Quilt # 4 - Down to Earth

There is a story behind this quilt. Isn't there always a story behind every quilt?

A very dear friend informed me that she was expecting. I was so happy to hear her big news. And almost immediately my head filled with patterns for a baby quilt. Here comes the difficult part - she won't share with anyone whether it was a boy or a girl. Yikes!!!

I like a challenge. I decided to go with neutral colors - greens and browns. I used my favorite pattern - the Disappearing Nine Patch.

These colors are really soothing. I wish they were brighter. 

This was my fourth quilt on my very basic Brother machine. I hated it when after spray basting and continually smoothing out my layers, the fabric would still bunch in places. Why is this happening, what can I do differently? 

YOU NEED A WALKING FOOT.

I travelled to Bethesda, MD to find a walking foot for the machine. Did you notice how sewing machines and vacuum cleaners go together? No, I don't get it either. The shopkeeper was very helpful but there was no way my machine would take a walking foot. However, he offered to sell me a new machine which would be excellent for my quilting needs.

So, I travelled to Springfield, VA to look for a walking foot that would fit my machine. I went to the authorized Brother store. Same result - no foot would fit my machine but I could buy a new one foot and all other contraptions. I needed to think about it. In any case, let me first finish this quilt.

I like how it is coming together. I used Stitch in the Ditch to quilt it - it is slow and painful. And I rarely stay in the ditch. But I still love the outcome.

And there are cute giraffes on the back...

So, now that the quilt was complete, it just felt more like a boy quilt. But that is just my opinion. I gave the quilt to my friend on June 22, 2013. Her handsome boy was born on July 4th, 2013.