My Third Finish Ever! YAHOO!

It seems like I worked on this for hours and hours!  But I suppose that is because I had to spread out the work over a long period of time (after work and on weekends when there wasn't some other family function going on)  I really should time how much I sew on a project to get an idea how much time it actually takes.

OK, I don't mind if you laugh about his, but  I chose and bought the fabric before I even knew what pattern I was going to use!  Not the best planning in the world, I know, but choosing the fabric is one of my favorite parts and I couldn't wait to get to it!  I knew if I didn't have enough, I would have to improvise or alter my plan but here is what I started out with:

Since I knew I had five different fabrics to work with, I started looking for patterns that used five fabrics.  I WISH I had the talent to design  my own but I'm just not there yet.  Not even sure if I have that desire as there are so many great patterns out there already.  Why should I?  :)

Even though I have only been quilting for a short time, I have been reading and hoarding books and magazines for years!  I've been a wannabe quilter for a long, long time.  So I finally found a pattern I liked in the 2013 May/June issue of Fons & Porter.  It is a pattern designed by  Kimberly Jolly called Strawberry Skies.

And here is my reduced version of this pattern!

I got lots of good input from fellow quilters about how to quilt this but ran out of time to practice so had to go with the two things I'm most comfortable with.  The blocks are just done with a swirl and the aqua border is done with a meander.  I meant to do them in a bigger motif than I actually did so it is a bit more dense than I wanted.   And yep, there are is a big pucker on one of the peachy stars but I keep reminding myself, "Finished is better than perfect!"  (Thank you, Angela Walters!)  

Thank you to all who gave me suggestions on how to quilt this!  I really do appreciate all the input I received and wish I had had more time to practice some straight lines.  I also want to send out a big thank you to Sandra at Mmm! Quilts! for her binding tutorial.  I always did struggle with how to join the loose ends and her tutorial worked like magic!  You can read that here:  Binding Tutorial, Take #2

 This is me looking like a proud mama.  Hee, hee!

In spite of its imperfections, the important thing is that Katie loved it!  And I loved making it for her.

NOW . . . I need some design help.  And I'm willing to pay if you have the perfect pattern! 

One of my husbands cousins liked this quilt so much she wants me to make a quilt for her expected grand daughter but a little bigger in size than the one I made for Katie.  She needs it by August, which for me is pretty quick.  I work full time so I don't have a gob of hours to devote to this.  I need a fun, but simple pattern.   Their baby room is kelly green . . .

And even though you can see teddy bear bedding here, that is not really the theme they are going with.   She wants it to have plenty of kelly green and be very girly.  I also found out that the mother is considering doing the curtains in a soft purple.  I've actually seen some color combos like this on a few blogs lately, I wish I would have written down who they were!  So may I please ask for help from the blogging community?  I'm going to be doing some googling for fabric tonight but if I have some suggestions as to who has some wonderful Kelly green prints, that would be awesome! I don't get out very much or have oodles of time to shop online so don't really know what's available.  I would also be excited to buy a pattern from one of my fellow bloggers if you have a pattern you think will work.  

I am excited to start this project!   Here is hoping some of you out there can help speed things along! 

I am NOT a designer so really do covet your help.

Linking to:

Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts

Linky Tuesday at Free Motion by the River

To-Do Tuesday at Busy Hands Quilts

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Let's Make Baby Quilts at Michelle's Romantic Tangle

Happy Quilting and Designing!