I went easy on myself this month for A Lovely Year of Finishes (ALYoF) and set my April goal at finishing the quilt top for my sister-in-law’s baby shower yesterday. I made a totally pinkalicious Hazel Hedgehog quilt featuring a giant sized hazel and a fun heart speech bubble I created just for this project. Did I meet my goal? Yes!
Even with the heart speech bubble addition, I was able to finish the flimsy (quilt top) before the baby shower. Since I finished this flimsy in the midst of a rare “full mommy sew day” when my mother-in-law took the kids for a play day, I decided to forge ahead and start basting and quilting little (giant) Hazel.
After a particularly late night and early morning quilting/binding session, I managed to quilt the entire background and speech bubble, AND make and attach the binding. Normally, I would complete all of the quilting before binding, but since I really wanted a presentable quilt for my sister-in-law Stephanie’s baby shower, and since the unquilted portion is completely enclosed in quilted background, I decided to get a little cheeky and bind the quilt before completely quilting.
With the quilt bound, I was able to roll it, wrap it nicely in tissue paper and a ribbon-bound bag, and gift the quilt with no worries of fray.
My sister-in-law LOVED it, so mission accomplished! Even with a few basting pins still in Hazel and the heart, which will be quilted as soon as the color matched Aurifil thread arrives, it was fun to get to give this gift. Just think: hidden behind this quilt are two big baby bumps–cousins destined to be rolling around on top of this fun quilt (Stephanie is due a couple weeks after I am).
I will share more detail photos of the quilting and finishing in a later finish post once the quilt is completely finished (this will help keep the fire lit under my bum so that I actually finish it before baby time!) But for now, here’s a closer look at the speech bubble heart I’m calling “Hello, Love”. I’m planning on writing up a pattern for this block, since it’s such a perfect block to add to any of Elizabeth Hartman’s giant creatures, and I could definitely go for a speech bubble heart pillow!
I’m linking up with the ALYoF April Finishes Party, as well as Monday Makers and Design Wall.
Night Quilter 
How awesome that you were able to get so much of the quilt completed before the baby shower!! And hooray that she loved it! 🙂 I love the photo of the two of you with the quilt and the stealth baby bumps behind it.
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That is so adorable – especially the thought bubble!
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That is one huge and very beautiful Hazel! I think it looks truly amazing, and well done for getting it (almost) finished for the baby shower 🙂
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So cute! Of course she loved it!. I can’t believe how big it is…pictures of the individual blocks never do it justice. Congrats on finishing on time!
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What a beautiful, funny quilttop. A lovely gift to get. Congrats with your finish,
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Eeee SO cute!! I’m so glad you went ahead and did the speech bubble, it’s perfect!! 😀
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Do you know the baby’s name – you could write that in the bubble. Awesome and you know the blue contrasts (I mean dilutes) the pink so it is much more balanced!
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What a cute baby quilt! Love it!
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I had no idea it was so big from the other pictures, that is quite the accomplishment getting all of that background quilted so quickly. I am so in love with the speech bubble, it’s really the perfect accent to the hedgehog and the name of the quilt fits perfectly. So sweet of a gift.
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Fantastic, delighted you got it done to wrap up and surprise her. so glad you added the heart bubble!
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Oh my goodness….I did not realize how big you quilt was. Hazel is just adorable, the heart is the cherry on top. I just made a pillow. Thanks pattern is so cute and easy to make. Great job.
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I love your baby quilt! The hedgehog is cute and a perfect choice but your speech bubble is what really makes the quilt. I look forward to seeing the completed quilt…
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Its soooo cute!! The speech bubble is perfect, and I’m totally amazed you got it “done” that quickly. Such a sweet gift!
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I love how this turned out… the speech bubble worked perfectly. And you got a lot of pink into the backing for your pink-lovin’ pal. It’s exciting that your babies will be born so close together… cousin pals. So much fun!
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It is such a cute quilt. what a lucky baby she is!! And I am so glad your SIL loved it. Great job Kitty!!
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