Friday, October 9, 2009

Twice As Nice

I loved the first patchwork quilt with these fabrics so much, I made another one for my soon-to-be arriving nephew! It has minky on the back, which of course Mr. L. thinks is the best part of the entire quilt! I love the little patchwork squares within the squares--perhaps my favorite part. I hope they like it!Lesson Learned: Patchwork is fun, quick, and easy. Making quilts is also addicting, as I just wanted to sit down and do it, from start to finish. Having a toddler paint, do play dough, use stamps, and draw right next to you is a bit nerve wracking (imagining paint, even "washable" paint, spilled near your quilt makes your heart beat a bit faster) but greatly enhances your quilting time.

My Favorite Quilt

I'm posting this as part of ParkCityGirl's Festival of Quilts... I made this quilt for my (now 3 year old) son, Mr. L. It took a long time (a difficult pregnancy sidetracked me for months), and he hasn't quite fallen in love with it like I have, but it makes me happy whenever I see it! There's nothing better than that!(Front!) I loved the pattern (Denyse Schmidt's Hop, Skip and a Jump) as well as the fabric (most of it Jackie Shapiro's Sweetpea line).
This is the back. I think I like the back better (shhh)! Perhaps this is why it took me so long to finish his quilt. :)Its my first stippled quilt, and it took HOURS! My hand went numb, but I like the finished result. I have not stippled quite so close together on subsequent quilts...

Saturday, October 3, 2009

A Favorite Patchwork Quilt

Hmmm. I seem to be quite good at making a new mistake (or five) each time I make a new quilt. Perhaps at some point I will have made all of the mistakes, and either a. be mistake free or b. (much more likely) start making them all over again. I saw an online tutorial for stroller blankets here and here, bought this fabric, and thought they were a perfect match. Alas, when I asked for 3/4 of a yard, I didn't realize the fabric was directional, and the cut I got was NOT going to work, unless of course I wanted the fabric going the wrong direction. I did NOT want to take Mr. L. to the fabric store again, so I thought, "Ah, I'll just do a patchwork quilt. It won't take that long." Ha ha. But I loved the end result, it used some of my favorite orange and yellow fabrics, I was pleased with the quilting, and only had to unpick the binding once. :) Unfortunately, I finished it just before I ran out the door to a friend's baby shower, so these super cool pictures of the unwashed quilt are the only ones I have. I hope she enjoys it. If I was having a boy, I think I would have kept it for myself.
Note: Didn't get it made into a stroller quilt, was worried about how it would work with her new uber cool double stroller, so I offered to turn it into a stroller quilt if she wants.

Lesson Learned: Duh! If you get less than a yard, check the directionality (is that a word?) of the fabric to see if its going to work in your project. Lesson learned #2--it is faster to drag said toddler to fabric store to get enough material for a border than to make a patchwork quilt, even if the patchwork is cuter. Lesson learned #3--start a bit earlier on the project, so you can take a decent picture. Natural lighting perhaps? And a nicely washed and dried quilt to share?