Strip-pieced Spiderweb Baby Quilt

This is my first official entry in quilting blog-land.  I started piecing pillows in elementary school from old squares my grandmother had cut and made my first quilt when I was in high school.  It is now a family hobby that my husband and I both enjoy, and our 2 1/2 year old recognizes quilts too.  I'm sure she will be encouraged to experiment with fabrics as well when she gets a little bit older. 

We are expecting our second baby, a boy, on May 31st, but I'm hoping he makes his appearance a little bit sooner!  I recently finished this quilt for him.  I used this tutorial from Oh, Fransson! as my starting point, but did some calculations to figure out what angles to cut everything without paper piecing.  (If you happen to have a ruler with a 22.5 degree angle on it, that helps a lot!)  This allowed me to sew strips of varying widths together and get 6 striped triangles out of each strip set.  Even though this is a small baby quilt, it went surprisingly fast using this method.  This is also my first time doing true free-motion quilting, so please don't look at the corners on my loopy shapes. 

 I first saw a quilt like this when I was in High School in a copy of Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel that my mom had.  I apparently stole the book from her, because it is in my house now.  Sorry Mom.  I couldn't figure out at the time how to make it, but thought it looked cool and knew I wanted to try it someday.  I was excited when I discovered quilt blogging a few months ago and that others were doing this so I could figure out that is wasn't that difficult after all.
I attribute much of my interest in quilting to that book.  It had diagrams for how to make about 70 different blocks, and is where I got the block ideas for my first quilt.  I've been hooked ever since. I haven't used her lap quilting method, but it certainly got me interested in the possibility of making blocks.

 Fabrics in this quilt started with three from a line that I can't currently remember the name of, but had something to do with wind and was from Studio e fabrics.  The dark blue is called "Buggy Barn Basics", and the green is  Riley Blake.  The light blue is Robert Kaufman. The colors seem a little distorted on my computer screen--it was probably bad lighting when we took the pictures. 

Finished quilt size is 38"x49".  Blocks are about 10". 

My next project is using the same fabrics, but will be extra-long twin size to go on this baby's big bed someday.  I know that is still 2 years away, but I wanted it to match and didn't want to run out of fabrics with three blocks left to make.  This pattern is based on The Orange Quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew using slightly different dimensions, and it is strip pieced as well.  I finished the last of the blocks and started sewing columns together yesterday.  I'd love to get it all put together and quilted before he comes, but I won't fret if it doesn't happen.   

I have to say, I am loving the design wall my husband made for me two Christmases ago.  It sure beats putting this thing all over the floor and having my daughter walk across it.

I am linking up today to {Sew} Modern Monday #17 at Canoe Ridge Creations.  I'm not really sure if either of these count as modern, but I'm not going to get into that debate.