Baby Quilts all around and learning a new skill.

I am a fan of Masha D'yans' designs. Whenever she has a new collection I always get at least a few pieces. Most of the time I don't even know what I'm doing with the fabric. Last year I made my "Jump" challenge quilt with frogs from her fabric. I was really excited when I saw this year's collection: "Friends in Wild Places". I immediately knew what to do with the fabric. I could make a baby quilt for a co-worker who is having a little boy. She wanted zoo animals. It just happens that this collection has zoo animals. Yahoo. I am happy.

This is what I came up with. I had no idea what to do and no patterns, so I started with the panel as the center. I call it my row by row, border by border process. Get one done, and decide what you will to next.

Friends in Wild Places.

Initially I planned to make footprints of flying geese where the blue strip is, but I just didn't like the look. I decided to keep the design clean and simple.  I am considering quilting it with footprints...but who knows?

Speaking of quilting I had my first long-arm lesson last week. I quilted my first top in the class. This is a computerized long-arm.  It was rather interesting. I would not say I'm actually comfortable with it, but time will tell. Below is a little detail of the quilting.

quilting details

I have another appointment mid April and will quilt the animal quilt above and another for a nephew. Hopefully I'll be more comfortable with the process by then.

After dinner  I will layout the Scrappy Mountain Majesty I am making for my son. I am struggling with making a decision about which layout I prefer. Perhaps I can commit to a decision tonight.
Everyone have a  good week. For my friends by the river, stay safe.