Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

I love the idea of versatile quilts but for some reason haven't really managed to make one until now.  I think because the baby quilts I have been making are very much baby quilts - novelty fabric and the like, which means no self respecting adult would want to adorn a chair or their knees or a picnic with it down the track. :) 
However, with this latest (completed) project, which I think got finished within a 24hour time period (a record for me!) I started with the challenge of making a gender neutral baby quilt.  This is because it is going to be sold to raise funds for family who are going to Cambodia to do charitable work and I wanted it to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.  So then I thought why not go further and make it appeal beyond the baby market?  The result was this:

It is made from a range of coordinating woven fabrics, which lend an amazing texture and softness to the quilt.  When I first received the bundle of material in the post a couple of years ago I wasn't sure what to do with them as I was only used to using printed quilting cottons and hadn't realised that these were woven.  So it has taken a while to get the confidence to use them as they are quite dense and stretchy.  Here is a detail:


 
Mmmm!  Raspberry and lemon sorbet! The materials and pattern, which make for a bright and cosy baby quilt for either a boy or girl, also put me in mind of picnics in the early Summer and I think it would be just as nice for that purpose as for a baby.  It really made me think - there is no reason that a baby quilt should be put away in mothballs once the little one is toddling, if the quilt doesn't scream baby then there is no reason it can't be used, enjoyed and loved for years to come...