The 24-Hour Quilt

Thirty-plus years ago, when I was pregnant with our first child, I made a little quilt for the new baby.  At that time, it was rare for parents to know the sex of their baby before its birth, so I used red fabrics to make a bright, gender neutral quilt.  Simple pattern, six-inch squares and a diagonal pattern, tying the layers together with yarn, nothing fancy ... made to be used.  Use it we did, for all three of our daughters.

Daughter #1.  Hard to imagine that this little cherub is all grown up, with two children of her own.

When Drew (grandson #1) was born, he used this quilt, too.  Caleb (grandson #2) has it now, and he takes it along with him everywhere he goes.  It's a bit threadbare now .... the fact that Caleb picks at it has accelerated the decline.  

This picture is about two years old.  The old quilt is a lot more worn right now.

Because the old quilt is now little more than a rag, I decided to make a new quilt for Caleb for Christmas.  Like the original, I wanted it to be simple ... shouldn't take too long to make a small quilt like I had in mind.  A quick trip to the fabric store, and this is what I decided ...

Rainbow colors, in a mix of patterns ...

Six-inch squares, with a diagonal pattern, and half squares on the border.

As with most important projects, I had help.

Dorothy holds down the layers, as I sandwich the top, batting, and backing.

Pinning the layers, with Maggie's help.

I used yarn to tie the layers together, just like I did with the original.

Alice and Maggie supervise while I mark where the yarn ties will go.

Four knots per square.

A quilt hoop helps hold the layers straight while I tie them.

With all the ties in place, I trimmed the batting and backing, then used the sewing machine to attach the binding.

It took a couple of hours to carefully fold the binding to the back and stitch it in place by hand.  Dorothy kept me company while I worked.

After a quick trip through the washer and dryer, the quilt was finished.  

24 hours, start to finish.  I even surprised myself with how well this came together and how little time it took to make it.

I know that Caleb will love it ... but I don't hold any hope that he will agree to replace his old quilt with this one.  My vote is that he will now carry both quilts wherever he goes.

Sunday Snapshot: Feedsack Quilt

On Saturday, The Husband and I got out early to be among the first ones at the Big Flea Market at the Expo Center here in Fredericksburg.  This show has 300 dealers (according to the advertisement) with a great assortment of things to see.  Even though our house is full and we have just about everything we want, we still go to shows like this to look and learn and see what prices things are bringing these days.  Every once in a while, I find something that I have to have.

As we were going through the second or third aisle, I spotted this quilt.

It is made entirely of feedsacks, hand pieced and hand quilted, and it is so, so soft.  I checked it over thoroughly.  It is in wonderful condition, with only a couple of small worn places in the top.  There was no price on it, so The Husband hunted down the dealer and asked, "How much?"

The man replied, "$35."  I gave him a thumbs up sign, because I was shocked and would certainly have either screamed or squeaked if I had tried to talk ... only $35 for this piece of art???   I kept my cool as The Husband pulled the bills from his wallet and paid the man, all the while I wanted to clutch my treasure to my chest, jump up and down, and giggle like a little kid.

The rest of the show was interesting, with much better stuff for sale than I though there would be.  This quilt was the only thing we bought, though.  

To learn more about patterned feedsacks, click HERE to read a great article suggested by a quilter friend of mine.  (and click HERE to go to Kelly Ann's blog)

On another subject, here is a dose of Winnie for you ... to add some adorable cuteness to your day.

Let me take this opportunity to thank you very, very much for all of your kind (and embarrassing) comments about having finalized our adoption of Winnie last week.  I have no doubt that she is supposed to be here ... her transition from foster dog to full-fledged member of the family has happened so easily.  I choose not to dwell on her past life, which was certainly a difficult one.  Her experiences were part of her journey to our family, her forever home.  A friend of mine said it best:  

"We save them once and they turn around and save us back every day."