SEWING DELIMMAS

Well this week has sure rushed by.  I have been a good busy as I have worked on my nieces quilt.  I do have a few things to say about that...come on, I know you are on the tips of your seats for yet another sewing story by me, lol. 

I have noticed (primarily through my daughter and many of her friends) that today's mom's are decorating their nurseries VERY differently than the way I did mine.  I always figured baby's room, baby things.  Soft colors (or bright primary colors doesn't matter) but with some sort of a baby theme.  Animals, hearts, flowers didn't matter, just something babyish that followed a theme of some sort.  Well, it is no longer the feel.  Todays moms might have patters, but nothing that is actually got a print that seems babyish.  And definitely NO theme.  Now Melody did use some soft blues, tans, creams, and browns and with her pictures etc. created a WONDERFUL nursery for her babies that I LOVE!  But just very different.  Well, now I am working on my nieces bedding, and again, NO baby patterns, animals, or anything babyish.  NO THEME!  It will be VERY pretty and nice, but definitely NOT something that would have traditionally been considered a baby's room.  Now maybe it's just my girls and their friends, but they are certainly all on the same page.  Sooo having said all that let me tell you a little something about Jessie's quilt.  She wanted something VERY plain and simple, in primarily greys, with some navy and maybe some Kelly green.  Those are the colors she has chosen for the room.  Once I got on board with her color chart we did manage to find several of these colors to work into a quilt that was to be nothing but blocks.  She DEFINITELY did not want any sashing, or borders either.  I tried, really I did as I think that those things add so much to a quilt.  But it WAS her quilt after-all so I tried really hard to keep my mouth shut, and my tips and opinions to a minimum.  Not easy for me, lol.  Anyway, we started with 7 different fabrics!  Yes, 7!!  I tried my hardest but there was just NO WAY to work all those colors and patterns and fabrics into a pattern of blocks that looked GOOD.  I think you have to know that this is a VERY creative and talented young woman by the way.  She works at a small exclusive shop in Newport Beach as a hair stylist and caters to a VERY trendy (and OK , well to do) crowd.  She also is known for her party planning skills, and her showers, parties, and dinners are well known and talked about in her world.  So I have NO doubt her babies room will be ADORABLE, creative, and uniquely different.  Truthfully I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole thing when I could see how definite she was in what she was wanting.  Would I be able to help her create it?  I had and still have my doubts.  Anyway, via a million texts and pictures being sent over for her to check, (she was hard at work) which just took forever, I finally convinced her to go with JUST 3 different shades of grey (the main color she wanted) in her blocks.  We will bind it in navy to bring in that color.  And then the sheets will be done in soft Kelly greens and the bed skirt in navy and white.  The crib is grey and the dresser Kelly green and the chair will be navy.  Sooo once I FINALLY had the pattern I quickly assembled the blocks.  However, this is where my next dilemma came in.  Suddenly I remembered that I have never actually QUILTED any blanket.  Yes, I did quilt 4 Christmas runners, but they were FAR FAR from perfect.  The fronts looked pretty good I will admit, but the backs not so much, but I figured at the time, who will see the backs anyway?  A runner lays on a table with the back NOT showing,  and they were gifts for my dil's and my daughter and me and who cared.  I had to practice and learn somewhere.  But this was VERY different.  Jessie has paid of course for all the fabric and materials, and a blanket DEFINITELY shows on both sides.  I began to panic and wonder what I had I been thinking about taking on such a project?  I began watching tutorials on quilting again and dreaming about how in the world I was going to do this without ruining it or making it look ridiculous.  Sooo then yesterday I decided that one of the blocks would look REALLY cute with the baby's name embroidered on it.  I asked Jess if that sounded good to her and she liked the plan to.  So today I ran by the quilt store to get the navy embroidery thread and talked to the gals there hoping they would have some tips to help me.  Well, bottom line to this RIDICULOUSLY long story?  We have decided to have the quilting part of the quilt done professionally.....whew....Big stress off for me, haha.  I just have to deliver it with the top, batting, and backing all ready to go and she will quilt it on her big machine and then I will bind it.  Does it still count that I made this quilt?  haha.  I will continue to practice and eventually want to do all the quilting myself, but I was just not comfortable practicing on her baby's quilt.  It isn't going to cost much at all in my opinion, probably because it is so small, and will be worth every penny Jess will spend in my opinion, haha.  I am still going to make a rag quilt, several blankets, a few nighties, bibs, burp cloths, sheets and a bed skirt, but I feel confident enough with these things to make them practically with my eyes shut.  Sewing and quilting are VERY different in my opinion.  I won't bore you with why, haha.  And now if you have stuck with me through this long and surely somewhat boring story, I will show the quilt top as your reward, lol.



HOW A MAMA WITH TWO BABIES SHOPS....WHERE DO THE GROCERIES GO?  LOL

HOW DARLING IS HE?

Well I have MUCH to work on, but HOW I enjoy it.  Hope you are having a good week!  Blessings to all of you! 

Love,  Debbie