Making Headway
A bit ago I shared the little bag of goodies I was given by Dennis’ granddaughter, Amy, with the hope that I could make something, literally, out of nothing. I spent a long time going through my stashes in the sewing room. Amy stressed she wanted a blanket that would be cuddly and that it be “big.”
Dennis was called in to service to be the “first impression” when he saw fabric laid out with the fabric squares. It did all depend on what I had on hand. When asked to make a project for someone and there is no additional fabric included I have made a promise to myself to use what I have before purchasing. I sure don’t need any additional yardage in my totes. The red was too strong and the earth tone stripes would have looked good if making a dogie blanket for Bell and Sophie.
As luck would have it I have yardage that was reminiscent of the prints found years ago on bags of chicken concentrate that could be bought at the feed mills. Darlene Zimmerman of Fairfax has a sweet line of those vintage looking prints and this pick was indeed one of hers.
The quilt top for Oliver, using some of his baby clothes.
Once we had decided on the color of fabric to make this project look cohesive, I began counting squares needed to get the sewing machine warmed up. I used five inch squares in the body of the quilt (I no longer thought of this as a blanket), and that is where the easy part stopped. Amy had cut certain types of baby clothes where she wanted the entire motif to be shown. Some had snaps, some had zippers that were going through the motif. I am too anal to not have the 2 + 2 methodology in place. I decided to put the larger motifs on the side boarders, snaps and zippers included.
Tomorrow we are heading for a quilt shop in Mankato. I have the top completed at the size of 60″ x 80″. I was so fortunate to have the sizing for the knit blocks, the fusible web for the boarder motifs, and the base fabric for the squares to be showcased on. It did make a nice sized dent into my stuff. I will need to purchase batting and a fabric to be used on the back. I was given a free hand on this project, and I hope it will bring a smile. I do know that the size requirement is done. Now the cuddly part will come in to play with the batting and the yarn ties to hold it all together.
The iron is unplugged and the sewing machine is cooling off. I am about to have a cold cup of coffee that was left from this morning.