First Post + Quilt

Well, here we are. I find myself confuzzled. I should have started this blog long ago, but have always resisted. Now I find myself wanting to branch out and improve my skills as a quilter and all-around crafter. The only way I see to do that? Constructive criticism. If you are reading this, please, be honest if you decide to comment on my work. I value your input.

On to the quilt at hand... This is a baby quilt for my friend Valerie, her husband, and their soon-to-be little baby girl. I had already made Val & David a wedding quilt ages ago. It was a simple 6" square patchwork. I find those quilts soothing in their elegance. You really have to work to get the fabrics to blend together seamlessly (and it is even more of a challenge to make it look like you just pieced them willy-nilly). Plus, I am sentimental about those types of quilts because that is how I first taught myself to quilt.

But I didn't make their wedding quilt in that style because I liked it; I made it like that because at the time, that was all I knew how to do. Amazing to think how much my quilting comfort zone has increased since then. However, I made their baby quilt with the same 6" square patchwork for two reasons.

1. It seemed like a cute idea since that was the same style as their wedding quilt. I am all for consistency and this, well, it seemed right. (What? You don't get feelings when you quilt??)
2. I was short on time. Not because the baby came too soon or the shower snuck up on me, no, nothing like that. There was water damage in my house and the furniture from the living room (aka my crafting space) has all been smooshed in other rooms for 4 weeks now. During that time, I was also out of the country for a week. (Bonaire is amazing, FYI). Between the constant construction, and not knowing where anything was, I couldn't quilt. So many projects have been put on hold indefinitely. Everything is so disorganized. Finally, I realized I had to make this quilt. 

Instead of being good and using fabrics from my stash, (I just made another baby girl quilt a few months ago so I have plenty of leftovers) out of desperation, I went out and bought all the fabric I would need. Then disaster struck... I COULDN'T EVEN FIND MY ROTARY CUTTER in the chaos!!! Dun dun duuuuuuun!! My mom was generous enough to buy me a new one that is a little different (so it doesn't feel like a total waste when I find my original) in order to prevent me from spending all day hunting through rooms full to the brim for one tiny thing.

So then came the time to sit down and make the quilt. Well, there is no furniture because it is all crammed in the wrong room and piled with stuff so I improvised. By improvised I mean put the sewing machine on a case of water bottles and learned to push the pedal with my knee. This hurts and I do not recommend trying it unless you absolutely have to. 

But I was able to finish the quilt, ahead of schedule, so who cares how much my back hated me? 

Oh! Oh! My favorite part of the quilt is the backing! The baby shower was book themed. Naturally, I used Dr. Seuss fabric for the backing! Yay! 

Here are pictures of the front and back. These were just taken with my nearly-worthless cell phone, so please excuse the quality. :)