I’ve been battling a cold this week. It started over the weekend shortly after I wrote the blog post about praying for Monday to come around and everyone at childcare would be healthy. Sadly, I must have forgot to include me in the request because I ended up with a cold.
When I am sick I try my best to be good to myself. I go to bed early. I don’t push deadlines. I let myself feel how I feel and I do my best to listen to my body. That meant several night this week I was in bed early. Still, I managed to get the quilt done.
I ended up really liking it once it was all finished and the troubles were behind me. The idea for the quilt started with a video from Missouri Star and ended a little differently.
In their video they used a whole layer cake with LOTS of different prints. Me, I started with two fabrics cutting the fabric into 10″ squares. Well the pattern doesn’t quite work the same if you do that…but I didn’t know that when I started.
I also didn’t realize that the bias edges of the blocks would be a bit of a pain in the butt to deal with. All of it is do-able and I don’t what that to deter anyone from giving the pattern a try.
Here’s a closer view….
Being the blocks weren’t able to be used together and I had half turned one direction and half the other, I opted to make a baby quilt.
Once the center blocks were together I could tell that it would benefit from a narrow border to firm up those bias edges. Then I needed to figure something out for a border. I started in on making a checkerboard as that was an easy obvious choice. I ran out of black but found a good substitute. I ran out of white and found something super close. Honestly, unless I said that, I don’t think anyone would really notice.
Mid way through sewing the checkerboard I went into a HUGE panic. What is the checkerboard was “off” when I put the border on. I had already put the inner red border on I hadn’t measured anything. I hadn’t calculated a thing. Happily, without any planning on my part, it turned out perfectly.
I had intended on using a great blue for the backing but being the quilt ended up smaller, I hated to cut into that nice BIG chunk of 108″ backing….so, I dug through my fabric and came up with this for a backing.
There wasn’t enough for the fabric to all run in the same direction so I cam up with this and it’s actually not that bad for a pieced backing.
Because I finished this all up with time to spare, I’m thinking about giving myself Saturday to sew on my own project. I might not give myself the whole day but at least half sure would be fun.
To see other finished projects check out Crazy Mom Quilts and Confession of a Fabric Addict.
Way to go…. it sure is cute……
Great looking quilt, Jo. I’m laughing a bit because you described the way this quilt went together and along the way, you encountered problems, which you were able to solve, due to years of experience. We quilters develop such great problem solving skills and I wish we would give ourselves credit for being able to make the impossible work so well. We’re awesome!! And yet I laugh because I’m in the middle of a quilt that has tested me several times this month. Guess I’m developing more of those great problem solving skills! Love the checkerboard border!
You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others and you have a lot of people to take care of!!! Most women I know do not put themselves first let alone when they are sick! Good for you! Love, love, love the fireman quilt! I hope it brings top dollar at the auction!
I really like how this quilt turned out!! Some little boy will love it!
Love how the quilt turned out! The checkered border looks great and really finishes the quilt nicely. Great job Jo!
That is one terrific quilt! Some child is going to love that to pieces! You’ve done a really great job and your back makes that a lot more interesting than a plain back.
Hope your cold is better by now. Being around kids with colds all day it’s hard not to pick up something, as careful as you try to be!m
The quilt turned out adorable. I love everything about it!
This is a very striking quilt. All those little glitches that you resolved make it a unique and special quilt. It took me a while to realize and embrace that part of creating, but it makes our work unique to us. Look forward to seeing what you choose to work on for yourself.
The quilt is just great….I love reading about the problem solving steps and how you solve issues when they come up….
Good job! It looks so dramatic
I love it! It turned out great!
Take care, the quilt is awesome.
Your quilt turned out great. And I love the backing. Nice job all around. Thanks for sharing.
I think it is a really cute fireman quilt.
This is a very happy, very fireman-feeling quilt! It’s super!! I do have to say that I absolutely hate that method for making HSTs. I know people love the pre-cuts and that makes it easy to cut and sew the blocks, but it makes them so much harder to put together. I did go watch the video when you posted the link and I decided if I ever wanted to make that quilt, I’d have to do a little math and figure out how to do the HSTs without the bias edges on the outside. Good for you for forging on with the project. I do believe it was worth it!! Best stitches…
Great quilt finish. Well done,especially as you were full of cold. Love the backing you pieced so cleverly. Definitely make Saturday a sewing day for you. You need it – and I bet it helps your cold hurry on its way out.
Great contribution to the fireman’s auction, Jo! All the problems you solved making this quilt seemed to make it not only unique but spectacular!
I also finished a different quilt from a MSQC video. They are free patterns so I don’t like to be too harsh but their instructions can be a little vague. Your quilt turned out great! It was good to hear your experience, I was thinking of trying this one out myself.
I love it!!! Glad to hear that you are going to sew on something just for you! Take care of yourself. Extra sleep under one of your wonderful quilts is a good thing too.
I just recently started reading your posts…so enjoyable! I love how you did the back of this quilt. Of course the front is adorable too :)