Sudoku & a Baby

The Sudoku wallhanging is my first completed quilt of 2009. When I should have been getting ready for a Guild meeting/workshop, I started this instead. Using a completed Sudoku puzzle, I assigned a different batik to each number. I cut 4" squares, so I only needed one strip from each print. Then I laid out the blocks according to the puzzle on my portable design wall. It went together super fast since it is only nine 9-patches. I decided to machine quilt the numbers on the squares in black thread. It shows up better on the lighter fabrics. It might become my first tutorial.
This week, I'm working on a baby boy quilt for my niece's second baby. I'm 95% sure she's having a boy. Shortly after she got married, I conducted the highly scientific needle test to determine the sex of her future children. The results were girl then boy. Her daughter Lily is 18 months old (and the cutest baby on the planet!). When my friends were having babies, I used this test a lot, and was only wrong once. I used to keep a threaded needle in my wallet!

Before Lily was born, her mother asked for a puff baby quilt, similar to the one my mother had made for her in 1977. I was horrified to be involved in this process. But I was a good girl, and did the cutting and final assembly. My mother did all the hand work (again). Each puff is stitched by hand and stuffed. Imagine my surprise when I read in the current issue of Quilter's Home that puff quilts are making a comeback. Clover is now selling a clip set that makes handling the nasty little puffs easier. Yikes!
My niece and her husband are Nascar fans, so before Lily was born, I bought 2 yards of racecar fabric, just in case. I'm using it now to make a quilt for her brother, due in a few weeks. I really liked Mary's Twisted Happy Blocks, so I dug through my vast colelction of novelties, leftover from I Spy days. I like the quilt, but it just didn't seem right for this baby. It will become a kid's raffle at our guild show in October.
So I designed a checkered flag quilt that shows off the racecars. I love the crispness of the solid fabrics, but they weren't easy to find. I had to go to two quilt shops and WalMart(!) to find 4 good colors. Here's a sneak peek. I'll show you the rest after it is quilted and gifted. When this is done, I need to quilt the big sister quilt I've been working on for Lily.
Ciao,
Tina