Monday, March 17, 2014

Pinkalicious Baby Quilt

There's nothing sweeter for a baby girl than lots of pink, and this quilt is definitely that.

Some of you might remember when I made Katie a new version of one of her favorite baby blankets that is in tatters.
(And I have to say that Katie preferred that I just call this quilt Pink #3...NOT Pinkalicious, but Pinkalicious is just too fun, and it fits in with our theme of our For the LOVE of BOOKS series going on this month.

My sister had saved the extra fabric from the project for all these years.  I still had some of the fabric left over, and since the fabric was so special, I figured it was perfect for making a baby quilt for her sister.


If you're a long time blog reader, you know my two older kids were adopted in open adoptions.  Katie's birth mom and her husband are expecting their second baby girl in about a month.  (Their first little girl got a Hawaiian Strip Baby Quilt that had meaningful fabric in it and matches another of Katie's quilts.)


When I asked Alanna what kind of quilt she'd want for the baby, she asked for a toddler size blanket so it can grow with the baby into toddlerhood and beyond.  And the backing fabric is perfect for a baby girl to grow into.

I'd planned on just using some pink fabrics from my stash for the backing, but when my Wee Wander fabric by Sarah Jane arrived for another quilt, I fell in love with the Wander Woods print, so I ordered more of it in pink.  (Wee Wander just came out, and some shops are already starting to get backordered...but Sisters and Quilters as the blue version of Wander Woods here and I bought the pink version of this print from Chasing Unicorns Fabrics here.)

The white and pale pink in the Wander Woods print were perfect for this quilt, and it's a really large scale print, so it fills up the back nicely without looking too busy.

My sister had already cut the three main fabrics (the Suzy Zoo characters, pink and white checkered print, and the solid pink blender print) into 4-inch strips.  As a happy coincidence all of my I-Spy squares are also four inches.  (If you're not familiar with I-Spy Quilts, each square has a different picture on them, and you generally get the squares as parts of I-Spy swaps.  I've hosted several swaps in the past, and will be doing one again soon.  If you'd like to be notified of the next one, you can go here and fill out the form at the bottom of the post or I have a couple of extra sets of I-Spy squares listed for sale in my shop here.) So to add a little variety to the quilt, I pulled out a lot of pink I-Spy squares and interspersed them with the main fabrics.  I tried to stick to fairly low-volume pink fabrics.  (Which I have to say was a little hard for me...I've really discovered that I tend to be drawn to high volume prints most.)  This was such a quick sew and the pattern has so many fun possibilities, that I'm thinking I'll take the time to turn this into an official pattern soon.

The whole time I was working on this quilt with so much pink, I kept thinking about Pinkalicious.  (This and following links to Amazon are affiliate links.) I've posted about Pinkalicious several years ago when we had a little cupcake party just for the fun of it.


Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann is a favorite of ours.  Back when we discovered it, there were only a couple of books in the series, but now there are quite a few, including regular picture books (Purplicious, Goldilicious, Silverlicious, Emeraldilicious) and easy readers.  We don't have all of them by any means, but we do have a few.

Pinkalicious is a girl who LOVES pink...pink everything...and it leads to some interesting problems for her.  She learns how to solve her problems, though, without compromising who she is.  A great message for kids to be themselves while working through things.

Katie has mostly outgrown the books, but Becca loves them.  They're right at the reading level where they will stretch a beginning reader, but the fun stories make it worth the effort.


The illustrations are fun because they have kind of a collage look to them.  The texture in the pictures is often created with texty prints in the background, which reminds me of the texty quilt fabric that is so popular now.

So when we mail the quilt off in a week or so, I need to find a copy of Pinkalicious to go with it.  That way the baby can have the quilt and her big sister can have a new book to read.
Be sure to stop by the other For the LOVE of BOOKS posts.  You'll want to be sure to stop by this post to find out how you can get great books for yourself while also helping provide Seattle Children's Hospital with book.  Plus there's a giveaway for you to enter.

http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2014/03/usborne-bookdrive-to-benefit-seattle.html

Please show my sponsors some love...
Wee Wander Tree Lights Fabric - From Sisters and Quilters
200+ I-Spy Charm Squares Set - From Pieces by Polly Quilts

Wee Wander by Sarah Jane Half Yard Bundle - From Sisters and Quilters

Hexies by Halves PDF Pattern - Pieces by Polly

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7 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, those are adorable! I was going to make a quilt for the new grandbaby, but decided on a flannel blanket with satin edge instead. I've never quilted before, so this looks really amazing to me! And aren't those darling books. Great kid photos. :-)

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  2. Both quilts are just so pretty. I love the Wander Woods fabrics. It was a great idea for the backing and the quilting is perfect. That baby is going to love having that quilt and love having a quilt like her big sister.

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  3. Beautiful quilts! I love them both and they are so creative! And perfect for little girls, just like the books.

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  4. Beautiful! What a treasure to share within your large and loving family. I might be tempted to try that pattern when it comes out...

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  5. Love all the pink! Pink Perfection!!!

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  6. I LOVE it! Those wee wander prints are gorgeous too, and I really like the quilt pattern. Thank you for being so thoughtful! The girls are growing up so fast. It looks like they had fun though.

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