friends have babies and I make quilts

There was a long, long stretch of time in which I wasn't around babies, didn't think much about babies, and didn't feel compelled to make things to keep babies warm and cosy.  My big kids were big, no one I knew was pregnant or parenting a little one, I had moved on and had stopped noticing and engaging with the world of babies.  And then all of a sudden I was back in a world bursting with pregnant and breastfeeding women, newborn babies, crawlers, toddlers -- now that our own little surprise bundle, our littlest one, is on the scene, it seems to me that my world is full of babies.  I like it!

One of the members of our little playgroup (now disbanded, for all intents and purposes, because most of the mommies are back to work...but still a group in spirit!) is having a new baby in just a few weeks.  Last week I posted a sneak peek of the quilt top I had started for her, and I finished it a few days later.  Sadly, my week has been so busy that I haven't had a chance until now -- now that I am home fighting off mastitis! -- to photograph it.  Anyway, this little gem cheers me and I can hardly wait to get it quilted, bound, and into the hands of my sweet friend:

The fabrics are mostly from a fat quarter pack of American Jane "Look & Learn," bought at the Creativ Festival last fall.  I love them. (I had to supplement the AJ prints with a yellow reproduction feedsack fabric -- just to keep the inner border of each snowball consistently yellow-and-white.)

The double snowball block is from Elizabeth Hartman's "birdbath" pattern in The Practical Guide to Patchwork.  Once I got a little assembly line going, the blocks were quick to make.

This quilt top is a big hit with Miss F, who is more interested in the kids than the pictures of toys.  I hope it gives the new baby lots to look at and enjoy!