A gift

I finished this quilt quite some time ago but I was waiting to gift it before I posted about it. A good friend of mine is expecting a baby girl--which was a relief to me. Don't get me wrong, I love baby boys too, but I struggle with ensuring that quilts for boys are "masculine" enough. I wouldn't say I'm overly into 'girly-girl' things but it is much easier for me to be able to just pull a variety of whatever I'm feeling like doing from my stash and put it together. I rarely buy novelty fabrics (of which there are many suitable for either gender) so I would say the vast majority of what I do buy has a more feminine slant. Does anyone else find themselves leaning on more novelty fabrics and/or solids to sew for boys?

Anyways, this project was really fun. I pulled a bunch of different fabrics that I already had on hand and cut rectangles for some simple patchwork. I wanted the quilt to be quite varied with the fabric but still feel very soft, colourwise. I also wanted it to be a clean, easy design but a little different from a typical charm square type patchwork top. So I went with rectangles that I cut at 6" x 3". I also wanted it to be clearly 'girl' but not over the top and saccharine. I think I accomplished my goals (& I love how it turned out!) Here is a picture of the top:

This was also the last quilt I quilted before I got my new machine. So needless to say, it was challenging. But after trying lots of different tension settings and speed settings and some old fashioned brute strength, I managed to make it work as well as possible. I backed it with one of the (relatively) new Cloud 9 flannels at Joann (which I found to be really great quality & would definitely use again) to make it snuggly for a newborn. I didn't take a picture of the back, but its a white background with pink & green X and Os. I quilted it in a random, uneven herringbone pattern inspired by Ashley at Film in the Fridge. I have done this pattern before on another quilt & I loooove the way it turns out (especially after the quilt is washed and all crinkly). I thought it added a lot of great texture to the simple pattern, while not being overly feminine.

For the binding I used a turquoise polka dot which was also from Joann. I know that everyone has differing opinions on Joann. I have many thoughts & I will write them in another post so you don't have to read an essay about Joann right now. But this was the first fabric that I saw in the store that I liked for binding but I was determined not to pick another turquoise/aqua/blue like I do for all of my projects. So I wandered around the store considering many other options until I had successfully driven my daughter crazy & then settled on the blue because it was just the one. I think it ended up being great & who cares if every project I make has aqua? Not me!

So all in all I was really happy with how this quilt turned out. I hope it is snuggly and soft and wonderful for yet-to-be-born baby girl. Here's one more picture with a hopefully better view of the quilting (I darkened it a little so hopefully the lines would show up better but the colors look different):