My Scrap Bag Rainbow Quilt (What's Done is Done)

What's done is done.  That's what I kept hearing in my head as I finished up my rainbow quilt yesterday.  And every time I heard it, it was Mrs. Hugh's saying it.  Somehow, hearing her voice inside my head made the whole thing a little easier to swallow.

Finishing this quilt was bittersweet.  Sweet because it's done and I LOVE the colors.  Bitter because a lot went wrong and it didn't turn out as great as I wanted it to and I'm really upset about it.  The fabric got very bunched in the middle while I was quilting it (check out that row of green... ugh) and I had a major measure-once-cut-and-screw-it-all-up error, and so the quilt is much narrower than it was supposed to be. And other things.  Rrrrrrr.  I'm trying to let go of my frustration and just enjoy what I ended up with.  Because what's done is done, and now I am going to hop on over to Amazon and buy a walking foot for my machine.

I went a little nuts taking lots of pictures, because like I said, I do love how colorful it is!

Started with this...

Ended up with this... 

 - curse you, green row -

Folded up or draped over stuff, the imperfections are hidden, so we'll stick with the imperfection-hiding photos from this point on...

A few shots of the quilt in action...

Grainy photography courtesy of early morning poor lighting + 6 year old photographer.  As you may have guessed, minutes after these photos were taken, the new quilt was christened by my morning coffee.  I didn't cry, though;  people and things only become full fledged members of this family after having a baptismal-like encounter with my coffee.  

And because it's so colorful and I can't stop taking pictures of it, here are a few I got with the evening sun in our living room... Kind of artsy fartsy, and will probably make you think, "stop taking pictures of the dang thing already."  I get it.  Russ said as much :)  (Oh!! but I just love the colors so!  And looking at them is the perfect antidote for gray-sky-winter blues.  OK.  Enough.)

It's been my pleasure sharing this spectrum spectacle with you!  Hope you got your color fix!  

Crib Quilts Show and Tell

Challenge to Blog Daily: Day 4

(See this post for the background info on this challenge and please forgive whatever you find "imperfect, incomplete, potentially uninteresting, and quite possibly incomprehensible.")

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Last Spring I made a throw-size quilt for Ruth and ended up having enough batting left over for a crib-size quilt.  And it just so happens I have a baby in this home who sleeps in a crib!

So I bring you a long overdue show and tell of two baby quilts. I had initially hoped that this would be a tutorial, but thanks to the wisdom of a friend who, in addition to being a crafter extraordinaire also happens to be a retired editor, I realized I am not quite ready for the world of big-league quilting tutorials.  The main reason for this being... I hardly know what I'm doing myself and a tutorial would only serve to spread that incompetence to the masses!

The quilt that was my "inspiration" was this one I had first run across on Pinterest.  I took a little different approach with the quilts I made, but I really think this one is lovely...

 http://badskirt.blogspot.com/2009/09/pram-quilt-for-d.html

Crib Quilt No. 1 - Clare's Cheery Baby Blue

I love how this quilt turned out and I also love that it was made entirely with fabric I had on hand.  I wanted it to be girly and floral, but not baby-themed or cutesy.  I think I succeeded. 

It's a little rough around the edges, and the backing (I used a super soft quilter's flannel) got a little bunched in the middle during the quilting, but I still love it and apparently, so does Clare!  

Now that each of the girls has her own quilt, I've got Dominic checking with me periodically on when his will go into production :)

Crib Quilt No. 2 - Mod Dots for my New Nephew

After learning quite a bit from making Clare's, I decide to give this pattern another go.  I made this crib quilt to bring to a baby shower given for my sister.  She and her husband are expecting their first (a boy) in just a few short weeks!  It will be my own children's first stateside cousin!!  (The others are in far off Australia.  Hi guys!)

I won't get to meet my new nephew until Christmastime, but he'll get to snuggle up in this handmade-with-Aunt-Theresa's-love quilt in the meantime!  (If you have a spare prayer, would you offer one for this little breech baby that he flips in time for delivery?  Thank you!)

This quilt is much more neatly done than the first one, especially the binding and backing.  I did a fine job, if I do say so myself!  

Even though this is a "crib" size quilt, I wanted to go with a motif that an older child wouldn't mind keeping in his room - so I obviously wasn't looking for baby prints featuring teddy bears and duckies.  Everything for this quilt I bought new, except for the batting and solid white, which again, I had on hand. As soon as I found the orange and light blue dots in the fabric store, I had an easy time pulling the rest of it together.  (I must be drawn to the orange/blue combo, because there's even a little of that in Clare's.) I love it!  I have some of each fabric leftover and am hoping to throw together a doll quilt or something - I like the color combo too much not to use it again!  

Whatever I sew up next, you can bet I'll probably blab about it here!  Until then...

Thank you, Sandra, for providing some guidance on getting this post done and off of the back burner!  I'm much happier having done it this way!  

(Check out Sandra's blog to follow her adventures in crafting and sewing at Making It With Help !)