Friday, March 19, 2010

A Quilt for Lauren

Remember the quilt I started on Monday?  It's done!


It's a bit busy for my taste, but Lauren (my 2-year-old) absolutely loves the fabric as has lots of fun pointing out the owls, snails, turtles, trees, flowers and birds.

I used straight line quilting for this, mostly because I'm not brave enough to try free-motion quilting yet!  I quilted straight lines 1/2" apart on the sashing, and eyeballed straight-ish lines approximately 1" apart across the blocks.


The fabric is Love U by Deb Strain for Moda, and I think it's perfect for a fun 2-year-old quilt.

Here's a peek at the back:


I just love those owls!

I used this tutorial by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson! for the quilt pattern. Since the tutorial is for a baby quilt, I modified it a bit by adding 1 1/2 more charm squares to the width, and two additional rows to the length.  I wanted this to be large enough for Lauren to use at night on her toddler mattress, although she hasn't really gotten the hang of sleeping under covers yet!

I was also feeling particularly brave yesterday and decided to hand-sew the binding to the back of this quilt.  I usually machine sew my binding, and to be honest the result doesn't bother me much.  I guess I'm not a "binding snob" . . .  yet!  But I was intrigued by the romantic notion I seem to hear about from all the other quilters - of curling up on the couch with my husband for several hours, chatting and watching tv while hand sewing binding.

I found this awesome tutorial that finally made sense of the hand sewing process for me.  And after a mere five hours, I can finally say that I get it!  It really does look pretty good, compared to machine sewing, but it sure did take a LONG time!  And it was kind of nice to spend time with my family while sewing, and be a bit more productive while watching tv . . . but did I mention that it took a long time?!?!  Well, at least I overcame my fear of hand-sewing, but I can't promise I won't go back to machine sewing binding, at least some of the time!

I'm linking up to Amy's Sew & Tell Friday.  Hop on over and check out the other finishes too!

Have a great weekend!

Mary

25 comments:

  1. cute cute cute, and yes, perfect for a 2 year old. My daughters would both love this quilt! You did such a great job. And way to go on the binding (don't worry - you'll get faster as it the more you do it). :)

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  2. Oh, don't I just love those OWLS! This is perfect for a little one!

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  3. I love the finished product. I am now inspired to make one for my niece/nephew due today :-) But I'm going to use funky monkey, yay.

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  4. I love this quilt! This fabric is great. Owls, snails, flowers AND cupcakes! My kids would love this too.

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  5. Super cute, That fabric is PERFECT for a little girl! I am one day going to be brave enough to try machine quilting myself... it's on my to-do list this year. Nice job.

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  6. this quilt is beautiful.i love the fabrics

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  7. what a great finish to the week! It's so sweet and the owl fabric for the backing just rocks!

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  8. It looks great! I have been thinking that I should make my daughter a quilt. That is so great that you did!!

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  9. What a cheerful, happy quilt!! It has to have energy to keep up with a two year old!!!

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  10. it turned out darling! perfect for a two year old!

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  11. Great job! It is very colorful, just the way 2 year olds like it!!

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  12. This quilt is just so gorgeous. Love your fabric choices and the quilting looks great. I am constantly amazed how great straight line quilting looks. My machine protests a lot when free motion quilting however it does straight line quilting perfectly. Great binding!

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  13. It is definitely the perfect quilt for a 2 year old. My kids would both love it too. Congratulations on your first handsewn binding! It will come faster next time.

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  14. Hi, I think that this quilt looks great! I haven't tried straight line quilting yet but I love the way it looks! have you checked out Camilles tutorial on free motion? http://www.thimbleblossoms.com/Thimble_Blossoms/Thimble_Blossoms_Home/Thimble_Blossoms_Home_files/StipplingTutorial.pdf
    Well worth a go! I also have never tried sewing binding by machine, I'm too scared I will miss the back bits... I'm sure this quilt will give your daughter some great dreams!
    Kelli
    xxx

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  15. Your binding was the first thing I noticed - it's perfect! You could totally do a double wedding ring, btw. I'm living proof. (Go to Quiltsmart.com - I used their pattern and interfacing and it was really REALLY easy.)

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  16. Great, fun quilt! Thanks for sharing!

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  17. What a fun quilt! And I am so impressed how quickly you got it done.

    Love the color combos!

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  18. I love this bright happy quilt. Very fun for your little girl.

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  19. I LOVE it!!!! I'm so impressed that you managed to start and finish a quilt in the same week... amazing!!!!! 5 hours of hand sewing sounds like torture to me though.

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  20. This is so cute! I loved this when I saw it on Oh Fransson! I'm impressed you just went and did it. That's the hardest part for me.

    As for handsewing bindings - I love it. I used to dread it and the first few took me FOR.EV.ER. But once you get some practice you can actually get pretty fast at it. I would definitely suggest some beeswax or other sort of thread treatment. I really helps keep your thread from knotting up and being a pain.

    I always feel like there is so much to do that it's hard for me to just sit and watch a movie. I like to have something to do that's productive!

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  21. This quilt is so cute and cheery! I'm so impressed by how quick you pulled it together too!

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  22. I just bought a Love U charmpack - thanks for showing me how wonderful the prints look in real life!

    Cheers,
    Christine

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  23. What a lovely quilt. Love the bright colours and how they pop out from the white strips in between.

    I am new to this quilting thing and I am currently in the process of searching inspiration and information. And I found you. Lucky me!

    Fantastic blog. So many beautiful pictures, great information and very inspiring. You should be very proud of yourself and I am now offically a follower. See you again soon. What a treat to find you. This is going to be a good day.

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