From Frustration to Finished

I came home on Friday from a frustrating day at work. What's the best way to get rid of that frustration? Work it out on projects! So I sat down to quilt Baby Baker's quilt. It was basted and ready to go from a late night outside the lobby office but the frustration seemed to just carry over.

I was moving so fast with the meandering stipple! That was a huge success. I got a rhythm and knew where I was headed. But as I stopped and started and had to re-thread it seems like I must have thread it not in track because the thread kept pulling or catching in this one spot. That tension continued to build, no matter how many times I re-threaded until finally... I broke a needle.

That sucked. I walked away for about ten minutes and in the meantime made myself a drink. No, no drinking and quilting. It's a fuzzy water (aka carbonated water) with a splash of apple cider. A new favorite. So I made my drink, chose a new needle, found the threading problem and got back to it. Just when I was finding my stride and my shoulders began to relax the cat jumped up on to my work table while I was in the middle of free motion quilting which yanked the quilt about 8 inches as she landed directly on it. Had to take that out and seam rip. But in the end I finished. Look how much thread I had by the end! Wow! I've never cut it that close!!

Here's an example of the quilting. I'm really happy with it. Practice does help! There are still a few mistakes and not so happy curves but the fabric hides it so well!

And there you have it! I left one single tiny square in the middle blank which allowed me to hand quilt a star for the little star being born. I think it's nice to have that little touch in there. I spent Saturday on the couch watching Breaking Bad (so great! especially for us chemistry nerds) and finished the binding and before I knew it, it was done! 

Labeled and all I folded it up and set it aside. I grabbed some yarn over the weekend as well for some knitted wonders to accompany the quilt. I'm making a baby starter kit, ha! Along with the quilt I'm planning on making a little hat, booties, and a sweater for him to grow in to. 

So I busted out my knitting needles to begin. I needed a break from quilting after all those mishaps. 

One of my favorite hats I made the hubby (found here) is a WWII pattern. So I grabbed a few newborn hat patterns for sizing directions and converted the adult WWII pattern to a newborn size. It is so tiny! With the weather change it's been nice to snuggle in and knit.

Don't worry, I can't stay away from quilting too long. It's literally been two days and I just finished cutting out all of the fabric for the next one. With the layer cake I purchased for the Baby Baker quilt it allowed enough fabric for two of those Building Blocks quilts. I just happen to have a coworker who is 21 weeks pregnant! It has been amazing, not having children of my own, to watch her pregnancy come along. Her belly's getting bigger and I figure who better than to get that other quilt. Pictures to come!