I finished my first sewing project for my boys, and I couldn't be happier with it:
No shopping required for this little play mat: I fell in love with the Storyboek prints and added them to my stash a while ago, and the Kona Medium Gray and Butter went with it perfectly. I even had the binding on hand! Nothing quite like a nice soft satin corner to nuzzle against (especially one made by mom...eekk, I'm the mom!!).
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| The back |
I've long admired
Ashley's strip quilts, and it was so easy and fun to make one of my own. This one finished at about 44"x50". I used a combination of
quilt-as-you-go, machine top-stitching, and hand-quilting with perle cotton thread.
I like the variety of texture ALMOST as much as the minimal basting!! I didn't even spray-baste, as Nova suggests. I just pinned the strips for the backing down, and went from there. I lined everything up by eye, and it worked out fine.
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| 23 weeks! |
Since I usually use a self-binding method, I had some difficulties with the binding. First, I started sewing it on from left to right (bad), then I tried to make a mitered corner without setting the edge of the binding flush with the edge of the quilt (impossible). Ah, lessons learned.
I can't wait to see my sons enjoying this cozy play place! Though currently they seem pretty content to battle it out in the womb...I get such a kick out of watching my belly lurch around as they stretch and play in there.
Mumu and my brother's quilt are on their way back from the long-arm quilter's magic hands! They should arrive by Friday. I can't wait to bind those puppies and send my brother's on its way to him. But first...I may find a crafty way to incorporate his beloved freshman beanie.
A search through my stash revealed a few hidden gems that I'd forgotten about. Twice the kids means twice the quilts! What could make a cozier quilt backing than this luscious velveteen? I've just got to figure out what the front should look like.
And you can never have too many
receiving blankets, right? (Much, much more AMH flannel and voile are on their way to my doorstep as we speak.)
This will become a few new couch pillows. Our current pillows are much loved, much used, and much mismatched from our whole living room. Time for a change!
As for my other projects...I've gotten in quite a bit of hand-quilting on Paisley Sunrise, but any sort of cutting, piecing, and laying out quilt tops takes a lot out of me and I've been pacing myself carefully. I've got at least 14 weeks before the babies arrive (ack!! is that all?!), so I hold out hope for my other WIPs...if I can manage not to add more to the list!
Check out more progress at Lee's:
