months ago I took a survey about AccuQuilt interest, but I had several people who had an interesting response. Several said they were looking for cute baby quilts and smaller quilts that are quick and easy to make.

As luck would have it, I happened to have several sketches in my journal of a few baby quilt ideas that I have been keeping on the back burner for one day. (You know, just in case a special grandchild might decide to show up. 😉)

I’ve dabbled in a few baby quilt patterns in the past. A friend of mine had the idea for a “triple churn dash” and asked me to write that one up. Shortly afterward, I made a “Bear Hug” baby quilt as a gift, and that has sort of been my “go to” baby quilt pattern for some time.

The survey responses helped me realize that I should probably stop waiting for one day and start bringing these baby quilt ideas to life. One of the ideas I had was for a Lion Baby Quilt. I had seen a clip art drawing of a lion a few years back and something about it made me think about Dresden Plates. It occurred to me that using a Dresden design for a Lion’s mane might make a cute baby quilt.

Two weekends ago I made the first prototype of a Lion Dresden Quilt Block to use in my Lion Baby quilt design. Unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with the face. I had so many criticisms of this first design as I started assembling the applique. It had looked so cute in the initial drawing, but sometimes things don’t translate to fabric the way you think they will.

The face was too long and narrow against the circle of the Dresdens. At the last minute, I changed the nose to a heart thinking that would add some cuteness. In the end I decided it just looked out of place. And the ears! Oh my! They were so small they just sort of got lost. (Not to mention that they were going to be a pain to applique!) See what I mean below.

It’s true that I am usually my own worst critic. So I decided to put it aside and think on it. A few weeks later I still didn’t think it was good enough to release into the “wild.” (pun intended)

This weekend I’ve been back to the drawing board in Adobe Illustrator trying to tweak the design. The Coming Soon image below shows my latest iteration, and I am much happier.

Now to get back to work and see how this will look in fabric.

Sorry for the very short post, but I will be posting again soon once the pattern is finalized. The plan is to have it in the Etsy Shop in a few weeks, so check back soon!

Until next time, Happy Quilting everybody!!