A Labor of Love

I started this quilt forever ago.  I finished it this weekend.  A friend- who is a serious quilter, as opposed to myself- just a "for fun" quilter, invited me to go on a quilting retreat with her and some friends, and told me to bring my mom along. We went to this lovely little place in Waynesville, NC. (if you're interested, go to Facebook, and type in Ponderosa Quilt Retreat). We showed up Friday, and started quilting practically as soon as we walked in the door and kept right at it until the minute we packed up to leave around noon on Sunday.  It was the most awesome place and after being there, I totally understand why women participated in quilting circles back in the old days.  Being surrounded by women, sewing, the mountains, beautiful weather, and open windows . . . it was perfection. Literally nothing could have made it better.

This quilt started with me saving some of my favorite of Andrew's and Alexa's baby clothes.  Then I decided, I needed to do something with them, besides keep them in a container, so a quilt would be a great way to use them. Now . . . I haven't ever actually made a quilt.  I did some Pinterest-ing and stumbled on a few ideas I liked, but all I really knew was, I was gonna cut their clothes up into small squares.  I had stacks and stacks.

Here are some pictures that entertained me.  

       

      
I'm glad I got those pictures, before I cut up those onsies.

Anyway, I really had no idea what I was going to do. I didn't have a design in mind.  I wasn't copying a design. I was hoping inspiration would come along.  


I started combining the squares into bigger squares, and then I was stuck.  I didn't like them all next to each other because I loved the bigger squares.  I wanted the bigger squares to be significant.  Again . . . I've never quilted before.  I had no idea what the process to make a quilt was, or is. I still don't really have an idea.  I finally figured out what to do between the squares, except I ran out of fabric! The place I bought the fabric didn't have it anymore.  I looked on the internet but my "black" isn't really black.  It's marbled with . . . brown? Grey? I don't know.  I didn't want to risk buying more fabric, and it wouldn't be right.  In the end I had to drop back and punt.  I had no plans for how to finalize this project on the morning I was leaving to go to the mountains to finish this project  I stopped by a fabric store, and thankfully my mother found the perfect fabric that would work.  I LOVE the final product.  I'm so please with it, even though some of my lines are uneven.  I love that I am using their clothes.  I love that their clothes- that are so special to me, aren't just sitting around collecting dust.  
Look at this teeny cutie!!!






Here's the final product.  Ignore the mistakes.  Again- first quilt and I learned this weekend . . . I had no clue what I was doing, but it's all good, because I still love it. 

Here's the front

Here's the back















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