Tradition with a bit of Whimsy

Recently a friend asked if I would make her a quilt to give as a baby gift. She told me the baby is a girl and the parents are extremely proud of their Irish heritage.

Otherwise, I had free reign to create!

I wanted to create something that was suitable for a new baby girl, but not all "bunnies and duckies." It had to be a piece that she could take with her as she grows up. Color was definitely necessary and so was a subtle shout out to the parents' Irish pride.  What to do, what to do?!

I knew I wanted to do something along the lines of the traditional Irish Chain quilt. However, I wanted to lose the "traditional" aspect of the pattern. Enter Allison Harris from the blog Cluck. Cluck. Sew. This talented craftress designs quilt patterns and she had redesigned the traditional chain quilt pattern to make it more 21st century. Don't you just love it when things work out?!

Kona Snow comprises the background of the quilt and various fabric strips from my fabric stash make up the chain. The goal was to vary the colors, but have some different patterns so that something new can be discovered each time the quilt is looked at.

What do you spy with your little eye? 

For the backing and the binding I used a pastel plaid fabric. It captures most of the colors of the front and gives some interesting border detail. It offers a nice contrast to the clean and crisp front.

I spy a string in this picture...

All in all, I'd say this is one Courtastic baby gift!

Pretty with personality.