A Learning Quilt

One of my 100 Day Hustle goals is to finish and donate 6 of my UFOs to Project Linus. I really enjoy making quilts for kids so I can work with bright novelty fabrics and it's for a great cause. Double bonus!

This is "Bees & Cats" which stung me a few times yesterday.  Before I get into that, there are some things I really like about this quilt.  I love how the binding makes the turquoise centers pop.  I also like the range of value in this quilt a lot.  Pastels & brights don't always work so well together.

 

I used to be active in a Yahoo quilting group that did "Happy Block" exchanges.  Each month you would send 5 4" squares of your choice to other quilters.  We would keep one, sew borders on the other 4 and return them to each other  It was fun to get little squishies in the mail, figure out how to complement different fabrics and build a collection of eclectic blocks. And, they really are Happy don't you think? 

The downside is that sometimes the blocks are a little difficult to work with due to the fabrics used.  A mix of not pre-washed or washed, some maybe not all cotton, etc.  I fought some of these blocks every step of this quilt - they pressed funny & distorted easily.  Last night I learned that if they press funny they are going to quilt funny too. Usually I'm worrying about tucks on the backing but on this quilt the front was a challenge.  I also learned that if the 1st quilting line has a bad section so will every line that runs the same way.  Next time I will rip out the bad one and start over.  Oh, and start with a full bobbin.  No further explanation needed~!

I did my 1st pieced backing using 4 left over blocks and love it.  I learned how to finish off my binding using this awesome tutorial.  The binding was sewn to the back of the quilt, folded over and machine stitched from the front which is also new to me.  I'm really happy with how the front turned out and will get better at making the back line more consistent.  I stayed up late to wash it because I was letting those funny blocks get to me (silly I know!) and was glad to see it crinkled up nicely all over.

This really was a learning quilt.  Do I love it?  Not really.  But, will a child love this quilt?  Yes!

I also had to join in the mug rug craze... here is my shabby chic version sporting my favorite coffee mug.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.