Maggie's "Quilt"

In the weeks before Lyla was born, I was wondering when and if I would start nesting.  I definitely nested with the other two, and I tend to be a nesting kind of gal even when I'm not pregnant.  But, with Lyla, it just never kicked in.  What I did do was sew quilts...like a crazy person.  I admit to laying awake at night sometimes thinking about these 4 quilts I wanted to finish before she arrived.  I'm happy to report that I finished 3 of the 4 and all that remains on the 4th is some binding.  And, I managed to get my life in order for her arrival as well.  So, now, while I'm spending most of my time taking care of her and Maggie and Joe, and NOT sewing, I thought I'd share those quilts, one by one.

Maggie's quilt was the first finish.  This quilt is so very special to me.  The concept of a quilt for Maggie swirled around in my head for years.  The first bit of fabric I ever ordered 3 years ago was intended for a quilt for her.  That specific quilt never happened because she developed her disdain for the color red.  Then, I decided maybe a big quilt was too much work for such a picky little girl and made her a duvet cover instead.  But, that didn't work out so well either - too heavy, too shifty, just not right.

Last Spring, I just decided to start fresh and go big.  I started with a few fabric prints I knew she adored (purple, purple, purple) and just started pulling other fabrics from my stash and my scraps and just cut, cut, cut.  I didn't have a specific plan other than I wanted to do some sort of scrappy strip quilt.  Quickly I realized I needed a plan for this quilt, especially since it was to be twin size.  So, I flipped through my quilting books and fell in love with this "Quilt" pattern from Patchwork Style by Suzuko Koseki.  It was similar to the idea I had in my head, but it gave me a real pattern to work from.

Maggie's favorite prints in all of my fabric stash were the purple Lizzy House stars and castles from 1001 Peeps.  Along with those I used a bunch of pink, purple, yellow, and blue prints.  And I added a nice Essex linen blend (Sand, I think) to soften the quilt a bit.   
           

 

The quilt is a smallish twin size at 66" x 89".  I never realized how tough it is to photograph such a big quilt!  I'm glad I took the time to do it though, because it was really my first opportunity to see it all spread out. 

 

Although hard to see in this photo, the back is made mostly from Jay McCarroll's For the Birds print in teal, which was essentially the front of that duvet cover that didn't work out.  I used some extra scraps and an Innocent Crush print to finish it off.

 

Now then...the quilting - oh, the quilting!!  Probably my favorite part and the part I cannot take credit for.  I had this quilt sent to Nancy Pease, a local longarm quilter who did this beautiful freeform fan design.  I knew I wanted something similar to a baptist fan design, because I liked the resemblance to rainbows.  Nancy did an amazing job!!  It was quite a splurge to have this done, but I was pretty set on a dense and free motion design for this quilt, which I knew I couldn't pull off.    

 

The best part about this quilt is that she LOVES it.  My picky little girl who "doesn't like the color red, or bows, or hearts, or strawberries for crying out loud...loves it!  It sounds silly but I felt like a weight was lifted when I finished it.  I hope it's something she can grow up with and that it will always comfort her.  Next up, Joe's quilt...

I am linking this project up to Craft Buds for their Craft Book Month!