I got the bright idea of making a memory quilt for my Grandma’s 90th birthday this summer (it was July 5). I wanted to use pictures from everyone in the family to make it. Well, people weren’t really on time with sending my those pictures (I had this idea back in April!). The last of the photos came last Saturday, which is a week before her surprise birthday party. This is just the beginning of things not going smoothly.
1. The lack of pictures on time.
2. I didn’t want to buy the pre-done fabric sheets you can print on, for I know that over time, they will crack and peel. So I did some research and decided upon a product called Bubble Jet Set 2000. It is a solution you soak your 100% cotton or 100% silk in and it makes it possible to print on fabric. I ordered it but it was taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to get here from Eugene, OR. (I guess that’s what I get for paying for “economy shipping”). Last Thursday, I learned that the ETA was July 6! Not good. So I did what any other quilter with a fast approaching deadline would do: I panicked!! I called around to various quilt stores to see if they carried the solution. No one did. But the store in Rhinelander did have supposed pre-treated fabric, so I bought 3 yds of it, even though I thought it was way more than I need. It’s not cheap stuff.3. The said fabric didn’t work! We printed out 42 pictures and the ink came out!! My heart almost stopped. Thankfully, the Bubble Jet Set 2000 arrived early and I was able to do a test run on some muslin to see if it would work. It did! So I used the rest of the not-cheap fabric, followed the directions, and let the dry over night.
4. It’s now Sunday morning. We start to print out the pictures only to run out of ink half way through. Of course, why not? The only thing to do was go to Rhinelander and get some at Wal*mart (we combined a little grocery shopping then too, so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip just for ink). 4 hours later, we printed out the rest of the 45 pictures (by this time, I got the last 2 remaining photos), and held my breath.
5. On Monday morning, I started to sewing the blocks together, but I only got half way through and we needed to go to a family birthday party at noon. We didn’t get back until about 8 o’clock. I then proceeded to stay up until 4 am striving to get the top all together. I didn’t get it all done, but it was really close. I decided it was time to go to bed when I was clipping threads and nipped the quilt top a little.
6. On Tuesday, I was able to finishing all the applique, put to top completely together, add the borders, piece the back together, sandwich the quilt with the batting and back, and get it half quilted. I then took a break to go watch Adam play softball….. We got back home around 8 pm and I stayed up ‘till midnight, in which time I finished the quilting and sewed the binding on.
7. This morning, my deadline to get it in the mail, I finished a little hand sewing that was needed and I was able to get it to the post office before 1 o’clock! I paid for the 2 day guarantee so it would arrive in time for her party. Whew!!
So what do you think? Was it worth it? Do you think she’ll like it?
Wow, that is really pretty! I cannot believe you made that quilt so fast! I’ve been enjoying your blog… I don’t think I’ve left a comment yet. I just couldn’t resist when I saw that you whipped together that quilt so fast and so beautifully!
Your quilts are beautiful. Do you sell them anywhere locally?
Hello Linda! My apologies for not responding sooner to your question. We changed e-mail addresses a few months ago and I forgot to change it on my blog, so when people have commented I never got a notification. Opps!!
I don’t sell them in a store or anything, but if someone wants a quilt made, I will make one for them. They can choose the pattern and colors, of course. Or they can give me an idea of what they would like, the color pallet, and I will come up with something. I’ve thought of making them and selling them, perhaps at Kentuck Days or Art in the Park, but to have several in stock would take more time and money than I have right now. But I would certainly be willing to make a quilt for an individual.