zaterdag 21 oktober 2017

Four Seasons Baby Quilt

Some quick pictures before sending it off to my friend.

This fabric was the starting point for the color scheme.

 I finished a quilt! In record time. I think it was less than a week from cutting to finishing. That is an absolute record for me. I was inspired by seeing Preeti's work. She just goes for it, and finishes a quilt with simple quilting, and they are stunning.

My lucky heart. This fabric is the leftover from the backing on yet another unfinished quilt.


It's a bit wrinkled, because I kept in a roll, ready to send, for a week. Not clever, I should have made some pictures first, also when the weather was still nice.
 This quilt was made for my godchild-on-the-way. I started planning it as soon as I heard my friend was pregnant. But the baby is due in November, and it was October and I still hadn't started. I agonized over fabric selection, pattern, quilting, all details really, because I wanted it perfect.

I like the solid blue background fabric. It always comes out brighter than it is on camera. It's really a jeansy blue, with a hint of purple in it.


I really wanted a more worn, greyish blue, but this is the best they had, and I wanted to make this quilt!

 And all the thinking kept me from making... . Then suddenly, after reading another post by Preeti, I decided to just make a quilt, finish something. I can make a perfect quilt later!
 So I went to my quilt store, bought 1 meter of lovely jeansy blue fabric (I didn't want a white background fabric) and the next day I cut my squares and 2 days later the top was finished!


The back is a fabric called "Acorn Trail". It has lovely little girls enjoying the four seasons. I've had it for years, bought it because it's simply lovely, but never knew what to do with the large scale print.

Here's autumn, raking leaves, and a squirrel hiding an acorn for winter.
 I wanted to do some pumpkin seed (orange peel) quilting, which I thought would be feasible with my machine with no walking foot. After doing three block I ripped it all out, it was horribly wonky. Then I decided to do a simple grid pattern and botched up again, because the two layers of batting (I want this child to be warm!) shifted (while spray basting I thought they would cling to each other naturally, not so!). So I ripped all the quilting out again.

Winter is gathering fire wood and the little raccoon is helping.


I love spring, tending seedlings, but the rabbit is scary. Can you see it eying those seedlings?

 I thought this quilt must be cursed, I can't send it to this innocent little child. It wil bring her bad luck! But I pushed on, and quilted the grid and you'l never guess what happened ... Just as I made my last stitch of my last line, the thread was finished! Surely that is a lucky omen! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Behind the sewing machine is the only place I ever swear (ask my husband, he was shocked when he first heard me). Usually the swearing occurs when the bobbin thread runs out, and I only notice after I've sewn for another five minutes... argh! So when this last stich miracle happened I literally jumped for joy, and immeadiately made peace with the wonky quilting, because this is a LUCKY QUILT! The child that sleeps under it is sure to lead a happy and prosperous life!

Summer enjoying the flowers, the birds and the butterflies.

I added the last of this "Birds and Berries" fabric by Lauren and Jessi Jung. It has all sorts of cute creatures: snails, ...

 To add some extra good luck I added my little gold heart in the binding, and I sewed on the binding by hand while sitting in the autumn sunshine in my garden and at a playground. I'm convinced that the good vibes will carry through to my goddaughter.


... birds...

...cobwebs and lady birds ...

... and humming birds.

 I hope my friend likes it, and that her daughter grows to cherish it. When I finished it, I realized I want to finish more imperfect quilts (not that I've ever made a perfect quilt). It's so gratifying to get it done. And the quilt is no less special because it was made quickly, mostly from "leftover" fabric (is there such a thing, really?) or has a simple pattern, because it was made with love!

Fairy garden flowers.

Lots of texture, because of the double layer of polyester batting.
 So I sent it out to my friend yesterday. Always scary, putting something you made and love in a cardboard box, sticking a barcode on it, and sending it across the sea. But I can track it, and hopefully it will reach her somewhere next week. Then I hope it gets used, washed, stained and washed again a lot, because some wear and tear just make a quilt more cuddly and lovely, don't you think?

Snugly!

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