Easy 9 Patch Baby Quilt a Non-quilter Can Make

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     I am not a quilter really,  I have taken a couple of classes and made a couple of quilts, but I am not good at it and I need simple patterns.  And even though they are simple, I am not good at matching corners and points very well.  But, since I have new granddaughters coming, and because I love fabric, I am trying my hand at quilting again.  You may remember  this quilt  that I made for my grandson a couple of years ago. I decided to try a 9 patch for his baby sister!
     My mother is a quilter, and on my bed I have a quilt that she made for my husband and I that is a 9 patch.  In the center of each block is a bird flying.  I took inspiration from that quilt when I found some fat quarters at Walmart with owls in the mix! (That is a link to all of our owl themed posts!) I used 7 fabrics to make my blocks.  I had to place a template over my owls to cut them into my squares.  They don't all fall right in the middle, but that is okay.  I used the rest of that fabric as one of the other colors as well. Here are how the blocks turned out.  There were 3 different types of owls.

     As you can see, the common thread in each block is the owls in the middle of the blocks and the pink zig-zag fabric on either side of the owl piece. I made 12 blocks.  After I sewed the blocks together, I arranged them on the carpet into a pleasing pattern to my eye.

When sewing the blocks together, I felt it was important to make sure that the zig-zag pieces all faced the same way.

    After finding a pattern I liked, I sewed the squares together first in rows, then in strips together.

I liked it, but I decided it needed a border to finish the look and to make it a little larger. (Don't forget to press it flat.)

     I didn't have enough fabric of any one pattern to make the border, so I pieced it using the zig-zag pink with a green and paisley in the corners. I fell in love with it.

     Instead of using batting in this quilt, I used fleece as the backing and tied it together  The fleece is so soft and warm.  Tied with the top on it, I didn't feel it needed any batting.  This baby going to live in California, not Alaska.

I decided that I would self finish the edges by turning up the backing to the front of the quilt. So, I cut the backing wider all around. Then, I pinned it into place, placing the pins where I wanted to tie it.

     I love my little heart shaped pins against the sweet flannel fabric.  It just adds to the joy I find in making projects like these.
     I tied the quilt with 6 strand embroidery floss.  I used a light pink.  Of course, You will use whatever matches your fabric choices.

This photo was taken before the quilt was tied. I just wanted to see how it would look. I can hardly wait to see little Sofia in it!

And here she is! Sorry about the photo quality, I had to take it with my phone! But, she is a beauty.