Fort Firefly Gift Set

Not since Briar Rose have I been so excited about a fabric collection for children. Fort Firefly by Teagan White is utterly charming, and I was thrilled to death when the wonderful people at Birch Fabrics sent me a bundle to play with. A friend of mine is expecting a baby by the end of this month, and since we don't know yet if it's a boy or girl, I was looking for fabric that would walk the fine line of gender neutrality. I'll admit that this probably leans a little more toward the girly side, but it's cute enough that I think it can be excused. I've been dying to make the Books for Baby quilt from Patchwork, Please! since I first saw it. This is a slightly smaller version -- nine blocks instead of sixteen -- but it's still large enough for a small baby quilt.

Fort Firefly is a fussy cutter's dream. Every print is full of adorable details, and I had a hard time narrowing my choices down to these nine covers. I pulled from my scrap bucket to find text and map prints that would work for the pages and brown fabrics for the book bindings. Each quilt block is edged with Quilter's Linen, which I'm absolutely loving right now. The backing is a quiet dot print from Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille.

I thought it would be fun to make a little bag to hold the quilt instead of wrapping it up in paper, so I did a larger variation on my party bag tutorial using leftover prints from the Fort Firefly bundle and some white webbing that I had on hand. I couldn't resist sewing up a little cloth tag to decorate the front using some extra patchwork squares and a piece of cord. I love the way this bag turned out. It's just the right size for the folded quilt and will also fit nicely into a diaper bag for emergency situations once the baby's here.

There are so many wonderful sewing projects out there, but I still think that baby quilts are some of the sweetest.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday.