promises i don’t intend to keep.

there are two quilts that are in my head that won’t get out until i make (made) them.
two quilts and that’s it. okay, maybe three because i’d love to try making something like this chevron quilt from e tells tales one day.

oh—and a fourth because i promised my sis-in-law i’d make her a very hungry caterpillar quilt when they have a baby. but for that one—i won’t hold my breath.

okay, so three—potentially four—quilts in my head and once they’re done i’m done. i lay down my quilting…er, needle or thread or ruler or whatever item of quilting pariphelnalia makes sense in this metaphor (simile?) for good.
i give you my word as a spaniard.

(no good. i’ve known too many spaniards.)

but here’s the thing: i’ve no need to take up quilting. i’ve got my sewing and my crocheting and sometimes my knitting, plus home projects and oh yeah those five kneebiters that require occasional mothering.
i’m good. for realsies.

but since we did the girls’ room elliot’s crib has been lurking there in the corner—mocking me with it’s mismatched and unmatching linens. the sore thumb in an otherwise pretty room. and i had enough scrap fabric from the pillows and curtains i made that i set it all aside way-back-when with the vaguely formed idea of stitching it up into a little quilt for the crib.
no new purchases, no more $$ spent, still a coordinated look. win-win-win all the way around, right?

so it’s been seven months now since the room was done, and elliot is officially a crib resident (having given up her claim to our closet) and it was high time to get it done.
so i did.

a simple random width striped quilt, with a plain black border.

maybe it doesn’t even really count as a quilt?

i don’t know. i’m not a quilter, remember? i’m just dabbling. sticking a toe in the frigid waters of the Quiltic before deciding it’s not for me.

what i do know is that i’m happy with how it looks. it’s sweet and bright and it was very easy.

i did buy 1/2 yard of this french print fabric. because i saw it after we were all done and laughed at how perfectly it coordinated with their room. although i’m glad i didn’t see it when we were actually fabric shopping, because i may have been sorely tempted to buy it and it’s a little too “theme-y” for the look we wanted in there.
but a little bit goes a long way.

leftover scraps from the pillows, plus a piece of red and white stripe from IKEA’s as-is department—snagged for $5 on one of our epic shopping trips.

for the backing i snagged a white sheet from our linen closet—a leftover from our queen-sized bed days. simple. clean. cheap.

i bought 2 yards of natural cotton batting. standing there in the batting section of joann’s i couldn’t do it—could not bring myself to buy that horrible poly fluffy stuff to wrap my baby in. no matter that probably every other comforter we own is filled with that nonsense—i had to go around the corner to the stuff that actually looked like it should be in a blanket and not a recycling bin. and when i finished the blanket’s last stitches and held it out to elliot—look at the blanket mommy made you—and she ran over and stood there waiting for me to wrap her up in it as if she KNEW, which i did—and then she laid quietly in my arms, in that blanket i made for her. and in that moment i knew none of my children could ever again lay in a blanket that didn’t come from my sewing machine. it would be a hug from their mother that blanketed them in the night—figuratively, and literally.

so there it is. one down, and once i finish the others i officially give up quilting. pinky swear.

i did try to take some photos of this quilt. pictures in my head of a cheerful elliot peeking over the top of her crib where her new quilt hangs jauntily. but the elliot in my reality knows how to tell time and was 100% certain it was NOT TIME FOR A NAP.

and she would not be swayed, no matter how many funny faces i made at her or how many other sisters i threw into the crib with her.

sisters with leftover face paint who just joined in the clamor rather than assuage the crying.

and that left one option:

lone quilt shots…

and a baby more than happy on mommy’s bed, and away from the blasted crib.

oh yes…quite content.