Summer before last I had my niece come stay with me for a few days so we could work on her getting some basic sewing skills. we opted to make semi matching quilts.
one of my sisters found a piece of Ariel fabric with four panels at goodwill. she only wanted one to make herself a quilt from, so she asked if I wanted the other three. I thought it would be so much fun for my niece, my two sisters and me to have matching theme quilts. so far its just my niece and I who have them finished, and one of my sisters is currently working on hers. it took a while for me to get them quilted we made the tops and then I had a friend with a quilting machine quilt them for us, she did a really nice job. but it took me a while to get them to her. every time I would see her I would forget the quilts. finally I remembered and she got them done faster then I thought.
my quilt is the one that's a bit more complicated, with the triangle blocks and sea shell and fish fabric. My niece's is the the one with the squares on top and bottom.
the quilt I made is an example of yes eventually I will get to a project even if its years and years later. the brightly colored seashell fabric I used is actually something I bought when I was a probably around 9 or 10.
I saved my allowance so I could purchase the most lovely brightest fabric I had ever seen. I was in love with this fabric and I was going to make myself a pair of pants. that is until my mother informed me I would not be making a pair of pants out that fabric it was entirely too see through. I was devastated, because I had already bought the fabric. a few years later someone gave us the fish fabric and I thought it went well with my seashells and decided to make a quilt. I started it, realized I was no longer in love with the fabric and that was it. it got stuck in a box somewhere to be hoarded for an eternity because I couldn’t bear to let go of something I had spent my very hard earned money on. and lets face it I was still a bit upset about not getting to have pants.
when my sister gave me the little mermaid fabric I dug out the old quilt I had started , which was only a few strips and immediately tore it apart. it was horrible.the “squares” I had cut were not squares at all but rather an attempt at something trying to be a square. but I figure for being a kid when I cut them out, and having no help, or guidance or even a ruler when I cut them out they were a pretty good attempt.
But adult me wanted something a bit more even so I re-cut all the squares to the same size and came up with a pattern I wanted to do. a pattern that I almost got right. I got a few of the blocks facing the wrong way, but decided I was okay with that I’m not entering it into a contest or anything and it shows how I am not used to working with highly distracting children around. which really makes me appreciate parents. seriously parents all of you are awesome. and no she was not misbehaving in the least it was just trying to help her and do my own thing at the same time that got me distracted. we had the best time working on the quilts. my niece listened to directions and asked for help when needed and we talked about stuff sewing and non sewing related we listened to music, and listened to a book By: Matthew J. Kirby. who is an awesome author by the way.
we spent two full days on our creations and we ate really well. I made sure I had her favorite foods like Mac and cheese.(one of my faves too), pancake poufs.
I let her go through my stash and chose the fabric she liked from my cottons and guided her in lets make yours fairly basic since this is a first quilt. and also introduced her to using a rotary cutter so as to spare her from the jagged edges scissors tend to make. we had so much fun.
it was right around last Christmas when they where completely done I didn’t tell her I just told her I had a surprise for her that wasn't a Christmas gift, just a surprise than handed her, her quilt. she was giddy with excitement to see it all quilted, with a fish pattern to match the under the sea vibe.
