Molly's Quilt Completed

Molly's colorful quilt

This was a fun quilt to put together because all the fabrics are so soft and cuddly and it's pretty different from many of the other quilts I've made. I went with vibrant colors because Molly's nursery has a ladybug theme and I thought they would tie in nicely. I also added some leftover white seersucker fabric from my stash which I think adds some nice texture to the quilt. The back is a very soft flannel. It's about 40" x 40", which will hopefully be a good size for laying out on the floor and, later, a crib.

ladybugs make their appearance

The highest honor would be for it to become a security object. As I was quilting the layers together this weekend it finally hit me why I liked one of the fabrics: it feels exactly like I remember my "blankie" feeling. I won't get my hopes up achieving blankie level, though. I think that's the most important thing to remember about giving handmade gifts; don't have too high expectations of the recipient. Hopefully they'll love it, but it's practically impossible for someone to know exactly how much work and love go into a handmade gift. That's why it's so important to chose the right recipient!

It felt so good to finish this up yesterday. Unfortunately, our washer and drier weren't completely cooperating. I wanted to give it one last wash before we headed over to our friends' last night to give Molly her new blanket, but that turned out to not be so smart. I washed it alone and I guess our washer didn't like the light load. It must not have spun so well because it was sopping wet at the end of the cycle. I stupidly put it in for another spin, hoping that would help. When the buzzer went off it was still soaked, so we wrung it out in the tub, put it in the dryer and hoped for the best. Two hours later, it was still damp and we were running very late. I gave up and folded the quilt into a nice gift bag and we hit the road. So much for the satisfying feeling of a just-finished quilt being pulled from the dryer. "Hi, friends. We're very late and we come bearing wet gifts!"