Oh, the blog posts I have written in my head in the past month and a half! But how many did I actually type out and add photos to? None! I'm such a lazy slacker sometimes! Before I opened
my shop three years ago, I blogged almost religiously. I think it was because I spent so much time on the computer for work that it was no big deal to log in for pleasure, too. Now, I spend just minutes a day on the computer, and most of that is for bookkeeping purposes, so blogging isn't just at my fingertips - I have to consciously carve out time and pull out the laptop. It's a shame because I get a lot of enjoyment out of blogging, both the writing and the reading.
Anyway, folks always ask me, as I am sure they do you, "how long does it take to make a quilt?" A while ago, I started documenting my time in the sewing room - how much time I spent there and what I did while I was down there. Usually, I work on several projects at a time, so it is hard to say exactly how much time was spent on any one project, but this weekend, I made a baby quilt top, start to finish, without working on anything else at the same time. The amount of focus that took for me almost killed me!!
I certainly didn't need a new project - I have plenty in progress right now - but I was perusing simple baby quilt photos online, just for kicks. I came across this photo:
Thinking about a stack of bright geometric 6.5" squares I had, I decided to make a block.
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| My block finishes at 10.5" with a 6.5" square and 2" squares & strips |
Easy peasy, so I decided to make the whole quilt, not realizing that I didn't have enough of my white background fabric to complete the borders as they were done in the quilt photo. I did what I could, but I'm not sure how I feel about the final result - it seems a little incomplete to me, too narrow and unbalanced.
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| Finished size (for now) 35" x 52" |
That's what I get for not following an actual pattern with fabric requirements and all. Oh well. I'm going to let this sit a bit and see how I feel about it later. I may take off the two sides strips and incorporate another white-on-white background fabric to make the borders the same all the way around. What say you? Is it worth the frogging and the substituting of another fabric to make it more like my inspiration quilt in the photo?
Either way, I can actually give someone an answer when they ask me how long it takes me to make a quilt top. This one is smaller than quilts I usually make, and with bigger pieces, so I'd say most of my quilt tops take longer, but this one took me 8.25 hrs. Not bad for a full day's "labor"!
I'm linking up with
Oh Scrap and
Monday Making.
14 comments:
I would take off the white sides and add pieced border like on the top and bottom. That will give it some more width. It is a cute pattern. Blessings, Gretchen villacrestfarm@gmail.com Because I'm probably a no-reply blogger.
I forgot to say then sew the white strips back on. Gretchen
I vote to leave it as is. It is your unique version and besides, you can now say you did a quilt in 8.5 hours. No need to add extra hours. It has a nice airy open feel which I really like. Whatever you do, as long as you end up happy with it, that's what counts.
I think I would remove tge top and bottom pieced borders and the top/bottom outside white strips. That serms to balance the iverall dimensions and keaves a white strip all around the outside. (I held my finger up over tge screen and squinted to imagine how this would look ...)
Very versatile block, too - thanks!
Clearly I was typing with one finger on the ipad - sorry about the typos!!!
This is a baby quilt - keep it simple. Leave it as it is - it was an experiment in time.
I love that pattern, have probably made it 4 or 5 times in varying sizes. Your version is very cute! If it were me, I would modify the borders, as I find that things I'm unhappy with at first seldom "grow on me".
I think it's cute either way.
It's a cute quilt either way, but I always say that quilting is my happy place. This doesn't seem like a happy place if you're already thinking you don't like the result. So take the time to remove the borders and add them the way you want. Use a different white fabric, or maybe a light version of one of the brights in place of the white. That way, it'll looked planned! Regardless of what you do, it was a great way to spend your holiday and the result is darn cute.
I think I would add to the sides if it were mine. But, think of the planned use of the quilt. Will the baby, or the mom for that matter care whether you add to the sides or even think more was needed? It is very cute and somebody is going to love it!
Your quikt looks great. It doesn't need the side borders bit you can add them if you want to . Nice block!
I agree Leave it alone. It looks great and has a story. I love quilt stories. And remember the three Ps for baby quilts. Babies pee, poop, and puke on quilts. It's all good.
I think the quilt is fine. Who says you have to follow a pattern exactly? And ... babies are not really fussy.
The pattern is quite attractive and has a lot of potential. I think I will take notes.
I really like it as is...the story behind the quilt, the shape - all of it. I am finding that adding more borders to a quilt is fun, however. I love how it changes the entire look of the quilt. I wonder how it would look with borders from the fabric you made the big blocks out of? Or better yet, I bet it would look even more precious as is with a scrappy binding from those same blocks! It's really bright and cheerful! Truly, it is! In fact, I'm pinning it to my And Baby Makes Four! Thank you for sharing!
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