This quilt is long overdue. I bought the fabric in September! Thought I would be way ahead for a Christmas gift… then decided to make it for my mom’s birthday in early February. But that was before I knew I was pregnant, and literally I fell asleep while I was sewing. So I decided to slow my pace and get it finished eventually. Then May rolled around, and I needed to finish it for Mother’s day!
I loved how it turned out, but I will admit that this quilt top is time consuming. Lots of little triangles and trimming. The pattern is “Hydrangea” from Dreamy Quilts book… and I used hydrangea fabrics from Rifle Paper Co ha
The Fabric
Fabric Bubb shared this photo on her instagram a long time ago, but I became obsessed and knew my mom would love it.
Once again, I didn’t do a great job of ordering fabric (this has been a problem for me lately…), and I needed to supplement by Fabric Bubb order with Tiger Lily Market on Etsy. And then I bought the green fabric at Joann’s.
Looking back, I probably would have liked the green for all of the little squares, because it looks more like leaves and stands out more. But this works, too. I love love love the black and white striped binding. Although, the woman at Joann’s said it gave her a headache while cutting 😑
The Pattern
Like I said earlier, this pattern by Lydia Loretta Nelson came from the Dreamy Quilts Book. I’ve had the book for years, loved the patterns, and never made any of them. Working on getting through some of my quilting books, and decided to start with this one!
This pattern has a lot of pieces. Cutting different sizes and stitching all the pieces took more time than I expected. My favorite part of quilting is having a quilt, so sometimes these steps become a little tedious to me. But I listened to a few books while working on it, so that was worth it!
And for some reason I did a terrible job trimming my squares or something because very few pieces matched up exactly. I need to be more precise when I’m working.
The Details
Now onto the quilting details: I did a two-inch grid diagonal pattern covering the entire quilt. I almost backed out of the plan at midnight the day before Mother’s Day. But it turned out beautifully, so good thing I stuck with it.
For the backing, I found a wide piece at Joann’s. If you haven’t realized, I don’t enjoy piecing the back, and this is another way to avoid it.
I started stitching the year onto every quilt I make, and I just love that tiny detail. I’ve also started binding correctly again. I tried other methods that felt like cheating, but in the end they never enclosed the quilt well. Many times I wouldn’t catch the other side and then backing was detaching while watching. Which is very embarrassing when you give something as a gift.
So I’m back to being careful and specific (if I gave you a quilt with binding issues, give it back and I’ll fix it 😳).
Last thing I remembered — I finally got a walking foot! Yes, my machine came with one. Then it broke. I replaced it. Then that one broke. SOOO I bought the generic brand walking foot online, and it works (so far). OMG no more puckering on the quilt top or the quilt back. Even with my not so great seam nesting. V happy quilter over here 😊
My First Mother’s Day
Weird to think that 2020 was my first Mother’s Day. I haven’t adjusted to the mother concept yet, but obviously it will come… at least by the time the baby comes ha. We had brunch with my mom, sister, and our husbands. Then took a nap after all the eating. Later we went for a little trail walk with the pup!
