Be that as it may, I'm here to share Liam's puzzle. I am so pleased with how it turned out. (And it has a soft minkee aqua with white polkie-dottie back... but no pix!)
This quilt involves a good story... and you know how I love good stories!
Early summer 2013 I was working on Bishop Doxey's thank-you-quilt when a friend in the ward told me she would donate fabric for the back of the quilt from her business. I didn't even know she had a business! But I quickly learned she had some absolutely darling Riley Blake fabrics that would be just right for Fiona's polkie-dottie quilt. (I'd clipped the pattern several years previous knowing it was just right for a Camille-baby!)
Camille and I looked at them online and decided on these wonderful fabrics. They are beautiful, fun fabrics! I picked them up at the warehouse and stuck them in my fabric closet to wait while I finished the Bishop's quilt.
Several week later I pulled them out and lined them up on my ironing board... and although they were still beautiful, fun fabrics THEY WERE ALL WRONG FOR BABY-FIONA'S QUILT! So I quickly came up with Plan B... which was just right for Miss Bitty!
I carefully replaced these fun Riley Blake fabrics in the USPS mailing envelope I'd picked them in and returned them to the depths of my closet.
Fast forward 16 months... now I need to make a quilt for baby-Liam. Camille went internet shopping for ideas; she came up with a cute pattern- Connect the Dots quilt from eQuilterPatterns.com with the predominate colors of aqua and red.
Well...
I still hadn't forgotten about the fun Riley Blake fabrics. I just happened to have a great start on Liam's quilt with fabrics JUST RIGHT for a baby boy! So I did what I do best... drove 2.3 miles to Corn Wagon to find more darling fabrics to round out this puzzle quilt.
The fabrics on the right are the ones I found at Corn Wagon. The four in front came in the neatest Riley Blake fabric panel made up of 4 printed fat quarter! PERFECT!! I pulled in two more stripes from non-Riley Blake lines to round out the collection! The red/aqua/white stripe also became the bias binding.
(And can I point out what a saver I am? Those teeny pieces up front will get used up in something else fun!)
A design wall is essential for a project like this. Mine is nothing fancy. I picked up a set of full-size flannel sheets on clearance several years ago. The flat sheet is a permanent fixture in my sewing room. I used to take it down and put it away but then asked myself why! I just drove my old sewing machine needles [instead of nails] through the sheet to hang my rulers, cutters and mats. I can temporarily add the fitted sheet, now flattened, when I have a really big project.
I always take photos during the design process for two reasons- Looking at the small photo helps me see the color/light/dark balance better and if I get confused in the sewing process I can refer to my photo.
I also decided to add a red border (see the lead photo) to stop the eye and finish off the quilt before the fun bias binding.
And I can't just leave you hanging about Miss Bitty's new sleep arrangement. They got Elise's toddler bed out of storage and set it up in the baby room. Her polkie-dottie quilt is just right for her little-self bed.
Yup, and this involves another story. Fiona and I love to go on walks, frequently to Target (to buy Bunny Milk!) I found a beautiful, soft, purple extra-deep twin size fitted sheet on clearance (do we see a pattern here?) I picked out all of the seams and elastic and made TWO toddler size fitted sheets. I still had a couple of good size pieces left... but not big enough for a pillow case.
Remember those little piece I save? Welp, I'd saved them from Fiona's quilt too and scratched together enough to make this pieced pillow case. I even embroidered her name on it (It reminds me of my tiny-girl pillow case my sisters made for me with MY name embroidered on it!)
I have to say I absolutely LOVE to create! It just fills me up!
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