And another one gone ...

summer small quilt partial shadeTwo down!

This small quilt follows the exact same pattern as this one. The squares begin as 5" and include quite a few Freshcut fabrics by Heather Bailey, some Amy Butler prints, some of the Chez Moi prints, and a few others blended in. Lots of pinks, greens, and browns. The cream fabric is simple unbleached muslin.
summer small quilt detail
Making the top was nice and easy. I could even say that playing with such pretty fabrics was relaxing. It really was.

Quilting it was not. I had thought, initially, that I could do each of the nine-square sections with free-motion quilting. Small areas ... wouldn't be too hard, right? Tried that ... ripped it all out. Then I thought I'd do each of the nine squares around the outside and in the center with free-motion quilting. Even smaller areas, wouldn't be hard at all, right? summer small quilt detailTried that, ripped it all out. By this point I was near tears and telling Jason that I couldn't believe no one ever bothered to tell me I couldn't sew worth a crap ... I mean really, why did I have to be the last to find out?

I finally opted to go with something much more familiar and stitched 1/4" from the ditch in all the nine-section squares and the nine outside patterned squares, using a pretty green thread. The cream sections are stitched with a decorative stitch down the center that also is sewn through the outside squares. The inner cream sections also have some straight stitching through them, all done with a cream thread. Much, much better result than the free motion-stitching, and I'd even stopped swearing by the time I finished.
summer small quilt
The backside is two pieces of Freshcut fabrics stitched together.
summer small quilt backside
The binding is a coordinating pink on pink. I was asked how I do the binding. I just follow this tutorial. It does require hand-stitching the binding, but that's one of my favorite parts of making a quilt and can be done almost anywhere ... the park, a regatta, waiting forever at the doctor's office.

The quilt measures about 40" by 40". The colors are dreamy to me ... I want to curl up and take a nap when I see it (well, I usually want to do that anyway, but even more so when I see the quilt).

This little one is Etsy bound within the next few days and would love to find a good home. In fact, I've got quite a few little quilts listed on Etsy that need good, new homes (less than subtle hint).

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6 Comment

  1. Such a beautiful quilt! I love it. I was looking over at your shop and I saw your brown & pink butterfly quilt. Definitely had to heart that one. It's beautiful! Sadly I don't have a little girl to give it to. :)

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  2. This is really lovely! :0)

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  3. It is lovely. Sorry to hear about all the ripping. That can be so frustrating, but it looks to me all was good in the end!

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  4. Oh - bummer about the quilting! It looks beautiful! I know how you feel about quilting with beautiful fabrics!

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  5. This quilt is beautiful! I love to make quilt tops but whenever I try to quilt them I get so frustrated I want to quit or spend $20,000 on a long arm machine. I love your stuff in your Etsy shop. Very cute.

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  6. I love this quilt! I also love your honesty about the frustrations of sewing. Makes me feel "less crazy" LOL.

    Keep them coming, ok? I can't wait to see what project is next...

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