Finished! My second very rosy quilt

A very rosy patchwork quiltI just finished my 2nd ever quilt! (OK, I’ll stop counting after this one.) If you were walking by my house at any given point in the past week you might have heard someone yelling, “Hoochie Mamma!!” and that would have been me when I sewed a whole row on backwards, or when my seams weren’t lining up, or when I realized I quilted an entire section without bobbin thread. Rookie mistakes–and there were a lot.

The thing about mistakes (and here comes my inner third grade teacher), is that you learn from them. Like, for example, I won’t ever use pure linen for a quilt again because it is literally coming apart at the seams. Man. That one has me cross. But there were good discoveries, too, such as I learned how to make my own spray starch: 1 pint distilled water, 1 heaping tablespoon of cornstarch and a couple drops of lavender oil. Easy-peasy and none of that formaldehyde found in store-bought starch. For the lining, I used a wool batting versus cotton and I love how heavy and luxurious it makes the quilt feel. You know, less like a coverlet and more like an actual blanket. I did get lazy at the end and didn’t bother cutting/sewing my binding at an angle but used scraps that were already sewn up. Next time…

Lucy on the new quilt

If you’re wondering, those yummy rose prints are Pam Kitty, the back is a Rachel Ashwell print and the striped fabric is from an old oxford belonging to my husband that no longer fit him. You should have seen his face when I took his shirt and right in front of him tore it into strips. Haha! Poor Jesse.

I’m already working up a bunch of blocks for another design, all the while watching out for Pepper who seems to have some kind of obsession with thread and tries to eat it up like spaghetti noodles. Jesse said I have “quilting madness” and I quite agree, but there are so many wonderful fabrics that I find that I get quite wanty when I see another pretty floral. Besides, a gardener’s gotta do what a gardener’s gotta do to get through winter, am I right?

A very rosy patchwork quilt 2

All the furbabies on the new quiltThis quilt may not be perfect but Lucy, Eva and Pepper all agree it definitely passes the cozy test. 🙂

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6 Comments

  1. I adore Rachel Ashwell items, so pretty! I have all her decorating books. Have you ever looked through them? They are awesome! I even have saved advertisements of her stuff from magazines, because the pictures are so pretty.

    Ohhhhhh there is big fluffy orange kitty again; smooshes coming her (?) way. Perhaps the thread obsession is kitty’s way of dealing with winter blah’s. I know my own big orange fluffy kitty is going through catmint withdrawal now all his plants have died off. (He has a dreadful addiction; there is blatant lolling) 🙂

    1. I adore the shabby chic collection, but no I’ve never read her books. It might be dangerous for me! 😉

      I have a theory about kitties eating thread (and in my sister’s cat’s case–curling ribbon) and not to be gross but it involves their natural instinct to eat entrails. We’ve tried giving them kitty grass to nosh on and both have shown no interest. Maybe I’ll try again… That’s super cute about your kitty and his catmint withdrawal, haha!

  2. I think quilts are certainly addicting. I made one for my parents as a Christmas present this year. I did it in 3 days in order to get it done in time to ship and that should have knocked the quilting bug out of me, but I’m already planning the next one! 🙂

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