For the love of sissies

Because I have tried it now three times, I can say with confidence that sewing quilts is not for the faint of heart... It is also not for people who live in a house of small rooms, people who have little floor space, or for those who do not have a Ph.D. in Mathematics or other such nonsense. There is something to be said about a beautifully made, well executed quilt and what I would say is "it is entirely impossible!". I still stare in awe at the $50 quilts at Target likely made by small children forced into labor in China. How is it possible?!

 (my work station in the electrical closet sitting on a child's high chair)

As you might remember, I made AnaSofia a quilt for her 4th birthday (that was completed six months after her birthday, did I mention quilting is not for sissies? It takes time and dedication!) and a picnic quilt for my sister's daughter the next year... This November I started my third quilt - a winter quilt for the cold months ahead made entirely of fabric already in this house. Well, I just finished it this week as temperatures peak at an unseasonable 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

I always start my quilts with good intentions and lofty ambitions (which is likely the problem). Rather than making a quilt of squares joined together I tend to want to do something a little different, wild and crazy which leads to late night discussions with Soren.
Me: "Can you help me figure out how to cut this for a quilt? It is simple geometry but I am nervous to make the first cut without talking it over with someone."
(Huge eye roll from Soren heard from here to California)"What are you trying to do?"
Me: "I want it to be eight triangles joined together as four squares with the fabric strips all coming out from the middle of the quilt like rays."
(Soren is actually paying attention right now because what I am saying makes no sense to him and he can sense I am going to just start rashly cutting into the fabric and make a colossal mistake that will cause even more colossal tears)
Hubs: "Let me get my square from work and we can cut it tomorrow."
Five days pass. Finally after some urging the square comes home. I stare at it for two days, attempt a cut on the third day and chicken out. On the third night after some pleading and another epic eye roll Soren sits down to the task of cutting a 15 foot piece of fabric into pieces with me. He tries to square the end.
Hubs: "Nothing is square here?!"
Hm... I used a 12" by 18" cutting mat and a 12.5"x12.5" square to cut the fabric strips into varying lengths. This requires folding the 42" long pieces of fabric before cutting, that coupled with my dull cutting tool makes for some wobbly bits of fabric.

Me: "It should work if we just square each one and make each triangle fit inside the fabric limitations."
Soren begins cutting and gets one square done and throws up his arms in frustration. He uses the kids washable markers and carefully marks another one and tries again. He gives up for good.
The next day I rashly cut up the rest and end up with 5 wobbly triangles and a lot of no good scraps. I proceed to dig further into my stash and find some beautiful pieces of fabric to make 4 more squares to fill in the problem areas. So I cut these triangles to "match" the missing parts of the other wobbly triangles and to make a full square for each. It is comical and not at all pretty...

I sew the top all together in late November and buy batting and cut it to fit. Then it is time to decorate for Christmas and I give up on the quilt because it does not fit into the holiday house and I have a tent, three pairs of pants, a skirt and some mermaids to sew in the meantime!

Finally in the third week of January I pull out the forlorn quilt top and vow to finish it. I trim down the sides to make it look square. Then trim some more. I attach a backing and sew around the outside of the whole quilt to anchor the three layers together. It is puffing up, bunching up and still looking non squarish... I continue unperturbed in my little closet throwing it around with abandon and just sewing on the binding strip already!

 (Do you see the problem here? The binding strip is a good 3" in by the middle of this side although it is supposed to be against the edge and then there is my anchoring stitching that goes awry...)

 Sigh. More cutting down. I wrap the binding strip around and sew it down on the other side and voila - finished quilt! Thankfully it is so big and our house is so small that no one will ever spread it out and really see the flaws. The kids are using it for all kinds of activities and today?! Well, this a little under the weather Mama is quite happy with it for its warmth while reading a good pile of books next to a cuddly cat.

For the love!