I've been reorganizing my sewing spaces this month. I may have a thousand patterns, so my daughter bought a nice cabinet from IKEA for me to store them in. While I was sorting through them all, I found this pattern from my first quilt, pictured above.
I was only 22, just recently married and there was a new baby in the family. I had been sewing since Barbie days, so I decided to make a quilt. I used McCalls pattern7810 copyright 1981, but made a few design changes. I remember cutting it out on the kitchen floor, because I didn't have a table as large as my cutting board. It was dark wine,rose pink and pale pink, and I didn't use the bear applique but designed my own. 22 year olds are fearless, yes? I decided that I would put the baby's name in applique diagonally down the center. I drew letters and cut them out of paper to get the right arrangement and size, and played around until I had a pleasing design. Then I cut them out of fabric and used a fusible to apply them to the medallion center. Then I satin stitched around them. Very pretty! Everything came out beautifully and the new mom was very impressed. Not too long ago she mentioned that my niece still had the quilt. [This niece just sent us a note saying she was getting married next summer! Talk about feeling OLD. ]
My second quilt I used the same pattern, but this time I made the bear applique. It also came out great and everyone was impressed. So if you ever need a great easy pattern for a beginner, keep your eyes open for one of these. McCalls should re-issue these; they were so easy and looked so cute when finished.
An experienced quilter will recognize that it is just a medallion center with a log cabin border. Nothing could be easier. Why not pick a pretty conversation print for the center, use two complimentary fabrics and applique the name on there? The baby will love it forever.
Happy sewing!
I was only 22, just recently married and there was a new baby in the family. I had been sewing since Barbie days, so I decided to make a quilt. I used McCalls pattern7810 copyright 1981, but made a few design changes. I remember cutting it out on the kitchen floor, because I didn't have a table as large as my cutting board. It was dark wine,rose pink and pale pink, and I didn't use the bear applique but designed my own. 22 year olds are fearless, yes? I decided that I would put the baby's name in applique diagonally down the center. I drew letters and cut them out of paper to get the right arrangement and size, and played around until I had a pleasing design. Then I cut them out of fabric and used a fusible to apply them to the medallion center. Then I satin stitched around them. Very pretty! Everything came out beautifully and the new mom was very impressed. Not too long ago she mentioned that my niece still had the quilt. [This niece just sent us a note saying she was getting married next summer! Talk about feeling OLD. ]
My second quilt I used the same pattern, but this time I made the bear applique. It also came out great and everyone was impressed. So if you ever need a great easy pattern for a beginner, keep your eyes open for one of these. McCalls should re-issue these; they were so easy and looked so cute when finished.
An experienced quilter will recognize that it is just a medallion center with a log cabin border. Nothing could be easier. Why not pick a pretty conversation print for the center, use two complimentary fabrics and applique the name on there? The baby will love it forever.
Happy sewing!
