I began working on this baby quilt in January 2000. I found my original notes (on graph paper) in the bag with the completed top earlier this year. The quilt was originally destined as a shower gift for a friend having a baby girl. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know why I never finished it; I probably wasn't happy with how it was turning out, or I came up with a better gift idea, or I just plain ran out of time. I had two wee ones of my own at home then, so the last scenario is the most likely.
Basically it's a 4-patch on point, with the 4-patches and cream squares at 3" finished; the entire quilt measures 41" square. All the florals are small scale prints in varying tones of pink and peach - so sweet. The cream and the 1" pink inner border are tone-on-tone prints, while the outer 3" border and binding are a repeat of one of the prints used in the center.
The backing was pieced from all the leftovers, and as I'm writing this, I like it almost as much as the front. :)
The center is straight-line quilted in the ditch, while the borders are free-motion quilted with a leaf and vine motif. Great news for those of you that use the blue washout markers to mark your quilting lines. All my border quilting lines (and my original floral motif lines on the cream fabric) were marked using one of those markers years ago when I finished the top. And now, 10+ years later, I'm thrilled to report that all traces of the marker lines disappeared in the wash!!
I attached the binding entirely by machine, using the Red Pepper Quilts method of stitching in the ditch from the front to catch the loose binding edge on the back.
I found that these long-shank flower head pins from Clover worked the best for me in keeping that loose edge secured as I sewed from the front. Make sure to butt them up right next to each other as you pin, and not leave any loose areas to shift - you won't be able to tell if anything is shifting as you stitch from the front. Voice of experience here!
Another shot of the back. A much more modern feel to this side. These shabby chic colors are so out of my usual range, but I do think this is a lovely quilt. I'm not sure where it will end up now that it's finished. We don't have any baby girls coming into our family in the near future, so it's final home is still up for grabs.
The "work-in-progress" pile is still quite high, but finishing this one sure feels good!
Sweet quilt! You must be so thrilled to finish this after ten years!
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