This is the funny little quilt I was struggling with a few days ago when I asked for help, then removed the post because I had an idea. I was going to give this to one of the pregnant teachers at school, but because it’s almost all vintage fabric (except the narrow blue border), I changed my mind. Although the fabric is unused, I always worry about the quilt holding up to all the washing a baby quilt requires. I decided to make a a throw quilt and give it as a Christmas present. I’m sorry the picture is a little out of focus — it’s windy and the top kept flapping around.
The idea started with 9 vintage embroidered blocks that were included as a bonus with a larger lot of embroidered blocks I purchased from a generous seller on ebay — it’s sort of funny because I haven’t done anything yet with the larger group, although they are very pretty. The blocks were smallish, so I added the triangles and set them on point. I ran into trouble deciding what to use in the alternate blocks, making a couple of patterns that looked really bad. Because I have a big collection of blue vintage fabric (way more than any other color for some reason), I could afford to use lots of them in this quilt. I made 9 of the 25-square blocks — cutting 4 of them in half and one in quarters. I know this is a pretty sleazy way to piece and the points don’t come out perfectly, but I’m okay with it. This is no heirloom quilt — it was fast, and I’ve got lots more Christmas presents to make.
The wider border fabric was pretty big (just over a yard at 36″ wide) but I still had to piece it in several places. My husband told me I shouldn’t use it for a border because the quilt was already very busy, and I know he’s probably right, but I did it anyway. I guess I just really wanted to use that piece — which I really like and have had for a long time. I’ll quilt this one by hand using a simple design.
