Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpiller baby quilt

We have two great nephews on the way. One will be here around February and the other around April of this year. I have chosen Eric Carle's classic stories as my inspiration for their quilts.  The first one will get The Hungry Catetpiller. My own daughter loved this story.  Hard to believe it's almost 20 years old!  

Here are my fabric choices.  The line is by Andover Fabrics. The colors are so vibrant and happy.  This will be perfect for this little guy.  Mom is a preschool teacher so I think it's a good choice. 

The piecing actually went together quickly. What is going to make this quilt special is the actual quilting. I found the PERFECT pattern. It's by Anne Bright designs. 

This is a pantograph design ment to be used with a long arm quilting machine. I have a friend that has one but she lives in Tampa and I am in Chicago. Since I wasn't planning a trip I got this bright (crazy) idea on how to use the pattern on a standard machine by free motion quilting. I purchased the pattern then copied onto paper. I pinned to the quilt and stitched over the lines. Sounds crazy?   It was. But it actually worked.  

As I painstakingly worked my way through this quilt, I fell in love. I was gonna have a horrible time giving it away. 

As luck would have it, I found a great deal on a flight to Tampa and decided to keep this one and make another quickly to take to Tampa and quilt on the big machine. 

A couple of hours later and a little help from my hubby (I really want one of these machines. Thought this would give him a hint) this beauty was done. 

Love the detail in the quilting!

And finished just in time for this guys arrival!