Saturday, April 28, 2012

Is it cheating?

I have mentioned before that I have a gazillion friends/family who are expecting.
I usually make quilts for new babies.
But they don't usually come so close together!

At my LQS I saw the cutest minky!
I couldn't resist!
So I bought enough to make 2 blankets.....
solid on one side, print on the other.


I sewed them up like a big pillow case....
around all of the edges leaving a big enough gap to turn it right side out.


Once turned right side out, I sewed around all of the outer edges
with a 1/2" seam to give it a finished look and secure all of the edges.
So easy!

Two Things:

1. Making a beautiful pieced quilt is risky because sometime's 
the recipient won't use them because they are "too nice for spit up."  
This is a pet peeve of mine.  Every single quilt I make is 
intended for use and abuse. Period.

2. I hate sewing minky.  It's so slick and stretchy, even with a walking foot.
BUT  everyone loves minky.  I'm pretty much guaranteed that a minky
blanket will get used to death!


On that note, I am really hoping that these ladies won't feel cheated 
because I didn't make them a pieced quilt. 

Do you think they will?

*3 down, 1 more to go!*

12 comments:

  1. I don't think they'll feel cheated Lu - they look beautiful xxxx

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  2. not cheated at all! they look great, and i am sure that will be loved. :) happy weekend!

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  3. Heck no, it's not cheating!! Anything that has minky in it deserves it's own medal!! I hate that stuff too. Don't stress, they will love them!

    I thought you were going to ask about the quilt design print fabrics that are coming out. I don't think they are cheaters either. It's like a panel quilt, is that not a quilt?? Heck no. You spent time energy love putting those quilts together. That's what makes a quilt. Not because you cut some fabric, and sewed it back together. It's the love and thought.

    Great work!

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  4. I mean heck yes, on the second heck no!! Lol

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  5. I love what you put together! You can't spend all that time on a pieced quilt you have got ceilings to paint. Haha.

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  6. Any gift hand made with love by Lu is a good gift

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  7. I don't think it's cheating at all! I personally hate pregnant people right now (because I'm not pregnant)... so ANY baby gift is a huge deal for me to make. I tend to fall back on flannel blankets (made the same way as yours) using 1 1/4 yd of two different fabrics. This makes the blanket perfect for swaddling because the "newborn/baby" size blankets get too small really quickly. And at the going price of flannel I can make two at once and save one for the next baby... less feeling bitter about it for me! lol.

    I think either way your recipient is going to love your gift because it's beautiful, well thought out, and useful!

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  8. I completely agree with everyone else. Any handmade gift can never be cheating! All of your work is fabulous and I'm sure the mamas know that and will treasure whatever you make for their babies!

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  9. Heck no! I don't think that that is cheating at all. Anything that is handmade is a treat and will be appreciated! :)

    I just found out that I am expecting baby #2. I've got to get working on a new quilt for him/her.

    And just for the record, I HATE minky too. I don't like how stretchy it is. But the end feeling is amazing, so sometimes its hard to resist and I just have to suck it up. Haha.

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  10. oh heavens no! if i had received a blanket like these for either of my kids i would have been sooo excited! i love these and honestly need to make one for my son. the minky on both sides is the ticket! xoxo

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  11. I labored over my daughter's baby quilt and which one is her favorite? The minky one from Target that her grandma gave her! I totally understand the desire for people to USE the quilts we make, but I do think the minky ones are wonderful!
    They ARE tricky to quilt, but I have actually found (in addition to extra good basting) that lowering the feed dogs and using a darning foot to do a freemotion method yields the best results. At least for me :)
    Once you get the quilt turned right-side out and stitched up, do you do anything else to keep the layers together? Oh and is there batting in there?

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  12. CUTE! I don't care to work with Minky much but these blankets make wonderful gifts. I'm not sure how large these blankets are but I usually sew another quilting line about 6" in (it really helps keep the layers together and they look a lot better after washing them. One side seems to always grow a little bit larger than the other no matter how much you smooth them down.

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