I got to meet my niece, Mary, while on vacation. Isn’t she the cutest little April-born, ruffled butt, Elmo loving, quick crawling, happy baby ever?! You don’t have to answer that. We all know it’s true. Here she is hamming it up for the camera on her quilt.

Here she is with her mama, my baby sister. Yes, that’s a Christmas tree in the background. Sheri decided to decorate for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was a happenin’ holiday place all right.

So, about this quilt. My sister had a baby shower planned for late January and a bunch of us family members flew in to surprise her. It was so fun to see her react to each new person coming. She was completely surprised and we were able to love on her all weekend. One of the things we did was make signature blocks. Mary’s name was a secret at the time so I had everybody guess what her name would be. These blocks make up the front of the quilt. The centerpiece is, of course, her actual name.

On the back are love letters to the baby. These are bigger blocks so there was room to write. I ironed freezer paper onto the back of each block for a more stable writing surface. It peels right off when you’re finished. Fabric markers in a rainbow of colors were set with a hot iron.