This is the third quilt for the third coworker expecting a baby. Her second child is due any day now. When I make quilts like this, I want them to be special and unique in some way, to best fit the receiver. It took me a while to settle on what I wanted to do. Julie works in another location from me so we don't interact often. I went in cahoots with other coworkers to try to get her to talk about the baby, the baby's room, her family, anything to lead to just the right idea.
What caught my attention the most were the conversations about her daughter Rebecca, and the preparations and adjustments that would be coming in her new role as big sister. Rather than a baby quilt, this would be a big sister quilt.
It was this post by Crazy Mom Quilts that inspired the design for this quilt. My squares are not quite as small as hers. I already had some two-inch squares cut from scraps and plenty of scraps to go through for more. I did have to pull a few pieces from my stash to up my pink game, but other than those, these blocks are purely from the scrap bin.\
At first, I pulled all the pinks and all the blues and made some test blocks. After a bit of study, I decided to pull all the really dark colors out and stick with mediums and lights. I also pulled anything that introduced too many other colors, like the yellow and orange ones.
This has been a slow sewing project, with about 15 minutes of sewing happening each morning before work. However, there always seems to be a tipping point and once I started getting excited about the finish, things speed up quite a bit.
To make sure it was plenty girly (not that the pink wasn't enough!), it is quilted in a large free motion flower design.
Of course I had to add a sweet personal touch by quilting Rebecca's name in the quilt.
The back is cream and the bobbin thread is pink so the flower design will stand out just a little more on the back.
The binding is a pretty teal. The quilting thread on the top is a pastel variegated thread. The colors are soft and subtle and work well with the colors in the quilt top.
Each four-patch finishes at three inches. The sashing between the blocks finishes at 1 inch. The finished quilt is 41 inches by 33 inches. It is made entirely from stash. This quilt was started on March 4 and completed on March 17. It took 7 1/4 hours to complete. I doubt I will see Julie in person again before her baby is born so it will travel via a coworker or the mail. Either way, I hope it brings some comfort to a very special big sister.
Linking up to Finish It Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.
