Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Eons Ago

Back when I was a new bride (all the way back in 1995 - seems so long ago) the local quilt shop was having a block of the month quilt class/club that I thought would be kind of interesting. The only catch. . .







the entire quilt top had to be done by hand. So I stitched, and I learned and it drove me nuts at times!!! But I ended up with this quilt top:





I am not sure that if I were picking out fabric for the same quilt today, I would choose the same colors, but I do love it. It has sat on the quilt rack I received as a wedding gift since I finished it (incidently it was the winter of 1998-1999 that I finished it, right before getting pregnant with our first child). Yes, it took a long time, but I keep saying it was worth it to spend all the time on it - I did get each of the 12 blocks done on time for each class, but wanted to do the extra 4 blocks (I had visions of making a king sized quilt for our bed).



Now I keep looking at it - do I machine quilt it and get it done, or do I attempt to quilt it by hand? I really am stuck on what to do. I am petrified of doing something of this magnitude by hand - any suggestions out there?


P.S. Tyler is still doing wonderfully - but I am staying home again tomorrow until we are sure he is able to eat soft solid foods (scrambled eggs, mac n cheese, etc.). He ate oatmeal tonight - he said "I just want some real food mommy - I'm tired of popsicles and applesauce and jello."

3 comments:

sugarcreekfarm said...

The purist in me would say, quilt it by hand. And then I would look at my schedule and say, the important thing is to just get it done and I would hire somebody else to machine quilt it :)

My mother-in-law quilted all the time, always by hand, and it seemed like she always had a quilt clamped into her homemade quilt rack.

Glad you little guy had such an easy time with the surgery!

jacquie said...

Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I would hand quilt it. All sewn by hand, it's an heirloom. Now that I've said that I'm still working on hand quilting that Rail Fence quilt from th 90's.

Granny Lyn said...

The best judge of how to finish the quilt is your lifestyle. If you are the kind of person to set a goal and move Heaven and Earth to get it done, by all means quilt it by hand. But, if you think ,realistically, it will never get done, quilt it by machine and be proud of all you've done!
I'm so not a purist, I'm a realist. So, just remember that Jesse will hand it down to her grandaughters. That is the driving force, I guess.
good luck! lyn