Helen! This spaz made another quilt!

On Saturday, I took Harper to my favorite fabric store to pick out a border and backing for her quilt, which we finished a few days ago. I think she has become so accustomed to places like Target and Michael's that a normal-sized store seems like it was made just for kids. She asked if it was possible for her to get lost there, and knowing that there were at least three sweet old ladies already cooing over her cuteness who could tell me at any moment where she was, I said no it wasn't possible and let her roam around the store on her own. I used my considerable influence to nudge her towards a particular batik I thought would make a good border, and gave her free rein to pick the backing.





Not bad, huh? I'm definitely willing to rethink my position on scrappy quilts if they can end up looking like this.

This will be the backing:



Naturally, she picked a stripe, knowing full well Mommy has a CONDITION, which prevents her from doing anything in a straight line. And the first two quilts I made were small enough that a yard of fabric, uncut, was just enough for the backing, but this one is bigger, and I ended up using more of that border fabric to get enough width.

You know, it never ceases to amaze me that when sewing any length greater than a few inches, that I just have to constantly wrestle with the fabric to keep it in line. I guess I somehow had the notion that, sure, long ago when sewing machines were made of wood and had to be powered by mule teams, one would have to struggle to keep things running smoothly. But now, in the modern age, I figured these newfangled devices would pretty much sew a straight line on their own, and that I would be acting in more of a supervisory position. Clearly, I was somewhat incorrect on that point.

I am now utterly fascinated by batiks and am starting to collect a few in blues, purples and greens so that I can make this: