News: Raindance Quilt

I created a Raindance gender neutral rainbow baby quilt in May 2021. After momma received the handmade baby quilt, she ordered one for her sister who was also expecting a rainbow baby. Both mommas were team green. The first momma ended up having a boy and I can’t wait to see what her sister has. 

This is one of my favorite custom baby quilts to make. You get to select five different colors for the triangles and any kind of backing of your choice! We had a specific color palette in mind for this quilt and ended up finding the perfect backing choice on spoonflower.com. 

I quilted this Raindance quilt in diamond shapes with a cream thread. I love the subtle pop from the shape, texture, and color of the thread on the back. The cream is just delicate enough to complement the bold colors on the front. 

I had some extra fabric from binding all three layers together (top, batting, and backing). In fact, I often over measure this part and have extra fabric. It’s been a struggle because I don’t want to throw out the fabric, but I didn’t know how to re-use it. I finally figured out I could wrap the quilts up with the extra fabric. I think the end result looks authentic, handmade, and personal. And it keeps fabric out of wasteland. An all around win. 

I would love to help you create the baby quilt of your dreams for you or a momma in your life. Please send an email to me at casey@caseysheilaquilts.com. 

Last week, we shared the basics of creating a custom, modern baby quilt. This blog post goes more into detail for Option 1: Customize a Design- the Raindance Quilt version. We have four modern quilt designs that can be customized for any size quilt: (1) Raindance Quilt; (2) Everything Quilt; (3) Ombre Quilt; and (4) Nostalgia Quilt. 

The Raindance Quilt is a bold, modern quilt sparked with color. Full of equilateral triangles and alternating patterns, this quilt makes any corner of the room pop. This was the first quilt design I created. I’ve made several improvements to the design since then and love where it’s at now. 

There are two steps to creating a Raindance Quilt and you can decide on them in any order. You choose five colors for the front and a fabric for the back. The inspiration for the colors and fabric backing can come from anywhere. Is the recipient a rainbow baby? Maybe you’d like a rainbow fabric with coordinating colors on the front. 

Is the nursery themed? Maybe you want a complementary fabric to go with the theme (Mermaid theme, anyone?). We can find 5 matching colors for the front based on that. 

Or maybe you have a color palette in mind? We can choose the five colors based on the palette and then find a fabric to match! 

Once we discuss colors and/or themes, I will send a proposal with a mock-up of the quilt. When the quilt design is finalized, I will email you the invoice and order fabrics. I can start as soon as the fabrics arrive :) The process is about 4-8 weeks, depending on how long the design process takes. 

Send me an email at casey@caseysheilaquilts.com to start designing your Raindance Quilt. I’m so excited to work with you. 

Making custom, modern baby quilts for you and your families is such a special part of this job. When I get a request for a custom quilt, I ask a lot of questions to find out more about the quilt’s home. I was to know the nursery theme, baby’s gender, the family, and how you want to feel when you look at this quilt.  

I want my custom quilts to create a sense of comfort and warmth. In the very chaotic days of having small children, the quilt should give you reason to pause. When you pull the quilt fresh out of the dryer and it’s still warm to the touch, you’ll pull it close to you and remember all of the memories that baby is forming with the quilt and all the reasons behind the design and fabric choices in that quilt. 

This gender neutral rainbow baby quilt is no different. I was asked to design this quilt as a gift for a momma having her second baby, but as you can guess- it was not just her second pregnancy. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, early pregnancy loss happens in about 10% of known pregnancies. (Myself, included). I could not have been more touched to create a quilt for her and her family. Something to celebrate the joyous news of her rainbow baby, but also to honor and hold space for the prior pregnancies.

We decided very quickly on the Raindance Quilt for the design. We wanted to use lots of saturated colors. It was so fun to find gender neutral colors that felt bold and warm. Obviously the back needed to be filled with happy, sweet rainbows.

I hand stitched a coordinating fabric for the binding. The dots remind me of confetti and parties- another memory that would give me a reason to smile. Finally, I added a few pops of gold in the corners. 

I hope this quilt brings joy and peace every time the momma grabs it from the dryer. Wishing her, and really, all you mommas, the very best.

Click to design your own: Raindance Quilt.