tapper

I vote for a scrap quilt. You can use some pinks and pastels but throw in lots of other colors and border and bind in neutral colors(black, white, gray).
That way, the quilt can grow with your GD. She may not like pastels next year.
Or go with pastels but use some kind of classic or neutral color/design for the back.

sahm4605

I say take the big girl and have her pick out one or two fabrics that she loves and go from there. maybe shower some patterns that you like and are comfortable making. I have made two large quilts so far and have a third i am trying to finish. All of them i just made up. I like to have more of a Picture like look for my quits. I will try to take a pic of the two i have finished for you. but one is a mariners type compass and the other is a dnp that i cut up differently. get a paint chip for the room so you can incorperate the color or use the color tone to make the quilt.

sahm4605

here are three that i have the blue one is the twin i made for my son and the deer one is for a toddler bed i made for my niece. the other is going to be a full size for my daughter I don't have the dnp that i made for my daughter on the computer here.

Jeanne S

I made this one for my young niece. It would be easily adapted to more pastel colors It isif you didn't like a black background. It is called City Blocks by Deanna Harris. I got is from the Summer, 2006 Quilts and More magazine.
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charlottequilts

Given how young she is, how about a scrap quilt with a very simple design (like a sashed square or a heart) alternating with plain blocks. Repeat each fabric twice, far apart. She can find things like an I Spy and would probably have fun finding the pairs. My sister and I had bow tie quilts when we were little, alternating with pink squares, and we enjoyed finding the ones that were the same on both quilts. It would be cheerful and relatively fast to make.

Hugs,
Charlotte

Kooklabell

I made this one for my neighbors daughter when she got her big girl bed. She was four and LOVES pink. I used 3D butterflies and she loves the pinwheel block. It was simple to create, since it doesn't have many blocks.

Quilting Grandma

If you like appliqué, I made quilts for my DGD's with butterflies on one and hearts onthe other. Good way to use a variety of bright colors.

MaryStoaks

I made this for a little girl who is 6 years old (going on 30 according to her Grandpa). She loved it, even wrote me a thank you letter. It was fast and made with leftover strips from other quilts.

tropit

A modern, up-to-the-minute quilt design might be in order...Something that is of her own era. It will mark her place in time and be a lasting remembrance many years down the road.

~ C

Kris P

Any chance that one of the patterns you want to make will work well in colors for her? That way you're doing 2 things at once. I've made many quilts from Anka's Treasures books. I love how well written they are and they come together quite nicely. For my niece, I made Sweet Pea, (had to size it up from a throw..) And for my oldest daughter, Gypsy girl. Very scrappy and lovely. My younger daughter's bed quilt is Knotted Squares by Amy Ellis from her book Modern Basics. That one is lovely, but each of the 30 or so blocks has 28 pieces.
Good luck with your decision.