Baby Quilt

One of my daughter Cammy's close friends recently had a gorgeous baby girl. She was so excited about her first friend ever to have a baby that she wanted to give her a gift that was really special.

We decided that we would make her a scrappy baby quilt with some hand quilting...together. You know, a mother-daughter bonding experience for us.

We joyfully started out at the fabric store. I let Cammy pick out the fat quarters (with a little guidance from me on how to choose your fabrics to get the scrappy look we wanted). It was fun to let her choose the fabrics because she picked patterns I wouldn't have chosen, and yet I loved how they worked together in the end. The teacher was the student!


The fabric was washed and pressed and we started cutting our strips. As I hovered over her cutting it was really becoming clear that my control freak tendencies were rearing their ugly head. I know cutting quilt fabric can be tricky, and I mean well...but I'm pretty sure my daughter wasn't having a good time.

After I came up with a simple design, we moved on to piecing the blocks. 1/4" seams are pretty exacting work for someone who never touched a sewing machine before. Bless her heart, the one block I let her piece looked great but came out about an inch too small. I set it in the pile of "soon to be potholders" and she looked really, really, sad. And I felt like some kind of quilting bully.


When school started up again (she's a college senior this year!), she was too busy to work together on this anymore. I pressed on and finished it in time for the baby shower. As disappointing of an experience this may have been for Cammy, she ended up adoring the quilt. And I did too. For a week before it was gifted, it rested on the back of a chair in the living room. Both of us had to pick it up and admire it every time we walked by. I hope this means there is still a little inspiration to be a sewist in her...somewhere. Maybe we can try again with a simpler project? Let's hope!


Every quilt has a story, doesn't it?

–Cassandra

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6 comments:

  1. TroyNovember 20, 2013 at 3:25 PM

    Aw, This quilt reminds me of my Grandmother and our afghan family tradition. When we (my siblings and I) turned 7, my grandmother would take us to the yarn store to pick out our favorite colors. It was so heart-warming knowing my Grandma was making an afghan that would be for me and me only. My Grandmother is no longer with us but I still, at age 40, have it in my bedroom and think fondly of my Grandma every time I see it :)

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    1. Cassandra and AlexNovember 20, 2013 at 4:06 PM

      The magic of handmade items cannot be measured :)
      –Cassandra

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  2. MKellorNovember 20, 2013 at 5:54 PM

    It's gorgeous! And yes, every quilt has a story (and afghan -- I've got one of those from my grandmother as well :-) ). I think it's neat that Cammy was inspired to give it a try and, now that's she's tried it, hopefully she'll have an even deeper respect for all the skill it takes for you to complete your crafting projects so beautifully. Do you think she'll try another sometime?

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    1. Cassandra and AlexNovember 21, 2013 at 8:56 AM

      There's been talk of doing some garment sewing...maybe we will get together again during winter break!

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  3. StitchlillyNovember 21, 2013 at 10:24 AM

    She may not become a quilter but her color sense is great! Maybe that can become her contribution in future also, it's hard to let got of the perfection reigns.

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