a quilt in a weekend

I said on Thursday I’d start a brand new baby quilt and finish it by the end of the weekend. Check it out, someone kept her word!

I didn’t have much of a plan, just made it up as I went along. Ready for the breakdown?

Thursday:

Got home from work and pulled fabrics from my stash.

Then I announced my intentions on the blog and Instagram. Next up was starching, ironing, cutting and piecing. By the end of the night I had a 33.5” improvised propeller block!

Friday:

I was up, showered, fed and full of coffee by 8am. Go me! But I spent some time being indecisive (shocking, I know.)

I decided to place the block off center. The scale is off, but owell.

Then I hit Joann’s for some white batting... got distracted by the sales but only for a minute!

Chose to use this home-dec weight cotton as backing. I got a bunch of it for CHEAP a while back, I loved it but had no plans! It's stiff and heavy, so I made a little sample mugrug to make sure it’d soften up in the wash, which it did. 

This also gave me a chance to test out my FMQ skills, which turned out just good enough for me to go for it. I pin-basted my quilt sandwich and got started on the quilting.

Saturday:

Finished the quilting, but not without a few hiccups. 
We had to take a mini road trip (to the the Apple store in KC to get Jon's iphone replaced) but got to stop at Urban Arts and Crafts on the way back! Muahahahaha.

I picked up my first bit of AMH's Field Study and AB's Cameo. I told the sales lady they ought to have FQs available because I'd have gotten WAY more fabric if they did! 

I cut some strips for the binding before calling it a day.

Sunday:

Hand-quilted the baby’s name on the lower left.
It doesn't really POP on the finished quilt as much as I thought it would, but it's there.

Made straight-grain, continuous binding using an Alexander Henry dot print, with some scrappy strips thrown in for flair.

I stitched the binding on completely by machine, which was a first for me, but it went well.

It was fast and will probably be more durable, but I think I prefer the look and feel of hand-stitched binding better.

Look, a quilt roll-up. Yum!

I’ll be shipping it off to brand new baby Noah, the firstborn of Jon’s good buddies out in California. 

They live on the coast so the boats should be a good fit, don't ya think?

It might not look like I put a TON of time and effort into it, but it's of sound construction and should hold up to being USED.

For whipping it up from nothing in a couple of days I’d call it a success.

Thanks to everyone who cheered me on via Instagram over the weekend. Talk about great motivation!

Monday:

I Got the quilt washed and all crinkly and took some photographs.
I started this post after work and it somehow took all night.
It felt like getting this blog post together has been more work than making the quilt!

User error technical difficulties is all I have to say :P

It's now Tuesday but I’m still linking up with Megan for {Sew} ModernMonday. And with Heather and Megan for Fabric Tuesday, too. 
Thanks for stopping by to say hi!