I was a late bloomer when getting into sewing. My mother and grandmother could barely sew on a button so it's not like I grew up learning about sewing. To be honest, I like sewing. I LOVE quilting. When my friend Marcy first showed me the how, I went on a rampage and made like 5 quilt tops. It was nearly 3 years late before I actually quilted any of them. The first quilt I made from start to finish was a baby quilt for Sophia. I finished it just a few days before she was born.
Now, with another baby on the way, I decided to make a new quilt for him. But of course, Zoë says to me, "Um... hey. I'm the first born. Where's my quilt?" It just so happened I had saved the rocking chair cushion from her baby bedding set. I took it apart and washed the material. I put together a couple of rows, but they turned out horribly (see pic) so I scrapped them and went for a pattern I knew I could do- a double pinwheel.
I know it doesn't look like it's terrible here, but the material from the rocking chair cushion was really difficult to work with so when I would sew it, the lines didn't quite line up. Plus, I used the 9 patch from Sophia's quilt which was cute in her quilt, but in this one, it just didn't seem to fit. The double pinwheel actually turned out really pretty.
Here is the main block. It's actually a really easy pattern and as long as you line up your corners, it looks great. I wasn't able to make a good number of blocks so I had to do 18 which made the overall quilt center very long and skinny. To adjust for that I did the outside borders wide on the sides (3") and thin on the top and bottom (1"). I was somewhat concerned about what borders to do. I wanted a green check, but all I could find was a green with tiny white polka dots. It turned out to be good enough (I can't really say better or not since I don't have the checked to compare). And I'm going to do the back in the green as well.
At this point, all I have to do is pin the back and batting and do the actual quilting. Then Zoë will finally have her baby quilt at 16 years old. Is it better late than never? :)
