OMG, this is post 101!!! Mia's Quilt + Giveaways

It was Mia's birthday last week.  She turned one.

For Mia

About two months ago, her mom reached out to me to make a quilt from her old baby clothes.  She gave me a large bag of baby clothes.  Those little clothes are so cute. A monkey, a kitty, a bird and adorable phrases like - "Cute like Mommy" or "I make Mommy Smile" and more.

Cuteness - Cut up :-(

The bag had several onesies, one skirt, one cap and few jumpsuits. The cap had very beautiful pink roses.  To get any usable fabric out of it, I had to unpick the seams.  Cutting it out would leave a very skinny strip. The best piece was a pink and white striped skirt - definitely lot of usable fabric came out of it.

Squared

There was a large cat on one of the t-shirts. If I cut away the seams, a sliver of the cat's body would end up in the seam allowance.  Once again, I unpicked the seams on the stretchy fabric.  The t-shirt with the Disney princess was definitely going to be the focus of the quilt.

Kitty

Too close to the seam

Seam Ripped

Done, Phew!!!

Three nights in a row, I sat in front of the television, cutting perfect baby clothes into squares and rectangles.  To not focus on the destruction, I watched a sweet, romantic comedy - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.  Next night, I watched an uplifting Bollywood comedy - Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year. Third night, I watched "The Kids are All Right"

Interfacing

Now that I had destroyed so many clothes, it was time to interface them.  I knew it would be a tedious exercise but it took such a long time.  I spent almost 20 hours in just cutting and interfacing, even before I could begin piecing.  I was frustrated and it had begun to show.

Interfaced. Ready for Piecing

I could not have put this together without a Design Wall because all pieces were different sizes.  I started placing squares and rectangles on the wall, framing focus pieces. I sent a picture to Mia's mom and she was thrilled with it. In fact, Mia's mom is the best person I have ever worked with.  She had a couple of requests - including Mia's picture and the choice of the backing fabric.  After that, I had full-on control of the patchwork, layout, quilting, binding etc.

Design Wall

When I started piecing, I realized that all seams had to be pressed open. UGH...extra work.  Paul noticed my less than happy state.

Purr...

Paul: What is the matter babe? You don't look too happy.
Me: I am not enjoying making this quilt.
Paul: Why not? 
Me: It is a lot of work, it is tedious and I feel that my creativity is limited.
Paul: I think that monkey is really cute

Paul's favorite monkey

Me: I really like the pink roses

May favorite pink roses

Paul: What does the mom think?
Me: Oh she loves it. She has been very happy with the process.
Paul: Well, not all projects can be fun.
Me: Hmmmm...
Paul: Try to think about the little girl and the mom. And how much they will love it.
Me: OK.
Paul: It is not ALWAYS about you, silly girl!!!
I rolled my eyes.

Coming Together

I can always trust Paul to help me see the light.  With my maladjutsed attitude now corrected, I set to finish the quilt top.  The top finished at 47" wide and about 58" long. This meant that the backing would have to pieced.

Flimsy - Almost Finished

For the backing Mia's mom chose this Disney princess print. Yes, it is only 43" wide and  yes the print is directional.  So, I cut the excess length and then cut it into strips.   The strips were then joined end to end.

Maintaining Correct Orientation

I could not just add the cut length to increase width because then the princesses would become sleeping beauties.  Some creative rearranging solved the problem.

It works!!!

Chose a simple quilting pattern due to the bulk (knit+interfacing).  Almost there.

Quilted & Bound

For binding, I cut strips that were 2.75" wide instead of the usual 2.5" because I wanted to make sure that the bulk could be contained in the binding.  This also meant that when the two ends of binding are connected at the end, the overlap had to be 2.75"

I am the focus - Look at me

In the end, I am so glad I made this memory quilt, not just for Mia and her mom but also because I learned so many things about making Memory Quilts.

Cute & Cuddly

No, I did not forget to add the label.

Labelled!

Some of you asked about the label. When I was designing the label, I included care instructions on the back.  See picture below.

Label with Care Instructions

There were still a few scraps leftover.  And one of them - the yellow bird (duck/chick) was insistent that she be included in the party.

Hi there!

So, I made a large pillow - as my gift for Mia on her birthday.

Big Pillow

I have never had a better response to my quilt. As soon as Mia saw the quilt, she was on it, touching the bird and the kitty, and then moving to the next object that caught her eye. Mia's mom gushed and I beamed. Mission Accomplished!!!

Pillow Back

With Mia's quilt, I have completed the two monthly goals for August.  When you get the Blues was done earlier this month.  Did you accomplish your goals?   Do let me know.

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties including One Monthly Goal.
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This is Post # 101.  I was so excited about my California trip that I forgot that the last post was Post #100.  Silly me!!! Time to set things right. With a Giveaway!!!

First Prize (1) - Craftsy Class
Second Prize (2) - FQ Bundle (5 FQs)

FQ Bundles

Third Prize (3) - Charm Pack

Charm Pack from Connecting Threads

There are a total of six prizes. You have two ways to win.
1. Since Craftsy is sponsoring the First Prize, do poke around their site and let me know in a comment what Craftsy class you'd like to win and why.
2. If you are a follower, you get an extra entry.  Just let me know in a separate comment, how you follow me.

It is important that I can reach you. If you are a no-reply blogger, please include your email in the comment. Or you can stop being a no-reply blogger. Check this out http://www.sewathomemummy.com/2013/01/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html

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