Friday, June 20, 2008

It's about time!


Look at what I finished sewing today!

Now I'll bet you are wondering "Jen, you are so busy chasing three kids, doing speech therapy , cooking , surfing the Internet and beating back the Clutter Monster. How the heck did you find time to make a quilt??"

Well, I will tell you how I found time to make a quilt. I um, started it when I was pregnant with Emmett and left work for early maternity leave.

Yes, this quilt has been haunting my linen closet for going on five years now. I started it so long ago when, in a rush of pregnancy-hormone driven nesting I needed to Make Something. I knew how to sew. I thought I could figure out how to make a lovely quilt for my sweet new baby. A Log Cabin quilt looked easy. Straight seams, no applique, a good place for a beginner to start.

Now, at the time, I didn't know anyone who could teach me how to assemble this. I relied on the trusty Internet. I found instructions, went to the fabric store and threw caution to the wind. The blocks went together fairly easily. I realized when I was trying to assemble the top that I could have picked better colours, but after a lot of trial and error I think I assembled my blocks in a very pleasing way. I even have a few blocks left over. The edges went pretty well. Adding the batting and the backing was frustrating, but I did it. I took the lazy way out and quilted the blanket on my sewing machine.

It was after the quilting that things started to fall apart. I tried on at least three different occasions to bind the edges, none successful. It was then that I balled up this poor blankie and banished it to the top shelf of my linen closet to think about the pain it was causing me.

Every time I Spring Cleaned this poor blanket looked at me. It wondered why I didn't finish it.

Last week I took it out and really looked at it. I checked a book out of the library on quilting. I pressed. I pinned. I spent over 4 hours over one Monday night crafting session and this afternoon hand sewing the binding down. It is wobbly. It is kind of puckered in places. It won't win any ribbons at any fairs.

It is done.

Matthew has already blessed it with spit up and Charlotte has already used it as a Princess Cape.

It is loved.

I think I have to make two more now........

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You amaze me Jennifer! You truly do. Nothing is ever too late to finish!

Bobbi said...

What an accomplishment! A well loved quilt can withstand being a bit quirky on the color combinations. I know that the ones my boys have from their great-grandma are loved even with the PINK that is in them LOL

Anonymous said...

You really should write a book, you know that? I look forward every day to reading your blog because it is so FUN to read... it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it makes me feel like I'm not alone! I have a blanket in the making in my crap... I mean CRAFT... room that I've been "working on" since my sister came home from Africa 3 years ago. My baby's only 6 months old... what's my excuse?

Ami said...

I LIKE the color combo.

I LOVE quilts, but have never tried to make one. I saved fabric scraps for a long time, thinking I would eventually make a nice quilt, but no.

I like projects that can be done in a few hours.

Short craft attention span?

April said...

Beautiful, and even more beautiful in person! :-)

p.s. I think I'll cry soon if you don't link to my lonely blog.

Unknown said...

Oh, April!! I am so sorry about the link! It's not because I don't love you!!!

*making link now.....*