quilted clothes

Knowing that I take on custom orders, 

and use my earnings to help rescued women learn to sew, 

sweet Karen contacted me last fall 

to ask if she could pass along my contact info

 to a woman interested in commissioning a quilt out of baby clothes.

 I said sure!

 (and thank you!!) 

and that started a series of messages and plans, 

and in January I told Katie she could ship the clothes! 

We'd decided on simple patchwork,

 and planned for the more colorful pieces to form a heart,

and the lighter clothing and blankets and towels to be the background

 (I'm not sure I'd do that again, 

as Half Square Triangles out of stretchy fabrics were kind of a beast, 

even if they had been severely starched. 

But then, it does look awfully good....)

I got all cocky 

with how quickly cutting apart, starching, cutting 4 ½ inch squares

 and laying out the quilt went, 

and I texted Katie 

that we probably wouldn't even hit 

the lowest end of my estimated price range.

 Halfway through sewing the thing together, 

I had to text again and say,

 Ummmm. Maybe not... 

When it came time to sew the rows together, 

I got smart and pulled out the walking foot, 

which sped piecing up a little 

and I'm fairly certain helped (most of) my seams to meet up nicely.

The backing was a treasured jersey childhood sheet

 – about as un-square as it could possibly be. 

All four sides were angly. 

I folded it into fourths as best I could 

and cut it into a fairly decent rectangle

 and starched the heck out of it, too.

Once the starch was mostly dry, 

I pressed it and loaded up Lucy, 

then layered Quilters Dream Puff batting and the top. 

The quilting only took 3.75 hours,

 and I'm so so tickled with how it turned out. 

Jesse likes nature stuff, 

so I quilted in suns and seashells and leaves and flowers. 

And of course feathers, and even a few butterflies. 

Maybe some other things. 

It's been a few weeks, so who knows?

Silly me forgot to take pictures of specific motifs.

 Ah well. 

I did think to snap a picture of her name so they'd be able to find it.

I used the skirt portion of a 3T dress for the binding, 

and supplemented the length with a couple of strips 

from a Winnie-the-pooh blanket.

 I cut one lengthwise, and one width-wise, 

so put the join at the bottom left corner of the quilt. 

I'm famous for accidentally getting a seam in the corner, 

so it was no big deal to handle extra bulk of one purposely put there.

We'd discussed adding a bit of hand quilting, 

but I was so pleased with how the longarming turned out 

that I'd told Katie I'd be happy to add it,

 but I didn't really think it'd enhance the quilt

 and she agreed. 

So I decided to add it to the binding, 

and sewed it down by hand with navy perle cotton 

– which was a huge pain in the patootie

 and a super slow process. 

The needle just didn't like the knit. 

At all.

 Stitching through the flannel blanket went just fine, though. 

I was a little bummed I hadn't used more of that. 

But then I remembered

 that Katie had told me that dress 

was one of the really special pieces of clothing, 

so I quit my whining, 

and focused on how much they'll love it.

As soon as I finished the binding, 

I popped it in the washer

 that was already waiting 

with nice warm water and a touch of Dawn Pure Essentials. 

 I wasn't going to bother with color catchers 

since this was all worn clothing, 

but I noticed the water started turning a pinky purple right away, 

so I threw in a few,

 and some salt, too, for good measure. 

They came out saturated, 

but there was no misplaced dye on the quilt

 – whew! 

 I dried it about ½ way in the dryer, 

and then blocked it on Brandon's bed

 and let it air dry for 24 hours the rest of the way 

before snapping a few photos with Josiah's help, 

and sticking it back in the mail.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. 

I was a little worried

 that a quilt made out of an assortment of special baby clothes 

would, 

well,

 scream - BABY CLOTHES,

 but I don't think this does at all.

 In fact, Josiah said, 

“if you didn't know it was made from baby clothes, 

you'd never know.”

I hope they love it

and it brings comfort and lots of smiles for many years.

I was able to make this heirloom quilt 

for just $36.74 more than my low-end estimate

 (and, to be fair, $29.85 of that was postage, 

and I hadn't calculated that into my bid...) 

and best of all, 

I get to give 2 more sewing machines to Rahab's Rope 💗

stellar mosaic, squared

I got to pattern test for Fran of Cotton and Joy Patterns

(this is actually my second time testing for her;

the first time I never posted about it here...

but you can find quite a few photos on Instagram)

I've been on a mission to create lots of Christmas / Winter quilts

for our home for a while now,

and I knew this striking design

 would be perfect for Brandon's/the guestroom's bed.

I started with a fat quarter bundle of Alison Glass' Holiday fabric

and 

of course

added more,

because we all know

 I am just not a '1 fabric line' kind of girl.

I reeeally wanted to use the gray metallic brushed fabric

from Ruby Star Society

as my background.

I thought it was just enough 'directional fabric' 

to be a challenge,

but there weren't actual stripes to have to try to line up.

The gold would add a festive bling

without being too feminine on that steely background.

I was worried about it matching

(grays can be tricky)

but didn't really have time to order a fat quarter

and wait for it to arrive

 (after paying exorbitant shipping costs)

check it

and order the yardage I needed,

so I reached out to the 2 Etsy shops I found

that carried both fabric lines.

They were both unwilling to assist,

so I bit the bullet and ordered 3 yards from a different shop

(no way those gals were getting my business!)

and it turns out it goes perfectly

and created the perfect bold and glittery backdrop,

and I want to order more and make something else with it

because I love it so much!

I wasn't able to get started on it before Christmas,

except for getting my fabric pull finalized,

but I started cutting my fabrics after presents had been opened

 and brunch was made and consumed

Christmas Day

and I spent the next week

slowly turning them into a stunning quilt top.

Even though I made the top in a week

(which, in my opinion, is pretty darn fast!

but - I had lots more sewing time than usual

thanks to a houseful of miserable sick people 

who didn't need much food)

I worked slowly and methodically,

never had the pedal to the metal,

and just really

thoroughly enjoyed the process.

I did have a bit of trouble on my first few blocks

with my points,

but once I figured out what my seam allowance

needed to be for sewing on those corners

to make the diamond in square components,

everything was golden

and I had sharp point after sharp point.

If you make this quilt

(and you should! It really makes a striking quilt!)

I'd recommend that

before you 'batch sew' your components,

you make 1 block at a time

until you're pleased with your points,

just in case, like me, 

you need to stitch that portion 

with a little bit of a different seam allowance.

Although - I do seem to be the only tester

who had this difficulty 

so 

there's that, too.

(In case you're wondering 

I sewed the corners on with a .2mm wider SA

than my normal 1/4" seam allowance)

Since I did figure out my points

(by the 3rd block)

I am thoroughly thrilled with this pattern!!

So much so,

that I made a second one

so I could test and see just how quick it'd be

if I wasn't incorporating directional prints

or (much) fussy cutting.

Pretty darn.

The pattern is now available 

and, thru Sunday the 19th,

 is 20% off when you use code STELLAR