Family of three

Hi everyone! Its been a little while, hasn't it? I don't mind telling you that it's been a very stressful few weeks around here.  December is huge month for our family, with birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas and other religious events, plus all the rest of everyday life.  Oh, and the semester ends, too.  Yikes!  This year we've travelled three out of four weekends for milestone events, so now we're looking forward to spending the rest of December sitting on the sofa. (As if that's likely!)

Today I have a fun, happy finish to show off, in fun, happy colors:

I know what you're thinking-- a finish on a Monday?  Yep.  I made this as a baby gift for my daughter, and her baby shower was this weekend. (For you Catholics out there, it was on the feast of Immaculate Conception, which I found highly amusing.)  Since she sometimes looks at the blog, I had to wait to show it off until after the party.

Aren't these giraffes adorable? This is a pattern from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, and you can buy the pattern HERE.  The pattern is very, very easy and  goes together pretty fast.  I'll warn you that the cutting list is pretty intimidating, but there aren't any weird shapes, just squares and rectangles.  I think it took longer to cut than to piece! Seriously, there are two keys to success with Lorna's patterns (all of which are great and use similar methods): label all your pieces, and cross off steps as you go.  I found it really helpful to mark off each row of the giraffes as I finished them, because those little bits can get confusing.

I don't often make quilts all in solids, but my daughter and son in law are pretty modern, and solids fit this pattern really well.  I didn't write down all of the colors, but all of the fabrics are Kona cottons.  The background is a beautiful color that I just love called Bahama Blue, and the giraffes were made using Macaroni and Cheese for the bodies and Pecan for the spots.  (Those would be great names for the giraffes!) The greens were scraps from the stash and so was the binding, which is a slightly darker blue.

You know I had to add a fun detail to personalize this quilt, especially because it's so unisex and not girly at all.  (Which is great, because there don't seem to be a lot of unisex things for babies any more!)  I gave the baby giraffe a tiny bow on her head, which I made just by making a "house" shaped unit from the square that belonged there.  The squares I used were a little big, but I think it turned out well.

This quilt is a generous baby size, about 40 by 53, which should take her to toddlerhood.  As you can see, I quilted it in straight-ish lines, which was in keeping with the modern look of it.  I say "ish" because I wandered a bit, even if you can't tell.  I never really got the hang of the more "organic" lines, but I think these look okay.  I had a great stroke of luck and found a flannel backing that not only had giraffes, but also a blue background! It worked out perfectly.

In a complete coincidence, without any coordination from us, the baby's other grandmother made her a beautiful crocheted baby blanket in a color which almost matched the background color of the quilt! It's not as obvious in the picture above, but in person they are definitely a set.

So that's my big Monday finish! This is a happy quilt and I was thrilled to gift it to a brand new family of three.  We can't wait until this little girl gets here!

Hope you all are having a good week so far.  I've got some exams to grade, but I should be done by the end of this week, at which time I will sleep for about three weeks.  Or not, depending on how things work out!

Sharing at Let's Bee Social, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF, and Finished or Not Friday.