The Sewing Project

Well, kids...the time has finally come.  I can show you my super-secret sewing project.

Ok, its not really super-secret.  Lots of people knew what I was working on, and in the post where I first mentioned it, I also posted this picture.

Do you see the fourth item down?  Quilt.

Yes, I made my first (and maybe my last) quilt.  It was a harrowing project, but it was a labor of love for my dear friend, Randi.

She just had a sweet baby boy on May 15th.  It is her first baby, and I wanted to try quilting, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

One day back in March Tim and I were helping at a basketball tournament, and our shift just so happened to be in a timeslot where a game was cancelled.

aka:  BORING!

Luckily, Mindy had a quilting magazine that I looked at, and I modified the design to shrink it down and use 6 fat quarters, plus the yellow fabric to go in between.  (Meanwhile, Tim was reading the Owner's Manual to our new car.  Seriously.  And I honestly think he was enjoying it.)

Randi didn't want to know if she was having a boy or girl, so I tried to make it gender neutral.  It ended up looking a little boyish, but that's ok, because she had a boy.

I used scraps from the fabrics to make the binding.  I wanted to get it to her before Baby arrived, but it wasn't done in time.  If she had had a girl I would have cried because the quilt looked so boyish picked out some pink fabric for the binding to feminize it.
Thanks for having a boy, Randi!

Because I'm crazy, I decided to quilt it at home on my "domestic machine."  I just did some diagonal lines.  I thought I would work well and line up with the squares.

The quilting just about did me in.  I almost cried on several occasions.  And as I previously mentioned, there were several moments I wanted to burn the whole thing because it wasn't turning out.

But I told myself "Stephanie, Randi is not a freak like you, and she won't even notice if things line up or aren't perfect.  You don't have to live with it... you're sending it to Ohio, never to be seen again.  So get over it and finish the dang thing."

I had to give myself that pep talk many times.  I wouldn't change the method or design, because it is what I wanted it to be, but quilting diagonally on such a square quilt is a similar choice to the striped contact paper that seemed like such a good idea at the store.  

So there you have it...my first quilt.  And maybe my last.  Except I'm "at that age" where my friends are cranking our babies right and left, so I think I have a lot more quilting to do.

Or maybe I will just send them some diapers.

Roll the credits!

Special thanks to:
131) Randi, for being such a wonderful friend (and person) and giving me a reason to try quilting. I LOVE YOU!
132) Mindy, for encouraging me to quilt, teaching me to use my machine, and offering moral support and encouragement.
133) Katie Sapphire, for letting me borrow your mom's seam-ripper (it got a lot of use)
134) Heidi, for owning a quilt store nearby and being so stinkin' helpful
135) Beth, for your patience in teaching me how to bind it and helpful hints for quilting
136) All the ladies at the sit n' sew workshop who ooed and ahhed over my messy work of imperfection--it gave me the courage to finish!
137) Mom Taylor, for giving me a sewing machine
138) Tim, for putting up with my hissy-fits and helping me do the math and problem-solve
139) God, for His grace that I did not spontaneously combust.
140)  All of you wonderful people who read my blog, leave me comments, and show interest in my projects and day-to-day life.  Its really fun, this special relationship that we have :)