First Donation Quilt Done

 

Here's the story on the donation quilt that I picked up at the BAMQG Super Sew Day last month. I really liked the foxes on that one fabric, reminded me of some of the Charlie Harper fabric designs. And the other fabrics were cute too.

I also chose it because of the size: 31x44" is a very easy size to work with. I liked that it's a very simple strip quilt, but even with all the prints it's fairly restful because of the solid-ish fabrics.

The backing fabrics were really cute too.

At first I just top-stitched along each fabric join. But that wasn't quite enough stitching for me. I was trying to keep it simple and not get all dense and wonky like I tend to. This is a baby quilt so soft soft soft is the goal.

I went with a free-hand wavy line along each fabric strip. Just enough visual interest, but not overwhelming.

My studio assistant thought it looked done and agreed I should stop adding any more quilting. She's making sure the stack of table runners get inspected before I put them away (after using the lint roller on them).

A little closer up on the stitching. That one bear (whose head is unfortunately cut off) with the big oval white stomach reminded me of Totoro, which was definitely another reason that I picked this particular quilt to work on.

My Neighbor Totoro is one of my comfort movies. I've watched this so many times, and it makes me happy every time. In my opinion, it's one of Hayao Miyazaki's very best.

And here's how the back looks after quilting. I think it took me about an hour and I find I like this feeling of Doing Good.

I've trimmed the quilt down, but now I'm not sure about the binding, as there wasn't any provided. Am I supposed to make some and add it? Or is there some already made waiting with the donation quilt person? I know sewing binding is a separate option for helping with the donation quilts so that's possible. I think I'll just bring it to Sew Day and ask. I like that the donation quilt operation for the guild is split up into manageable chunks that you can pick and choose to help on, quilt blocks, quilt tops, quilting, binding. It makes sense to break it down so that more people can help out and not feel overwhelmed. More gets done I think.

2 Out The Door

Last BAM Sew Day, I came prepared and actually remembered to donate two quilts I'd been meaning to give away. First was the Faux Goose Chase. It's been a while since I've donated a quilt, and it felt really good to be able to do it. The donation coordinator, Peggy was very excited at the two quilts sizes and told me where they'd likely be ending up, either the NICU or the Veteran's home. I'm honestly happy either way.

This was my first time sewing an entire quilt out of die-cut shapes and it really worked out well.
 

And the second was the Courthouse Steps which I had made out of Fat Quarter Shop monthly Sew Sampler box. It was paper pieced, which is kind of crazy! And not really fabrics or colors that are me.

I do really like the quilting that I did, and how it looked after washing.

I hope these two quilts bring someone, either old or young some comfort. I had fun making these, and it feels good to get them out the door to be used instead of piled up in my workroom.

The one fabric I really liked was this orange one (of course).

And the lime green wasn't so bad either..