Quilting!

Inspired by the awesome quilt that Aunt Mira made for Maceo when he was born, and a general surplus of fabric scraps that I can't bear to throw away, I decided that I was going to try my hand at making a baby quilt for Meredith and Rico's baby-to-be. I have always admired quilts but never imagined myself as someone with the patience or time to take on a very multi-step craft project that requires so much precision and cutting. I guess my foray into blogging - and reading other crafty blogs - got my juices flowing enough to decide to just give it a try. I am also pretty allergic to patterns and have a hard time interpreting sewing and knitting related instructions that have so many intricate steps and processes for something that seems fairly intuitive. Anyway...Mira lent me a book about basic quilting, and I spent a long evening picking her brain about the basic idea of how to make a quilt. I also consulted with my friend Neema's mother Rita who is a serious quilter. After my mom and I had made 12+ pairs of elastic waistband pants for Maceo, I had a lot of little scraps of fabric left over that were too cute not to repurpose into something baby related. After getting sufficient feedback to suggest that the process is not hard but simply time consuming, I took matters into my own hands and starting cutting.

Despite my best intentions, I didn't really take photos of the process along the way, so all I have to share is the final product. I am posting this here since Meredith and Rico both helped me pick some of the fabrics and gave input into the layout when we were together in New Hampshire at the beginning of July. Hence, the quilt is not a surprise. I wish I had done a better job of documenting how long it actually took me to complete it, but because I did it in so many stages and steps it remains a mystery even to me.

I am very pleased with the final product, and feel inspired to keep trying. I can see how quilting might be a great project to do with a small child since you can do tiny bits here and there. I am afraid that I have a pretty compulsive personality so once this quilt started taking shape, I was hell-bent on finishing it. Perhaps now that I have one under my belt I will be able to approach future projects with less intensity?

PS. Mere and Rico - I will have the quilt in the mail by the end of the month!