When we found out that cuzzies, Sam and Juan were expecting - and that it was a girl, it took me about 12 seconds to decide on a quilt for them. I made this same quilt for a friend's baby a few years back and since then it's always been one of my most favorite makes.
The fabrics are so fun to work with. I love working in bright, modern fabrics - rainbow is by far my favorite, and, the tiny 2 inch finished squares are the perfect opportunity to fussy cut and make a look and find quilt. I love lots of adorable novelty fabrics, like the cute sea horses or firefly in a jar in the picture above. Including those in a quilt like this is so fun because I can just image the baby growing older and playing "find the...." seeking out all the adorable fabrics hidden within.
One thing that I've always had a hard time expressing when gifting these labors of love to future babies is just how much time I spend thinking about them and their parents while I made these quilts. Love is quite literally sewing into each and every seam. There are lots and lots of hours spent on these quilts and I often sit there, playing moments I've had with the parents or maybe with my kids in my mind like a movie reel. I see times we've spent playing games at the lake, or the day they walked down the aisle together, or imaging what it'll be like for them to hold their very first baby in their arms for the first time.
These blankets, while beautiful are full of love and made to be used and loved! Making a baby quilt with white as the accent color seems a little dangerous...babies are messy! But those stains, and rips and little car wheel marks are so important to me! They tell the life of the baby and the family around the quilt. It's just there to soak up all THEIR love once it leave my house.
This quilt is 50x62 and was made with 4 inch boarders around each block. Each block is made up of 24 unique 2 inch blocks each hand cut by me. That's nearly 500 tiny blocks! It's truly a labor of love, but I love every minute of it! We quilted it in a pattern called Pretty Posies and used beautiful purple variegated thread. It turned out SO good! I love when the quilting of a quilt can shine and it really does on this white background.
We were supposed to have a baby shower for Sam and Juan a few weeks ago, and while one is tentatively planned for just a few days before she's due, I didn't want to risk this quilt not making it to their house before the baby came. This quilt arrived in the mail to them yesterday, so it's finally time to share all of my hard work with you all. I can't wait to meet this sweet new baby girl!
