When we found out our good friends Joseph and Courtney were expecting, I knew I wanted to make them something. I made the patchwork ball for Ethan and Carla last year, so I wasn’t sure what I should make from my extremely limited sewing repertoire. I guess it had to be something new. I must have been feeling ambitious when I decided to make a little baby quilt (or “quiltette” as I dubbed it). As I have zero quilting skills, this was quite a project for me. I tried to make it as simple as possible, using only squares from charm packs instead of making blocks.
When it came time to quilt, I figured I’d just do it by hand since I didn’t know what I was doing. I practiced on a scrap piece, and it was awful! Apparently hand stitching needs some practice. I also practiced machine quilting, but it wasn’t working either. Per the internets, I needed a walking foot for my machine, and that was just the trick. I just traced the lines of the squares on the face to quilt it, and I didn’t make too many mistakes. Finally, I bound it (on the airplane to Nashville) and was done!
I’m not up for any quilting projects any time soon, but I’m glad I did it. See this post for a picture of baby Noland!
PS – Props to Anna Maria Horner’s Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing
LOVE the little quilt! I love to sew, but I have only made one real quilt for a friend’s baby, and it was the only one I will ever make. I don’t follow directions well.
That looks great! You know, I’m actually pretty awful at the quilting part of quilt-making. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a walking foot. I’d never really even thought of that.
Mandy, mine was $30-40, and it made a huge difference. However, there was no way quilting was going to work on my machine without it. The top looked ok, but the bottom was a mess.
good job! highly impressive!