Bridesmaid Dress to Baby Quilt

This was my first big sewing project since I was in middle school and I think it turned out great. Although, I will warn you it took a lot longer than I thought it would to complete this quilt.

I had seen this idea on Pinterest and when my sister in-law announced that she was having a baby girl, I thought turning the pink dress I wore to her wedding would be a great way to try out my sewing skills. I will admit I had to call in the help of my mother in order to make sure the quilt would actually stay together.

I started by purchasing a sheet that matched her bedding set for the back of the quilt. Then I took the sheet and the dress to the fabric store. I purchased 4 other fabrics that I thought went with the dress and the sheet. I also purchased batting. Since this was my first sewing project I  purchased a rotary cutter and mat.

Then I began cutting the fabric into squares. Once I had all the squares cut, I began to pin them together in a pattern. I wish I  had taken photos of the process but once I got started cutting and pinning I forgot to photograph the progress.

Once the pattern was developed I began to sew the squares together in groups of 4 and continued to add on until I had completely sewn the top of the quilt. After that I put the sheet, batting, and quilt top together. Then I machined quilted some squares onto the quilt and added the bow from the dress to the middle of the quilt.

The Bridesmaid dress after!

Below is the note that I put in the box when I gave my sister in-law the quilt. I had also included a photo of the two of us from her wedding day.

It was not that many years ago that you gave me the privilege to stand next to you as you got married.  It was such a beautiful day, now as we wait for you daughter to arrive, I wanted her to have a piece of that day to treasure.  So, if you look closely at this photo and this gift you will see that they have something in common.