In My Spare Time

The large quilt, Hop Around Nashville, was on my frame from Monday afternoon until 7:30 PM Friday night. I called on Saturday at 9:30 AM to arrange getting it to the shop when they opened at 10. The owner asked if I could possibly have time to do the hand-sewn side of the binding - her previous instructions were to do the one side machine attached...and could that be done by the afternoon as she had a granddaughter's birthday party to attend before heading out of town early on Sunday...of course! 94 x 118 = 424 liner inches and I did it! Check out all the detailed photos in my webshot album.

By 5 o'clock I was on my own clock and ready to do something fun. So why not make a baby quilt? My oldest son's friend was a new daddy as of Friday and I just knew that new baby girl needed a quilt. When they were over earlier last week, the soon to be daddy was admiring the quilt on the frame and commented how much he loved seeing what I was working on. All the more reason to share my talent - it's great being appreciated!

This is where those 5" pre-cut charm packs come in handy! I knew I didn't have a lot of time, but I did have the weekend!

As I don't know the mother very well and didn't know the nursery colors I decided to just be bold! My local shop carries a lot of the charm packs but the only one that caught my eye was the one labeled Fresh Squeeze (by Moda fabrics) and I knew that would work..

So ta da....here's Fresh Squeezed Baby pieced Saturday night and quilted after church on Sunday afternoon. It's 30 x 43, a nice size don't you think? I used Quilters Dream Angel batting, a first for me. It quilted up nicely and I like the fact that I'm giving something that is "flame retardant".

Even though this was a "fast" quilt, I didn't want it to look too thrown together, so I just had to have that excuse to put feathers around the border. Just wouldn't seem right without feathers. And I love any excuse to use a stripe for the binding.

I will see my son tomorrow and he will deliver it to the new baby. I hope they like it and it is used. This isn't an heirloom quilt by any means, just a gift of love...again my hope is that it is used and washed a lot! Who knows, one day it might be her dolly's quilt. That would make me smile!