Tuesday, July 26, 2011

My First Quilt Ever is DONE!!!!

You know how they say you always take WAY more pictures of your firstborn child then any of the subsequent children? Well I'm sure that holds true for your first quilt too! By now you are probably thinking....."Enough already with Evie's Quilt!"
 But just like a first time mommy,
I'm gonna bust out the photo album and bore everyone with every nuance of my first quilt!
(Do you think carrying wallet sized photos in my purse is a bit too much???)

I don't know why, but I've always loved seeing pictures on other blogs of neatly rolled up binding....just waiting to be attached :)

I'm so happy that I hand quilted this. I even love the fun patterns on the backside of the quilt.

This is just a gratuitous beauty shot :)
For this quilt I used a pattern called Lemonade Lollipop by Sweet Jane. The pattern was so easy to follow even for someone like me who had never done this before and I learned how to square up my blocks through her very clear instructions. You can follow this link to her etsy shop.
I'll definately be buying more patterns from her in the future!

I hand embroidered the tag on the backside of the quilt, so that Evie will always have a reminder that her Nana stitched lots of love into her special quilt even long after I am gone :)
This is the backside view :)

Another gratuitous beauty shot :)

And having completed Evie's quilt last night means that I can begin all the handwork on Sofie's quilt! I started with a blanket stitch on the leaves of the flower appliques. I'll be doing the same stitch around all the flower appliques and when that's done, I will sandwich the quilt and start the hand quilting. I am having WAY too much fun with this!!!

By the way.....I have a question for all you seasoned quilters:
What is the proper protocol for gifting a quilt.
Do you wash it before you give it away?
I've read on other blogs about how these quilting ladies are always so excited to see the quilt all wrinkled and squishy after washing it as a last step to the process. Maybe because I hand quilted this, I don't feel the need to wash it first. It already looks wonderful the way it is.
I appreciate your input, since I am a new quilter.
Thanks in advance!!!

24 comments:

  1. That looks absolutely stunning! And I don't think carrying wallet pics is too much, be proud of that! And I usually wash mine first, just because if it's going to fall apart, I want to know about it and fix it before gifting it. But that's just me. Great JOB!!!!

    Amber
    Quiltedeuphoria.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. First off........fab-u-lous! You would never know it was your first! LOVE me that big stitch hand quilting. I have never, ever enjoyed the million to an inch club.....I may start hand quilting again......perle cotton rules!
    As a seasoned and slightly eccentric quilter, I love the way it looks right after it's pressed and before the quilting beings. LOL
    If your fabrics are all baby fresh....don't wash it!! she's just gonna get it all grody anyway
    And to wash, woolite, gentle then air dry. Your quilting looks bomb proof. so Miss Little Bit should have it for a long, long time! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's gorgeous!! You have every right to be proud! I need to do a quilt sometime soon. I've got the fever. =)

    -Janelle
    homemadethisandthat.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely beautiful ... I can't believe you hand-quilted it. I am a machine gal, loathe hand sewing!! I wash/dry my quilts and I think it really does make them look even prettier. And I agree with what someone else said, if it's gonna fall apart, I'd rather it do it for me and not the recipient of the quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  5. beautiful and you should be so proud of yourself Nana! I don't know if I would hve the patience to handquilt, but it looks sooooo wonderful and it is literally stitched with love! Don't give it away until I get to see it this weekend! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful quilt! Excellent job on the piecing, color selection, and quilting! It is definitely something to be proud of!

    I always wash my quilts when I'm done. I've handled them so much, sneezed on them, bled on them that they are biological hazards! Washing them just makes them look so cozy and smell so good!

    LaDonna

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow. No wonder you are so proud! That is just gorgeous. Will you consider a future post showing how you went about the hand quilting process? I'd love to see the steps involved & your work is always so lovely to look at...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with LaDonna. I am the grody one--by the time a quilt is finished, it's begging for a red bio-hazard bag! Besides, the washing shrinks (in my case) the quilt and gives it that loved, worn look. Yours is beautiful, happy, colorful, fun! Yeah!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You did SUCH a great job! I'm reading through your post and just loving your quilt when I realize, HEY my first quilt was a Sweet Jane pattern too!! Here's a link to my blog post also: http://momommamoney.blogspot.com/2011/03/sewing-window-pane-quilt.html

    ReplyDelete
  10. You did a wonderful job your first baby. Love all the pictures.
    Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches

    ReplyDelete
  11. Outstanding Nana :-)! I think we should maybe think about a quilting project for Crafty Chicks. I have never made a quilt and would totally be all over a WWKD quilting session :-)!

    ReplyDelete
  12. BEAUTIFUL!!!! And good for you for hand quilting, too!
    Yup. Wash it. One of the very first quilts I made I pulled out of the dryer and jumped in the car to go see my new baby nephew, only to look down on the way there and see that I had fraying issues (always prewash, too!) so I had to make him a new one. :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. It's beautiful and yes you should carry a picture of it with you. Better yet get a picture of Evie in her quilt and carry that around with you. I've always heard about washing your finished quilt before giving it but I haven't done enough quilting to really know. The flowers on Sophie's quilt look great with the stitching.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a beautiful quilt! I've pieced a couple of tops (baby size) but still haven't gotten around to actually quilting. Maybe I'll give hand quilting a try on one of them. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Karen Karen Karen how do you knock it outta the park like that? It is so beautiful! What a fabulous legacy !

    ReplyDelete
  16. Absolutely gorgeous!!! What more can I say?!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, you should be very proud of yourself, your first quilt looks fantastic! The pinwheels can be challenging, and yours are great!! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

    Sue Pfau
    Sweet Jane's Quilting

    ReplyDelete
  18. What an adorable quilt! you did a great job

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday - - I featured you today! - Mandy, www.SugarBeeCrafts.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. This is your first quilt?! Wow! Great job! You should definitely be proud of it--it came out so beautifully. I agree with what's already been said--I would wash it before giving it, just because they look SO different after that first wash, and don't you want to see how it turns out? :-) But, to vary from an earlier opinion, I actually never prewash fabrics that I use for quilts--I love that crinkled look on a quilt, and if you prewash them, they end up a bit less crinkly. It's just personal preference, but I thought I'd let you know that you really can do either depending on what you like (plus, I'm always so excited to get started that I don't have the patience to prewash!).

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats Karen. You finished this pretty quickly.

    I always wash my quilts before giving them away. I always wash my aprons too. That's just me.

    ReplyDelete
  22. That is absolutely beautiful. Congrats on your first!! And btw, I take tons of photos of all my quilts and have to argue with myself about not posting too many. (and i have pics in my phone to show off too!) Personally I love seeing different views and details so thanks for sharing. Very Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I know this is way late in commenting, but I just now came across it. The quilt is so beautiful! My question is: did you use a certain fabric line in making it? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete