Sherri let me have complete control of the design and fabric selection for the quilt. Her only request was that her new daughter's name, Realla-June, be stitched somewhere on the quilt. She didn't even want to see the quilt until it was finished. So what do you make when the sky's the limit? It is surprisingly a hard choice.
One element that helped me make the decision is that Sherri's wedding dress was white and red. I wanted to select fabrics that complimented the red. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to use Moda's Miss Kate by Bonnie and Camille. I've used this fabric line before and with red and aqua, it really is the sweetest.
For the pattern I adapted the blocks used in Thimble Blossoms "A Piece of Cake" pattern. I wanted to add a band of wedding dress white and applique Realla-June's name in bold fabric letters to the quilt about 3/4's of the way down the quilt top. I was having trouble finding the perfect font to use for the applique, when I had a great idea. What better font than a Mother's own handwriting? I asked Sherri to write the baby's name on a piece of paper and take a photo of it. From there I blew up the photo, traced it on the fabric and then satin-stitched the name onto the wedding dress.
The back of the quilt is an aqua flannel to make the quilt extra cuddly. This was my first time using flannel as a backing. At first, I did find it a bit difficult to move; but it didn't take me too long to get used to it.
Thank you so much Sherri and Dan for entrusting me to create such a special memory for your family!