Tatjana's Quilt

       

So what keeps me up this rainy evening? Tatjana's interstate quilt. Our story begins with beautiful fabric collected from Sweet Pea's Quilt Company while it was downsizing. Those dresses and purses were just waiting for a little girl with a dream. 

    When Tatjana gained ownership of her room with a full size bed, she soon declared need of a larger quilt. She looked for block designs that fit the vision, but in the end it was a simple square. Her tastes gravitate more to the modern with clean lines. 

    

    Armed with several yards of fabric and a ruler she went to work on a sew day with her besties.

The easiest way for this 11 year old to cut her blocks was to use the 12.5" square. To start she cut about three blocks from each fabric. Her project then traveled to Oregon for an extended vacation. Next she had the task of arranging them. Oh what a fuss that was. It seemed that every block was touching another that was too similar. And the separation from mother's influence was imminent. Each time my sister and I strategically placed her blocks she was disenchanted with our efforts. Finally a compromise was made at which point neither of us were completely satisfied. She did cut a few more blocks of specific print to make her quilt the desired size, 42 12" finished blocks. 

     

Marking her blocks by pinning sticky notes displaying row and column, she was able to move on stitching them together. It's such a great feeling seeing that quilt come to life and she was getting excited. Once the blocks were sewn Tatjana was pretty much done. Previously sewing a lap quilt she requested I finish it for her too. It's a lot of work for a little person and I was happy to add the pink border while her Aunt Becky was left with the task of quilting. 

    It was like Christmas when that quilt arrived in Oklahoma finished with the flannel backing purchased from Cattle Country Quilts. It had been quilted with a paisley flower design. Tatjana needed to trim off the batting and add the binding which she was happy to do. Boy she couldn't wait to get that quilt on her bed. 
    The bias binding was a breeze and I told her it would take about three movies long to hand stitch the binding down on the back. I know, but that's my favorite method, plus we had mother-daughter time watching movies cuddled in bed. 
    

    It wasn't long before friends ran off with her and I finished up the binding. But she's just 11 and I was happy to see her project completed and that awful sleeping bag she was using return to the camping supplies. 

   To finish up quilts I always like to sew coordinating pillowcases. It's an opportunity to use the scraps and the cases are made according to the size and shape of what's left. Once again Tatjana voiced her opinion on which fabric to use where. She's my complete opposite. While I voted for a black and white strip she chose gray. Still they are lovely thus leaving the Princess of our story with a happy ending.

Heather Marie