A month of quilting

I'll admit I was kind of shocked when I realized the last time I posted here on MOM was April 16th.  How does time slip by so fast?!  In case you have forgotten, I am carrying my second set of twins.  I'm well into the second trimester, and I'm using every ounce of excess energy I can spare, whenever it's reasonable, to make things.  I know my days spent in the sewing garage are numbered.  I'm trying to make the most of it while I can.

First up was a baby present.

As it turns out, I am not the only one who is preparing for a baby.  This free pattern is thanks to Elizabeth from Oh Fransson!  It is super simple to piece together, benefitting from pre-cut squares in a charm pack.  I had two charm packs of this sweet Moda fabric called "Reunion", so I was able to extend the pattern a little bit making this quilt a more useful, larger size.  

It is sashed with an uber-soft shot cotton from Robert Kauffman.  Though when I walked into the quilt shop for sashing, I was heading for the Kona solids, I couldn't make it passed these newly arrived shot cottons.  They are so soft, and their colors are so enticing!

The Kona made it on the back.  Along with the remainder of the shot cotton, and the remainder of the halved charm squares pieced together in a long row.

An all over stippling with my darning foot, and the quilting truly was done in record time.  I debated about the binding, as I always do.  In the end, I had charm squares left over, and I could not bare to set them aside to languish in the stash piles!  I likewise sewed them all together, and then sliced my long row in half, lengthwise.  This gave me two perfect 2.5 inch wide stripes of pieced fabric that I could use for my double fold binding.

After a single cycle through the washer and dryer, this quilt crinkled up just as I was hoping it would!  Delightful.  It's a great pattern.  So easy!  If you are using fabric that you love, the whole process is that much more enjoyable!

Since making this baby quilt was actually fun, I decided I had more quilting in me.  Long ago I spotted and pinned Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous Patchwork Prism Quilt.  Though she offered it as a free pattern, the size alone made it seem out of reach.

Source: annamariahorner.blogspot.com via Annee on Pinterest

I don't know what changed my mind, but when I saw there was going to be a Quilt-Along for this pattern over on the Sweet Diesel Design blog, I decided that in fact the Patchwork Prism Quilt was within my grasp.  Of course, I consulted my Sew Sister Liz first.  She was adamant that I could do it.  I don't know why she has so much faith in me.  But somehow knowing that Liz believed I could do it was enough to make me jump in.  Liz sent me tons of her AMH scraps. I raided my stash piles and scrap bin, ordered a few fat quarters here and there, and before I knew it, I was cutting the quilt out: 

And laying it out on my make shift design wall:

And then suddenly, I was sewing it all together.  Piece, by piece, row, by row, for a few days in a row. And then late two nights ago I saw I had only one last row to piece, and five more rows to sew together to be done!!  

I honestly feel like this will be the last majorly indulgent sewing project I take on before I give birth at the end of summer.  I have lots of little things here and there that will get made between now and Labor Day (literally), but this will be the last one that was just for me.  Though at times during this processes I'll admit that I wondered if it was worth it... Now, when I see it all sewn together, I am convinced that it is.  This will be a quilt that will be treasured by my whole family for years to come.  

Hopefully I can see it through to the end.  There is lots of bending and squatting when putting together a quilt sandwich.  I am not very good at bending and squatting anymore.  But one day, late at night, I'll see that if I just work for one more hour, my quilt will be completely done.  And that will be an amazing feeling!