Nursery Blog Hop Day 5- “Stairway to the Stars” Quilt by Natalie Crabtree

    

We’re so excited to have our final guest Blogger, Natalie Crabtree, show you her amazing projects using “A Bushel and a Peck” collection by Alicia Dujets. 

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Hi! I am Natalie Crabtree, owner of Crabtree Arts Collective! I’m so thrilled to take over the Michael Miller Blog for this fun Nursery Blog Hop. Thank you to the team at MMF for allowing me to take part in this fun project, spread the word about the fun kid-friendly prints at MMF and share a bit about my quilt pattern – “Stairway to the Stars”. Let’s get started! 

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I had the absolute pleasure of working with the “A Bushel And A Peck collection https://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/shop/collections/a-bushel-and-a-peck.html and the luxurious and soft Beary Soft Minky collection

https://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/shop/basics/beary-soft.html .

 

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I have always had a fondness for kid-friendly prints, and Michael Miller Fabrics has a wonderful selection of bright, happy prints that engage and entice children, but are also fun and enjoyable for parents too. Although my baby, Gwendolyn, isn’t a baby anymore (She’s 4!), she loves taking part in designing and creating quilts. Her love of fabric and color runs deep, and she was immediately drawn to this collection. 

We were able to fussy cut the small ‘postage stamp’ like fruit panels into 3 ½” squares for my pattern “Stairway to the Stars”. The small fruit panels were the perfect fussy cut addition to the easy Sawtooth Stars used in this quilt. Images and details to follow. 

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The colorful fruits featured in the “A Bushel And A Peck” collection were a treat, featuring sweet faces for a bit more personality! The color palette was bright, but soft and easy on the eyes. Not only is this collection adorable, but it can be a source of learning and growth for babies and toddlers. Babies and toddlers are like sponges aren’t they? Cuddling up or playing with a quilt created with this collection, they are bound to learn about colors, fruits and shapes. 

Gwen and I especially loved the tiny green grapes, and the watermelon medallions. How adorable! The prints were perfect for mixing and matching for vertical rows featured in “Stairway to the Stars”. I cannot resist a plaid print, and I especially love a collection that uses multiple colorways of a great plaid print. We used the multicolored and red plaids! 

 

My “Stairway to the Stars” pattern makes for a quick and easy baby quilt that will allow you to display larger prints in 6” finished squares. This was perfect for the “A Bushel And A Peck” collection because I didn’t want to cut up the prints too small. They were too sweet!“Stairway to the Stars” is easily a weekend project! Although the original quilt measures at 54” x 66”, this baby quilt is a smaller modified version of the original measuring 36” x 44”. Perfect for baby!

 

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I simply excluded the outer border on the original pattern and reduced the number of squares and stars in each vertical row. This pattern is easily adjusted to be larger, or in this case smaller, to fit your needs. You could opt to create the larger version of “Stairway to the Stars” to ensure it will eventually transition to a toddler bed! 

Here are the yardages required to make the smaller version of “Stairway to the Stars” Click HERE for pattern.  The “A Bushel And A Peck” collection skus used in this quilt can be viewed HERE  

• Background (Cotton Couture Bright White for Star Background, Sashing, Border): 1 yard 

• Plaid Print for Stars and Binding (Red Plaid, DC10054 Picnic Basket Red): ¾ yard

• Fussy Cut Star Centers (DDC10048 Fruit Stand Friends Multi): 3/8 yard

• 4 Coordinating Prints for Plain Squares (DC10050 Melonberry Pink, DC10054 Picnic Basket Multi, DC10054 Through the Grapevine Green, DC10050 MelonberryYellow): 3/8 yard each 

• Backing (Beary Soft Minky BS11000-LIME-D, Minky is 58/60” wide): 1 ¼ yards https://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/shop/basics/beary-soft.html

Finishing up this project was fun! Gwendolyn loved the soft and cuddly lime colored minky on the back of this quilt! The texture is beautiful, and the color is vibrant. 

Thank you for reading my Nursery Blog Hop post, and for following along with all designers as we present fun and easy project ideas to gift to the babies and kiddos in our lives! 

If you would like to see more by myself and Crabtree Arts Collective, be sure to follow along on Instagram at @njcrabtree and on Etsy at CrabtreeArtsQuilts | Etsy . 

MICHEAL MILLER BLOG HOP FOLLOWERS CAN RECEIVE 20% OFF THE STAIRWAY TO THE STARS PATTERN AND OTHERS USING THE CODE “MMFBLOG20” FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL. 

 

This concludes the Nursery Blog Hop! A special thank you to all the participants and readers who followed along. We hope to have inspired you to make your own projects for your homes and loved ones! Leave in the comments which project you enjoyed the most from the blog hop for a chance to win a Cotton Couture FQ bundle! 

Make sure to follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for more inspiration content and free patterns!  Share with us the Nursery projects you create by tagging us @michaelmillerfabrics

HAPPY SEWING!