Wednesday, July 29, 2009 at 6:03PM It's just like Christmas, except the part where it's my mom's birthday
I love giving presents, especially presents I made myself. I love the moment the recipient rips back the tissue paper and finds something lovely nestled inside.
My mom's birthday is today (CONGRATULATIONS*) and I've been working on a secret present for a few weeks. I have spent the past few days absolutely delirious with anticipation of showing it to you. I will take this opportunity to brag - this is probably one of the most impressive things I've ever made. And I knit Rogue in three years, okay?
Anyone can do this. I say that with complete honesty. I'm not an experienced quilter by any means, nor am I very good with scissors. And I'm afraid of my sewing machine. But I did it and so can you.
A few months ago, I picked up a pattern for an art quilt. (Innovations quilt pattern, designed by Ruth Powers, "Fairies in my Garden.) My mom is big into fairy gardens this year, and even though she's not the type of person to hang a quilt on her wall, I thought this was perfect for her.
The quilt is mostly applique. I don't applique. So I disregarded the instructions and decided to do fusible applique. I started by tracing the pattern onto double-sided fusible webbing:
Mechanical pencil is very messy.Then I began cutting out pieces. I did just a few at a time. I took off one side of the paper and fused the piece to my fabric. Then I cut out the shape in the fabric. Once I had a few pieces, I took off the other side of the paper (revealing the second sticky side) and put pieces together on my fusible pressing sheet (it's miraculous, kind of like a Silpat, coated so you can fuse all of your pieces together and NOT have them stick to the background).
I started with the iris at the top.
Those scissors? Best $28 I ever spent.I spent about a week getting all of my pieces fused together. This was by far my favorite part of the process. I loved it. I had no idea I would enjoy myself so much. But I adore puzzles, and this was more puzzle than sewing.
All fused together, ready for backing fabric.
Once I fused the applique to the backing fabric, I was ready to stitch everything down. I didn't turn under any of my raw edges because a) I didn't really know how to get crisp corners and b) I knew the stitching would cover and eliminate any fraying. I have your regular run-of-the-mill sewing machine (a Brother CS100), nothing fancy. I sampled a few stitches and ended up going with a small zig zag for securing all the pieces.
Look at the fairies' hair. The top two have been stitched, the bottom left is still unstitched. You can really tell the difference - the stitching makes all the pieces pop.
So I stitched for two or three days. It was a lot of stitching, a lot of thread, a lot of clipped ends.
The joys of stitching down every little piece.And then I was done. Except the part where, you know, I have to make an actual quilt. I intended to mail the quilt on Saturday; I began piecing the border Friday night. (That was probably the hardest part of this whole thing - I can't count OR measure, apparently). I did all the quilting on Saturday, hand stitched the binding, label and sleeve on Sunday, and mailed it on Monday.
The most nerve-wracking part was drawing their little faces. I used Pigma pens (generally used for scrapbooking - they're acid-free). I was on the phone with my mom on Saturday and just went for it, figuring it would be better if I was distracted and not over-thinking it. I think they turned out pretty well.
We are naked!I am no longer afraid of my sewing machine.
* When I was in college, we once spent my mom's birthday traveling for vacation. We got on the airplane and my mom took a magazine to read and proclaimed to the stewardess, "It's my birthday!" The stewardess, clearly non-plussed, responded with a dry, "Congratulations."
Reader Comments (5)
Absolutely beautiful!
Also, we have the same initials.
I'm utterly enchanted by the result, and utterly awed by the process! Lovely piece of work and present!
omgod
it is beautiful and you are wonderful - what a perfect gift for your mom
You rock!
What a beautiful quilt - and what a amazing gift!