I Cannot Live Without Books
 

My nephew has some special friends who are expecting a baby and he wanted a special quilt. They are readers and he thought a book themed quilt would be appropriate.We scoured the internet for specific book fabrics and I haven't been brave enough to add up what we have in this project. The 'Little Prince' fabric came from South Korea. The 'Knights and Fair Ladies' came from Australia. The 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Matilda' both came from Great Britain. I paid $21 for the 'Harry Potter' fat quarter on Ebay (*gasp*) There was other HP fabric out there cheaper, but he wanted that specific pattern.

We also had to have 4 leaf clovers somewhere on the quilt.

I was a bit nervous about trying to pull all of these vastly different fabrics together in one cohesive quilt, but it actually worked nicely. I did a simple machine criss-cross quilting to showcase the fabrics instead of the quilting.

All in all, we have
The knights ...representing King Arthur, Ivanhoe and Game of Thrones
Harry Potter
Monsters....Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy
Matilda
Dr. Seuss
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Space...representing Bradbury, Asimov, Clarke...etc.
Alice in Wonderland
Wizard of Oz
Where the Wild Things Are
Little Prince
Bows and arrows...representing, Robin Hood, Hunger Games, Peter Pan and westerns

While this is a quilt for a baby, it isn't an infant quilt.

The dedication on the back says
"I cannot Live Without Books"...Thomas Jefferson

We lose ourselves in books.
Sometimes we find ourselves there too.
May you always find a little piece of yourself
In every book you open.

What a wonderful quilt. You really did good on it. I love the green & yellow sashing, background & borders. It really makes the stars pop. They are going to love this one.

nicely done

What a super job you did. This quilt is delightful and I am sure that the parents will love it. This is a quilt that the child will have even when he (she) is no longer a baby. BrendaK

What a meaningful quilt! (Expensive, too!)

Love the quilt, so pretty and you did a great job.

Wow! I love books and I love this quilt!!

What a wonderful quilt!

I can't live without books either. In fact this evening I'm hitting the used book store because I'm running low on reading material!

Wow! I teach Children's Literature, so this is very special to me. Great job.

great quilt like the yellow!!!!

love the Dr. Seuss one best

A delightful looking quilt! Bright bold colors will certainly grab that baby's attention.

what a great quilt, and lucky child. You're right, it works.

You did an amazing job fitting all of those special themes in this quilt! Congratulations!

what a great idea and fabulous quilt! I love books too!

Very nice quilt.

Beautiful quilt.

It turned out so pretty. I love all the colors.

And I'd add, Lucky parents. It's an adorable quilt.

Wow, beautiful!

Love it....

What a great original idea! Sounds perfect for the new baby. The quilt looks fantastic.

You did the perfect quilt for the couple.

Wow...a wonderful keepsake!

Thank you all so much! It was a fun little quilt to make. It's bigger than a crib quilt, but smaller than a twin...about the size of a toddler bed. There were a number of book-themed fabrics out there, but these particular ones are special to the recipients. It was important to have the Dahl books (Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and the Little Prince. That's why we had to go overseas. It was also important to have the knights. Narnia was on the list, but there isn't any Narnia themed fabric and all of the lion prints just weren't suitable.

I chose the yellow because all of the blocks had just a little bit of it in the prints and the green was in quite a few of them too. Since everything was busy enough without the addition of anything else, I chose the blender fabrics instead of another print.

Thanks for looking!

That is a glorious idea! Well done! :)

What a wonderful and thoughtful idea....and quilt! It's beautiful! What a lucky baby! And parents!

What a wonderful collection of books and characters. Hope you plan on writing the journey of the fabrics and their origin for the recipients so they can pass the information down along with the quilt for future generations.

Definitely a gift for the future!

That is wonderful - yikes $21 for a fat quarter of Harry Potter - so sorry I didn't know or I would have sent it to you for free. I have at least a ½ yard of that fabric, if not more.

Not only is it a beautiful quilt but it's a very special one. It will be treasured.

Nice quilt.

Cute - the sashing makes it all work. I am a book person myself and my favorite all time made by me quilt was made using a Raggedy Ann and Andy alphabet panel. I hated to part with it, but it went to a good home!

A bit nervous what are you talking about you did a great job; and I can't leave without books either. Thanks for sharing

Wonderful job!
Such dedication and effort. When you see the end product it was worth it. Such Fun!

I, too, am a book nut who will literally read cereal boxes if nothing else is available. Gorgeous quilt and a life-time gift.

HA! That sounds like me...

You ended up with a beautiful and appropriate quilt for them