After completing two lap quilts for my two daughters for Christmas, then returning home from England with a mere four days to finish a baby quilt for a cousin's shower, I admit I was confident that I could complete a queen sized bed quilt for the wedding gift for the daughter of a very close friend whose nuptials were a whole four months away. After all, once you finished the top, the rest was a piece of cake, right?
Not only would this be an easy and gratifying endeavor, I was going to design this one myself based on a modern quilt that caught my eye. I would incorporate a few design additions and the brides favorite color, purple. I figured in a month or two I'd have it back from the long arm quilter and wrapped well before May.
Then I got a reality check.
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| My inspiration |
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| My plan on paper |
Eventually, I pulled it out, and after returning to the shop for more advice, I began taking the top apart. I added additional white fabric at the top and shortened the areas re-figuring things by the seat of my pants. Forget the math! Then I made myself pull out all my leftover fabric because, Oh that's right! It needs a back!
The back actually was the fun part. I used no design book, and simplified the process by using 12"x12" blocks alternating the white with blocks of the purple that was used on the front. (I hate to admit it, but I love the back more!)
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| See! Isn't it cool? |
When I got it back, I suddenly remembered that I had to attach binding. All. The. Way. Around. It.
I set aside for awhile.
The next thing I know it's January, then February. The joke had been, "As long as they get it by the winter." Not funny. I wanted that thing done. Finished. Out of my house! Plus I felt super guilty that these patient newlyweds were going to start believing that I was not a woman of my word. That got me moving.
At that point a most fortunate thing occurred. I got sick. Really sick. I almost didn't leave my house for 3 weeks. When I was better, but still not up to normal life, I took advantage of my home boundness, pulled out my beginner quilting books and studied how to create, attach, and blind stitch the binding. Once I got moving, it all came back quickly, and I remembered how relaxing the blind stitch was for me. I love sewing that stitch! So I hunkered down and had that binding finished in 3 days! Whoo hoo!
Ok, deep breath...Off to the internet to research my options. Much to my relief, there were a lot of options. However, my friend was planning to visit her daughter and son-in-law the very next weekend. I opted for a more personal, and YES, a faster solution. I do have to state for the record that everyone who knows me, knows how much I treasure the writings, handwritten notes and recipes from family past. So in the honor of heirloom treasures (and speed), I signed their names, the date of their wedding and my name in my handwriting... but in purple of course!
With a sigh, I handed this completed journey to my friend on a Sunday, relieved that it was still winter, when she informed me that she wouldn't be seeing them until Easter. So much for in time for winter! If I hadn't wanted it out of my house so badly, perhaps I should have presented it to them in May, on their first anniversary!
Ah well, live and learn. So I'm starting to design the wedding quilts of my grandchildren. No, I do not have grandchildren yet. In fact, my children are not married, but I learned my lesson about procrastination!
