Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Melody Rose Pillow Quilt

There are two things you should know about this quilt … 

1) It's the first quilt I ever made and 
2) It was created for my beautiful great-niece who turns 2-years-old today.


After my interest in sewing and embroidery had been revived, the birth of this wonderful child seemed like the perfect time to try my hand at quilting. I wanted to make something girly and sweet for her and planned to start with a center square embroidered with her name and birth year.


Which was a terrific idea, in theory, until I added the lace and the square puckered. *sigh* 

Which led to my Hubby's brilliant solution of turning the center square into a stuffed pillow to lay her little head on. I love that man!



I made a small pillow back, leaving an opening for stuffing, and hand-stitched it onto the back of the square …



Stuffed it with polyfill and whip stitched the opening shut …




From that point on, I cut and seamed patchwork, learning as I went about joining seams and pressing. I made 5" squares and have been in love with charm squares ever since.



Adding borders, quilting, making and attaching binding -- I even ordered a special walking foot for my 1969 Bernina 707 that has been invaluable ...





The finished quilt has this puffy little pillow in the center …


And an embroidered quilt label on the back …



Aunt Janie loves you, Melody Rose … Happy 2nd Birthday!

2012
2014

7 comments:

  1. What a sweet gift! Happy birthday Melody!

    Thanks for linking up!

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  2. That is a wonderful quilt never mind it being your first as well! Beautiful and Happy Birthday Melody!

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  3. That is such a sweet quiltm and fun story! I love the pillow in the center!

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  4. Oh my goodness, she's adorable and the sweetness of the quilt looks like you captured the perfect match.

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  5. Happy Birthday to Melody! What a lovely gift!!

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  6. What a cutie pie! Happy birthday to little Melody, I'm sure she loves this quilt you made for her and will cherish all the thought you put into it for a long time to come :) Thanks for linking up to Quilty Flashback Friday!

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  7. What a beautiful gift. The pillow centre is fabulous! I've not been interested in using the lettering on my sewing machine until I saw your quilt....you have inspired me!

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Thanks for stopping by!