An Extended Birthday Comes To A Halt

Not everyone wants to celebrate their birthdays for a month.  I know I would rather not!  But some do, like my daughter.  Of course, it is partly my fault.  

First, I gave birth to her a full month before her due date thirty years ago!  Second, it took me much longer to finish her birthday quilt than expected.  Like many children, she took full advantage of the situation!!  

I started the milestone '30' row by row quilt in the middle of February ~ Rowing Along ~ playing it all by ear.  Working, cutting, figuring everything as I went.  I knew I was going Southwestern-ish and using my April Rhodes 'Wanderer' bundle.  That was all I knew at the time.

Sometimes it's the hardest thing to do, and multiply that by ten when you are trying to impress your daughter!  Who coincidentally, is your number one fan and the one who taught me to quilt! Pressure comes to mind! 

I couldn't be happier with the results.  All the fretting, fussing, pressure and indecision was worth it in the end. 

First of all...she did love it!  Whew!  I mean, what if she hated it and said so? Or hated it and didn't say so?  See what we put ourselves through?!

Once I finished the top, I settled on a backing.  I kept in the same style and went with April Rhodes 'Bound'.  Like many collections, the colors are carried through to the next.  The hardest part was lining up the pattern when I made the backing the right size.  I never knew it would be so hard!

When my daughter quilted, she also hoarded quilting related things.  Like batting.  She happened to have a huge piece of wool batting stored at my house.  Being in the mode...use it or lose it...we decided it would be perfect for her quilt.  With that decision, I knew I would not be quilting something so lofty as that!  Yikes!  It would have been a nightmare!

The quilting was done by Vickey @ Studio V Quilting.  Who happens to be a member of our guild.  The pantograph design I found was exactly what I was looking for and Vickey was more than happy to use it on this quilt.  

The texture blew me away!  I was so beyond happy with it.  I immediately squared it up and attached the binding!  Excited...just a bit!

Maybe 8-9 years ago, I made a quilt and had it long arm quilted with wool batting.  We use it every single winter.  The warmth from the wool is amazing!

No secret, Britt turned 30 February 27th.  Monumental, right?  I ended up making three X's in roman numerals for a discreet patch on the back.  While I want her to remember when and why she received it, I didn't want it to be in your face!  Or her face!  It also resembles 'X' and 'O'...hugs and kisses!  Totally appropriate!

The quilt has a bit of paper piecing, regular piecing and filler piecing.  Filler piecing meaning...I gotta add something...it isn't long enough...OMG!

See that texture?!  Even though this quilt is far from perfect, the quilting seems to balance it out.

When I showed my son the finished quilt, I said by next winter she will love this!  His response was 'she'll get sick three times before winter'!  And he was right!  She is sick right now!  Who doesn't curl up under a snugly, cozy warm quilt when they are sick?! Awww...kids!

Before the sickness we brought her quilt outside for a few photos and far too many laughs! The quilt is long...looong!  Add the wind and the Boomerang App and we were rolling on the 'lawn'!  

  
I love, love, love seeing my kids happy.  Who wouldn't?!  Having them act like a two-year-old on Christmas morning for a simple basic quilt at the age of 30...can you say my heart was over flowing....??? 

LINKING:

Sew Cute

Let's Bee Social

Free Motion By The River