The Year of the Girl and a quilt to match

I know so many people who just have had or are pregnant with a baby girl. It is starting to get a bit crazy! Over the holiday weekend I attended another baby shower for an upcoming little girl and I absolutely had to make the little sweetie a quilt.

When I make a baby gift for a friend, I try to draw inspiration from the things on their registry. Do they like bright colors? Pastels? Animals? Classic and elegant or dramatic and modern? With my dear friend Heather, I had absolutely nothing to draw on. She found out the gender of her little one mere days before the invitation to the shower hit the mail. I had to order the fabric right away with nothing but a few green towels on her registry to go off of.

Thankfully I know Heather pretty well. We did live together as roommates for a year and as housemates for 2 more years. She has been part of my closest circle of friends for longer than I care to start counting. After some thought, I decided that the quilt definitely had to be girlie but that it was ok to go a little bit more bold. Heather is a perfect combination of trendy and preppy and I can fully expect her little one to follow in her extremly stylish shoes.

So Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane it was. I've been dying to work with that collection for a while now! I love that the final color bundle I chose was nicknamed the "Kissing Booth". The fabrics are a beautiful range of pinks from pale to bright/hot and that extremely vibrant clementine yellow keeps it from being too sweet. I chose everything online so when the package arrived at my door I almost had a heart attack with just how vibrant it all was. Thank goodness for fabric designers who know their stuff. Once I pieced the top, I can't imagine it without that range of color. I don't know which one I would have dropped if I had to leave something out.

Forgive the snapshot, in my hurry to finish this project and then jump into Thanksgiving meal prep I totally forgot to do the customary photo shoot!! I'm so mad at myself. These were taken at the shower itself. (Thanks, Jodie!)

The back is a little overwhelming, but I do that on purpose with baby quilts. This is meant to be put on the floor for baby to play on, that bottom should be getting dirty and beat up. You definitely want something that isn't going to show stains, etc. I think Heather and her baby will be so blinded by the clementine, they won't notice a little dirt it may pick up!

This project couldn't have been more fun for me to do this November. As the increasingly gray days closed in, I loved being able to play with all this color. So here is one more explanation for my quiet crafty corner the last few weeks. These darn surprises really take a toll on my blogging!!

So one more congratulations to Heather. I cannot wait to meet your little girl!