It's Alive!!

Much like the Creature assembled by its namesake, Victor Frankenstein, Frankenblanket has slowly but surely taken shape over the past several months in my first (and possibly only!) EPP experiment. Truthfully, I'm being a bit ungenerous in calling this quilt 'Frankenblanket', as Sarah pointed out. The various fabric scraps I scavenged to create the flowers that form the focal point of the quilt actually blended really well together and, unlike Frankenstein's hideous and misunderstood monster, produced a really stunning quilt, if I do say so myself!

Hanging over our newly assembled crib!

In other ways, though, the Frankenstein comparison remains apt. Like Victor, I dedicated a lot of time, effort, and study to this particular project, with no promise of success. At least, that's the way it seemed! And that's not to mention the pints of blood, sweat, and tears I poured into this predominantly hand-wrought baby quilt. I'm speaking metaphorically in the case of the former but completely literally in the case of the latter two. Case in point: having finally completed the quilt top on Friday evening, I took myself down to Quilter's Quest on Saturday morning to purchase the requisite material for the backing. Half an hour later, I was the proud owner of a lovely piece of dark blue cotton with multi-coloured polka dots - the perfect complement to all the vibrant colours of the quilt top. When I laid things out to prepare my quilt sandwich, however, I discovered that I had mis-measured and was now the disappointed purchaser of a piece of fabric that was about 2 inches shorter than required! I admit, a few choice swear words were uttered and a good long cry ensued, much to hubby's bemusement. Honestly, at that moment, I despaired of ever finishing my little quilt (cue corresponding panic over not being able to provide my baby with nice things!)  Eventually, I recovered and pieced together a new backing with half of the blue polka dot fabric and a length of bright yellow cotton that I then also used for the binding. Hubby says it looks like a night and day backing, with the sun on one side and a starry nightscape on the other. That was exactly the effect I was going for. Honest.  

I neglected to take a photo of the back, so here's another one of the front instead. 

Had that been the last of the obstacles to present themselves to me in the making of this quilt, I might not now mention it. Alas, however, my troubles continued. Not quite sure how to quilt this baby, I spent an hour or two trying out various styles and patterns. Nothing seemed to suit. Of course. (Saturday was a day of endless frustration, as you might imagine!) I finally decided to go with an idea I'd been toying with for a while, precisely because it seemed so easy: tying. I wasn't sure I would like this method, but, at the very least, it was blissfully simple and straightforward. More than that, while it produced a much looser quilt than I'm used to, the quilt as a whole still feels remarkably secure, and I love the way the bits of sunny yellow wool create a 'stamen' of sorts for each of the flowers! 

Finally, I tackled the binding. I had originally thought of trying to maintain all of the corners of the various white hexies at the edges, but, once again, an hour or two of frustration brought me to my knees, figuratively speaking. So, I opted for straight edges all around. It meant that I lost the variegated effect of the border hexies and, more heartbreakingly, had to cut off half of a good few of those hexies, but I really was beyond caring at that point. All I wanted to do was get this thing finished! ('This is supposed to be fun', hubby kept saying. Clearly, he just didn't get it!)

Now, I just have to hand sew the binding in place. What could possibly go wrong?!

xx Tina