You know when you have an idea and you are fully confident in your skills to bring that idea to life but then almost instantly regret the decision to make your idea a reality? Yeah, that was me when I decided to make my friend a rainbow quilt for her baby shower.
During Christmastime I made myself and my two sisters blankets; albeit, they were kind of ugly. The 'quilting' portion I was proud of, but the binding.. yuck. Overall they looked decent but a pro probably would have scoffed at me.
Well it all started with me picking out all the fabric which I had so much fun doing. Twenty-one colors in total for the quilt top. I got it home, washed it all and then began ironing in preparation of all the cutting that was in my future.
Why.
For my birthday my mom got me new sewing scissors and a cutting wheel and I finally got to use them to the fullest. The colors were all so gorgeous but I definitely felt over my head at this point. The amount of cutting was going to be the same regardless of how many colors I picked so this point is moot. But this is the point where I changed my mind from attempting a triangle quilt, to sticking with squares and I think it was a smart choice. I didn't want to risk trying something for the first time on a a gift that I wanted to be (hopefully) a lifelong keepsake.
Laying out the pattern was a little stressful. I wanted it to be random enough without looking wacky. I think I did a decent job aside from one spot which I'm not going to point out because maybe I'm the only one that notices it. Then came down to sewing all the rows, and then subsequently sewing all the rows together. I ironed out each row trying to be extremely precise and do things by the book.
Regardless of pinning and spray adhesive (which I am really excited to try out during Halloween costume time) some of the corners did not match up perfect and the chenille backing got a little stretched in some places. Ultimately I feel that these flaws add to heartfelt quality of a handmade item.
Also, I thought I would take my extra to the next level and do rainbow thread on the backing. It didn't come to fruition as I had imagined. The chenille was just plush enough that it obscured about 50% of the stitches on the back.
^^ Maybe one day I will have all my corners line up this perfectly.
Loading the thread and switching out those bobbins was pretty tedious. As per usual, the project took me up until the last minute. So far I've put a black and white binding on all the blankets I've made and I ran out before I could finish. Luckily my mom pulled through in the end by finding it at the Joann's near her house. I was frantic and thought I wasn't going to be able to pull it off and have to leave a cheesy note in my gift back.
After scouring YouTube I finally found the best technique for a double sided binding and I only had to back up (majorly) one time and for that I was proud. I have enough fabric to make another one which I have debated about doing and potentially trying to sell that sucker.. that is if one of the kids doesn't call dibs. Kennedy kept saying to me, "I really just wish we could keep it."
And how fun to end a rainbow post on a black and white pic? Now just to wait until I get a picture of ze baby wrapped in ze baby blanket!
He'll be here in July!
Leia
