And it was just in the nick of time for Veronica's birthday last Friday. I am so, so proud of it! (Settle in because there are a lot of pictures in this post!)
For the most part I am really happy with my free motion quilting. As far as quality goes, I'm sure it leaves a little to be desired, but it was totally awesome for me & my minimal quilting experience. All of the quilting I got from Leah Day's Day Style Designs blog, AKA the 365 days of free motion quilting patterns project. It rocks!
I made three blocks in a redwork style because the embroidery would be faster than applique (which it is and isn't). Initially I planned on making four redwork blocks, but Veronica squashed that idea. She wasn't a huge fan.
She did, however, like this one. It's all the added lace. :)
I also got tons of help from my quilting guild. OCMQG in the house! If it weren't for the time these ladies invested, there is no way I would have gotten this quilt done in time. Veronica would have had to wait another birthday! Here they are in no particular order:
Love this Sue. Her apron is made of a piece of vintage handkerchief I got from my mom. Gwen expertly added it to this block. If you could just see her detail work... I could spend a whole post on it alone. She is our Queen of Applique.
How cute are those sheep? And that house? This makes me really want to make a landscape quilt, which I've been dying to try for ages.
Kristine, another Queen of Applique, managed to handle five baby Sues in this block. Amazing!
I had so much fun quilting this! She's such a cute little pumpkin! Marianna, the gal who made this, just got inspired when she made her other block. She came up with this adorable design on her own. Isn't she talented??
I love this Sue sewing her quilt. She even has a little needle!
Veronica wants to be a celebrity chef when she grows up. Linn created this pattern herself and Veronica loves it. I did my best with the hardwood floor quilting, but I'm not sold on it. I wish it would have looked better since I love the block so much.
I was very happy with the quilting on this block, on the other hand. I should have taken a closeup of the blanket stitches Melinda did though, they're beautiful.
I had a blast quilting this little lovely from Darci. I love the fabric for her dress... so festive! Darci made the most adorable Christmas tree quilt... I've got to make one of those!
You gotta have a Bad Sue, amiright? Love the texture of this apron. The dress is the same material I used for Veronica's Little Red Riding Hood Halloween costume from a couple of years ago.
This is Marianna's other block. So sweet!! Seeing her freemotion embroidery on the blocks really gave me the nerve to try it myself.
How you hanging in there?? I told you, this is loooooooooooooooong. Anyway, here are the rest of my blocks:
Not too pleased with the "grass" on this quilting...
And now for the piece de resistance... the quilt tag. I majored in Musical Theatre in college. Right after I graduated, I was in the musical Man of La Mancha which is based on Cervantes' Don Quixote. Ages and ages ago, when I first thought about making my baby a quilt, I looked up Don Quixote illustrations and came upon this from Picasso:
Here's my tag:
As for the sashing, I used the Mario Vine, and also quilted in the words of the lullaby I always sang to her. It's Sade's "The Sweetest Gift". I didn't start singing that until she was about two, right when her father and I were going through our divorce. I discovered it then and from the moment I heard it something about it just reminded me of her. It's such a lovely song, not necessarily a lullaby, but something about it has the same sweetness you find between a mother and a child.
xoxo,
