Why do I leave things till the last minute, so here's a free pattern

I just watched a TED talk by Tim Urban "Inside The Mind"  and I'm comforted to know that Procrastination is a quality all of us have in common, at least to some degree.

A big question for a quilter concerns deadlines, do we really have deadlines?  We sure do.  How about when we're trying to get a baby quilt done. I consider it great if the quilt makes it to the baby before the baby is 2 (not 2 months, 2 years).

At least this one is quilted and bound

I have a couple ideas about those baby quilts:

• Start the instant you find out there's a baby coming
• Make that quilt bigger, think "youth" size
• Whatever you do, don't tell the parent the quilt is coming, just deliver when it's complete
• Make several quilts ahead of time and keep them for these exact occasions (this makes too much sense for the procrastinator, not sure I can do this)

My biggest problem right now is finishing patterns, I just struggle getting my ideas from the design I just made to a pattern someone else can follow.

I keep trying, but in the meantime I've taken a couple of pictures of an easy charm pack quilt I just finished:

Start with a few 2 1/2" squares
4 Strips 2 1/2"
Sub-cut into 56 2 1/2" squares

From about a yard of grey fabric cut 13 strips 2 1/2"
Sub-cut into (97) 5" rectangles

Stitch a grey rectangle to each of the charm pack squares

Stitch a pink 2 1/2" square to 42 grey rectangles
Stitch this unit to each of the charm square units

Organize your charm units on your design wall
I did 7 blocks by 6 blocks

Make more rectangle/square units for the sides that are in need of the grey/pink border
Sew this all together, quilt and bind

Now, find a few charm packs a little sashing and contrast squares and make a few of these up ahead of time and whip one of these cuties out for a gift, completely stress free!

Enjoy,
The Calamity Quilter