WIP Wednesday

I am still plugging away at my Shalom Cardigan, but to keep things a little more interesting I will share a different project this week. I started working on my first quilt during the last weeks of my pregnancy. It is a Turning Twenty quilt, made from twenty fat quarters of Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric. The cool blues, greens and yellows match our living room and kitchen perfectly, and I love how the punch of pink and red stands out in contrast. Before Isaac was born, I got as far as sewing together all the individual blocks.

Then, for obvious reasons, it sat untouched for a couple weeks. When Isaac was 3-4 weeks old and taking some lovely, long newborn naps, I finished sewing the blocks together to complete the top of the quilt. I also decided on and ordered a backing fabric that has more of the pink for contrast (the floral pattern on the lower right).

I got as far as washing the backing fabric, and then it sat, once again untouched for a few weeks. Isaac's morning naps are now much shorter and more hit and miss than before. Yesterday, however, I did manage to get the backing fabric ironed and ripped to size. Ironing six yards of fabric is a big accomplishment, I think!

Isaac woke up from his nap when I was halfway through with the ironing and was kind enough to sit in his refurbished bouncy seat as I finished up. I am still so amazed that a baby of mine will sit for a few minutes without being held that I felt compelled to photograph it!

Ok, enough chubby baby cuteness...

My goal for this week is to get the backing of the quilt sewn together. After I pick up some batting, it will be ready for (eeek!) actual quilting. That part is making me a bit nervous. I mean, I really don't want to mess it up after putting so much time into it. I want to do free motion stippling on the sewing machine, but will definitely need to practice on a smaller project before taking that on. Plus, I don't even want to attempt it until I can be sure that I will have several hours of uninterrupted time. In other words, this project is probably going to sit again for several weeks (or months) until I finish it up.

Happy crafting everyone!

~Jen