Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Quilting: 1

I must say, I *heart* quilting. My mother says that it's kind of goofy because you take big pieces of fabric, cut them into little pieces, then put them back together to make big pieces. But, it's so...fun, pretty, therapeutic, creative, resourceful, etc. I know that the roots of quilting are far more resourceful than the craft that is practiced today. And, for those wondering, my mother was the one who taught me to cut up big pieces into little pieces to put back together into big pieces.

I made my first quilt for my friend, Susan, when she got married in 2002. I thought I'd start big...a queen sized bed quilt with lots of little points to hopefully bring together. I thought that it came out pretty well, and there is maybe a picture of it floating around somewhere. I made a quilt for the lady who was my mentor post-doc at MIT, well, her kid anyway, in 2005. No pictures, I don't think. But, I do remember liking that one a lot. Then, I made a crib quilt for Matt's cousin's baby, who is now...not a baby, in 2006. I actually have a picture of that one. Apparently I got smart by then.
I liked the pattern (called Yellow Brick Road) so much that I decided to make a larger one for our friends who were moving away. They moved to Las Vegas, where I understand that you don't need quilts all that much. But, they've since moved to Missouri, and I understand it's cooler there. Not so smart, again. I sent that one off without a picture. They took one for me and sent it back, but that's somewhere floating on a hard drive, too. Oh well.

I started a quilt for Joseph before I knew him. I, actually, started it before I even knew that he was a he. That one was quite an undertaking. It's a pretty lattice pattern set on the diagonal that I did in bright rainbow-y colors with navy lattice work. I got the top and bottom pieced together (a cool 200+ pieces) before I was too gigantic to crawl around on the floor, and before I had to give up my sewing room to a crib and changing table. However, I misjudged my scale on that one and it's lots larger than a crib quilt. Since my mom made him a more appropriately sized crib quilt, and he's still sleeping in his crib, I don't feel an overwhelming sense of urgency to finish that one. I'll get there. It's all folded up in my closet. If I pull it out this week, I'll take a picture of it. I like that one, and I hope that he does, too, once he gets to use it.

So, this week's goal is another quilt for my new nephew, Frankie. Frankie will be joining the world sometime in May, and I'm hoping to be mostly done with his quilt by the time I go back to school on Monday.
I'm making another Yellow Brick Road because it's quick, easy, and so super cute. I bought fabric, washed, and dried it on Sunday. Yesterday I cut out the strips and sewed some together, and today I've finished assembling the squares. Hopefully by tonight, I'll have it laid out and ready to piece together...that takes a while because I'm pretty OCD when it comes to lining up seams and not matching colors. Then, tomorrow, I'm hoping to put the top together and buy the border, batting, and backing material. If I can get the back together and the whole thing pinned together on Thursday, I'll feel pretty good. I think that we're planning on the beach on Friday (if the weather holds out), so maybe Saturday I can start quilting. If I can get the whole thing quilted this week, I will flip out. That leaves only the binding to pin and sew, and I will be a happy camper!! And, Frankie will get his quilt before Joseph does. At least I finished Joseph's blanket.

That's the plan, and I'm trying to stick to it. Stay tuned for more pictures!

1 comment:

  1. Dear Santa,
    For Christmas I would like a quilt. Thank you.
    :-)

    P.S. I've really always wanted to learn how to do this. I like to sew, but I'm OCD too and I don't know that I'm good enough to get things lined up the way I'd want them to. Pillows are about all I can handle.

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