Yay!! I’ve completed my first quilt! I actually started another quilt months before this one, but this one had a deadline, so it was finished first.
My son has some special needs and as a result, he has a variety of specialists and therapists that work with him. When I found out that Amy, one of the ladies who worked with him was moving on to a different company, we were really sad to lose her. She’s an amazing person with a sunny personality. She was wonderful with my son and always very supportive of any project she saw me working on. She would consistently make me feel like a crafting superstar .
After hearing that she would be leaving, my mind immediately started working on figuring out what I could make her as a reminder of how much we appreciate her. I quickly decided on making a quilt, as that is my current crafting obsession. I wasn’t sure what colors she likes, or how her house is decorated, so I decided to go with colors that remind me of her personality. Fortunately, I had a layer cake that fit the bill (this was at the start of the pandemic when a lot of fabric shipping was taking around a month to arrive). The layer cake had a lot of blue and a little yellow. I was slightly short on blues, so I picked up a couple batiks from Joann Fabrics that fit in nicely with the others. I then learned how to sew the stars and with the rest just being squares sewn together, the quilt came together quickly and easily. Just make sure to double and triple check your math if working with fabrics that leave you no room for error. When I first did the math, I would’ve ended up miscutting my yellow fabric, and then been out of luck while I waited for more to be delivered.
When I was at Joann Fabrics picking up the additional blue batiks, I came across some yellow and blue flowered fabric that was perfect for the backing. It was so bright and cheery that it made me smile every time I glanced at it . I was able to perfectly match up the material when piecing the back by following this super helpful tutorial.
I decided to attach the binding with a yellow zigzag stitch. I wanted to give one last yellow flourish and though it’s far from perfect, I love how it came out.
I call this quilt ‘Sunshine and Cheer,’ because I feel like that’s what this quilt embodies, which is why it’s such a good match to Amy’s personality.
As you can see from the pictures, my son was very involved throughout the entire creation of this quilt .
Thank you @Immaculata . The fabric definitely went a long ways toward making it pretty. I was really happy when I came across the backing fabric, it was perfect for what I wanted!
You did a fantastic job! I love how you broke up the squares with the row of stars. And blue & yellow is definitely a cheery combination. I really like your backing fabric, too! I’ll have to keep my eyes out for that the next time I go to JoAnn’s. But, the best part is how happy your son looks in the last picture! It looks like he should be the next quilt recipient!
How did you make such a lovely patch for the back? Please tell me your hand embroidery is not that precise!
And, I am impressed with how perfectly you matched the backing fabric! I am saving that tutorial for future reference!
@marionberries Thank you, he’s a very sweet little boy .
@loves2experiment Thank you! I’m proud to have finally finished a quilt!
@craftADDchick LittleBookLover was actually supposed to be my first quilt recipient, then this quilt leapfrogged to the position of first completed quilt. I’ve been working on a cute gnome quilt for LBL. I pieced the back together and was excited to finally quilt it, only to realize that my sizing was way off and the back ended up much larger than the front. I’m going to add an extra border to the front and he’ll end up with a twin sized quilt instead of the originally planned throw. I can’t wait to finish it for him!
As for the label on the back, my hand embroidery skills and the patience it would take for me to create that by hand are pretty much non-existent, lol. I used my embroidery machine. I purchased the fonts and the frame online. When embroidering smaller fonts, it’s better to use a thinner thread, but I made do with the thicker one, which is why some of the lettering is a little bulky.
I too was impressed by how well the backing fabric matched up. I’d originally planned on piecing the back with some sort of border until I came across that tutorial. I’m much happier with the single fabric backing than I would’ve been with my original plan!
@moo Thank you! I’m really glad my pattern idea worked out!
@Bunny1kenobi Thank you! I did share the photos with her and her response was that he put extra love into it .
@MightyMitochondria Thank you! I was really happy with how it all came together!
@bethntim Thank you! I’m so glad I had that layer cake on hand, it’s like those blues and yellows were just waiting for this project to come about!
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AIMR
(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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Everything about this project is cheery…except for losing a very special person… I am sure she will always remember your son and your kindness…it is such a lovely quilt in so many ways, but I really love the backing fabric and your stitched binding!
I think this with pictures of you and your son working on it together will make a heartfelt gift…tears are going to happen! Great job…can’t wait to see your next ones…you seem to have found a new passion for quilting!
@AIMR Thank you! I can’t wait to finish some more! Right now I’m working on an I-spy quilt for my nephew’s 13th birthday and a gnome quilt for my son. I’m really looking forward to finishing them both! I also have quite a few kits and fabrics/patterns purchased that I can’t wait to get to. So many quilts, so little time!
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. I was able to perfectly match up the material when piecing the back by following this super helpful tutorial.
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I am sure she will always remember your son and your kindness…it is such a lovely quilt in so many ways, but I really love the backing fabric and your stitched binding!
