A Special quilt for a 1st grandbaby friend

 One of the things I enjoy most about I spy quilts is when I can make them special with fabrics meaningful for the family.  I got to do that for one of my daughter's good childhood friends early in 2020.  And recently I got to do it again for daughter's "birthday buddy", her friend who shares the same birthday.  We are also friends with the new grandparents from church and so I was able to ask them for ideas for both mom and dad. As this is the 1st grandbaby they of course are very excited.  They gave me lots of great ideas and it became a treasure hunt to find relevant fabrics.  As I was finding the fabrics in my stash as well as shopping I would sent texts to grandma.  We were both having a lot of fun thinking of ideas.  I thought I'd share the fun here as well as the finished quilt.

The first idea was that mom and dad met while students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.  That one was easy, I found the fabric at my local LQS that keeps a selection of Texas university fabrics.  

They also both enjoy going to see the Texas Rangers play base ball - also easy.  This I found at JoAnns.  

I also had some generic sports fabric with a baseball bat in my stash.  

The mom was a music major when she first went to school, plays the flute & piano.  I knew I had several music related fabrics in my stash.  This particular fabric I used for the letter X (xylophone) before I found the X ray cats.  I used to have several yards but with all the fussy cutting over the years there isn't much left.  Fortunately there was a piece with both a piano and flutes close together.

The dad is currently going to medical school and doing medical research.  Aha, this fabric previously purchased for a family friend whose husband is a doctor would work for both with the microscope and prescription bottle.  When I showed this picture to the new grandma she also mentioned mom loves fried pickles - perfect!

Mom is a nurse at a clinic.  Nurses are a little harder to find but I did have this fabric in my stash that a friend gave me several years ago.  I'm not a big fan of animals dressed up like humans so I haven't use it much.  But it does definitely give the idea of nursing.

Mom wears glasses - that was in my stash too.

They also have a family dog though I couldn't find the exact breed of their current dog.  Mom did grow up with a chihuahua and the big eared one at the bottom looks a lot like a chi. 

Mom loves to read so I included this stack of books.

And crochet.  Well I knew the yarn fabric had to be included regardless for the letter Y.  I didn't have any crochet hooks but she won't mind the knitting needles. 

Now for dad's hobbies and interests.  1st the family mentioned he has purchased a canoe and has been taking it out on a nearby lake.  Hmm, no canoes in my stash.  But I did find this one at the LQS - I was so excited.  I have to laugh though, as soon as the quilt was finished I found another fabric with canoes.  That is one of those things that often happens, you keep finding things after you are done looking.  But now I have a canoes in my stash.  

Dad also enjoys cooking outside - I was so excited to finally get to use this fabric.  I've had it in my stash for a couple of years.

And the very best.  The dad grew up in Amarillo, Texas - and look what I found!  Most of the fabrics in my stash that reference Texas usually show Austin or Houston (due to NASA) but I found this in a scrap of Route 66 fabric.  Can't wait for him to see this one.

All 3 of these fabrics were so perfect as far as content but the fabrics didn't have enough contrast with the background so I added some scrappy flanges to make them stand out a bit. 

But the toughest thing to find.  Mom and dad both enjoy singing in their church choir.  Hmmm.  I could not find anything in my stash.  I tried searching the internet with no success.  Though I did get the idea of looking for Christmas caroling fabric - but of course all the Christmas fabric is long gone from the stores at this point.  I posted on the online quilt forum I've enjoyed for years asking if anyone had Singing or caroling figures in novelty fabric.  Fortunately a friend in Oklahoma had the perfect fabric that she shared with me.

And here is the finished quilt.  The pattern is Double Square Star from Missouri Quilt Company.  I'm sure they will have a lot of fun finding the special fabrics in the quilt.  I can't wait for the baby shower.