The Fabric for my Diaper Bag?

This is the jelly roll that M gave me for christmas. She knows how much I love this collection. It is the Recess by American Jane collection from Moda. Oh, how I love Moda.

In my excitement of receiving this beautiful gift, I did not even have a plan for what it would become. It was still a few days before Christmas and I was up to my eyeballs in projects that had to be finished by the big day.

It was the day after while in the shower that the answer came to me. I was washing my hair and thinking about what pattern to use for the diaper bag. The plan was always to make my own, since M and I actually have a little business doing just that. I just had no idea what fabric to use.

I didn't want to plan for either boy or girl, because even if we do have a match with a determined sex, you never know if it will succeed. I hate to sound negative or pessimistic, but I am trying to prepare myself for the possibility this could happen. The other reason was that I am sure the Husband does not want to carry a pretty pink bag, no matter how trendy and beautiful the fabric.

I spent hours at work searching through my favorite sites for the perfect fabric. No single fabric struck me as "the one". That's the thing about this jelly roll. Individually, the fabrics are fine. Very cute and retro, but nothing spectacular. But when you add them together, they are adorable and perfect.

The bag will be strips of 15 different fabrics stacked horizontally. This will leave enough fabric to make several bibs, burps cloths, lovie blankets and assorted pouches and binkie keepers. The purchase of a few charm packs (see below for explanation of jelly rolls and charm packs and all this other quilty stuff if you care) will give me a perfectly sized car seat quilt and a handy quilted changing mat that will roll up and stay that way with a cute scrunchy type elastic band at one end.

I have not started it yet because I have yet to order the charm packs and possible yardage of other fabric. I still need to do some planning to see what I need.

I will do the ordering soon, but the bag will have to wait until I finish the christmas quilt that is 85% complete for my MIL. That would get done a lot faster if I wasn't here on the computer and planning and prepping for a doll quilt for my co-worker's 4 year old daughter (in my defense, that is a good hand project for work. The big quilt is way to big and would only get dirty from dragging on the floor. I swear.)

Quilty stuff explanations:

Jelly rolls are 2.5" strips of fabric that are approximately 45" long (the width of the bolt of fabric). Depending on the fabric line and how many different designs are in that particular line, you will get one or two of each print, usually about 40 strips total. It is a great way to get a good selection of prints for a project without spending a fortune on big pieces.

Charm packs are 5" square pieces of fabric from a collection. Unlike most jelly rolls that I have seen that are always 40 pieces of fabric, charm packs vary depending on how many different designs are in the line. They vary from 25 to 40 different pieces and I have never seen a pack with more than one of each design. They are great for making simple but cute quilts with lots of color and variety.

Layer Cakes are just like charm packs except the squares are 10".