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| Funny Porter testing out the newly made quilt for his baby girl cousin-to-be. |
I tried to piece together a top with colorful soft flannels but it wasn't turning out so well. So then I had the brilliant idea to make my own design and have it printed.
And when that fabric arrived, oh I loved it! I just wanted to fold it and unfold it and lay it out on the ground, and on my cutting board, and across the couch, and just touch it and feel it (except, it was a bit scratchy/stiff) But so beautiful -- I just loved (and still love) it!
And I tried to be so, so careful cutting everything out and I used lots and lots of pins to hold things all together. And I even used a super simple pillowcase binding (fool proof, right?)
So I was discouraged when it still didn't turn out quite as perfectly as I'd wished. Still, I prayed a lot of love into it so as a baby gift I think it will be perfect still. :)
I just loved this fabric so much that I think I might even try again sometime. But here's what I need to figure out first:
What can I do so that the fabric doesn't bunch up at all the intersections when I'm quilting it? Is the batting too thick? Or just not the right kind? A tension issue with my machine? Not enough pins? Or should I try the spray basting stuff (if so, when do I use that? before or after sewing the edges and turning it inside out?) What's the secret? Also, and less important, how do you soften new not-so-soft cotton? (I tried adding baking soda to the wash and it seemed to help a little...)
Imperfections and all, I just love that I could make a little design on the computer and turn that into a baby quilt. That process and the possibility of it still amazes me.
(And a funny side story, speaking of trouble with machine quilting -- When my sister Kel had her first baby, Jaden, I was working on making a little quilt for him. Halfway through I could see it wasn't going to turn out so well, but somewhere along the way little toddler Owen had decided this soft car blanket was for him, so I just kept going and thought I'd let Owen enjoy the lumpy-bumpy mess of a blanket for a little while. So a few days later, we went down to visit Kel (and deliver a new not-so lumpy blanket :) and we spent a few days doing some fun activities and such down near Salt Lake. And somewhere on that trip Owen misplaced his new mis-shapen, crazily sewn blanket. And whenever I think of it, I just wonder where in the world that funny thing ended up! (And maybe a little glad that Owen didn't have a longer time to get too attached...)
