So, when I found out that Kelly was having a baby girl I knew I had to make her one. Kelly has a "thing" for softness. She loves anything soft...and I think she does a "soft" test on most items around her house to make sure it's of a certain softness before purchasing it. (In a lot of cases, maybe not all) The problem: I don't sew, I don't quilt, so I call my Mom!
I look and look and look for material for this quilt. It's REALLY hard to find around here! I drove to St. Louis (our quick trip to the zoo day) where they had a fairly large selection, but I couldn't find anything to go with it. Most of the Oh so soft material that I had seen was in solid colors and in order to meet the softness code I wanted a couple flannels to match (like Maddox's) I had absolutely no luck. Luckily,I found a website that had a huge selection. I ordered the material and was anxious to get it started in order to have it done by the shower. There was really no reason to have it done by then, I just thought it would be nice to give it to her there. The baby doesn't get here for another couple months. Really, no reason to have it done. I think Mom knew that I had this small part of me that wanted to have it done.
Kelly's shower was on Saturday, Oct. 18th. Mom started it on Friday, Oct. 10th, 8 days before the shower. She was anxious to start it. She loves to do it. She started without me...I had hoped to really do most of it. In reality, this baby girl wouldn't have had a blanket until she was 5 or 10 at that rate. I think that Mom spent most of her days working on this quilt. I went to her house 4 or 5 times that week. I spent long hours there and she spent double what I did, maybe even triple the time. One day I made arrangements for my friend, Lori to pick Gavin up after school so that we didn't have to stop. Maddox and I ended up getting home around 9:30 or 10:00 that night. The quilt was done by Friday, Oct. 17. One week! Crazy! I think it turned out really cute and it is by far the softest blanket I have ever felt. Even softer than Maddox's because they now make really cute printed Oh So Soft material.
Mom's fancy set-up in the basement. She was having trouble with her sewing machine upstairs. Luckily she had Grandma Ritz's in the basement.
When I arrived to start the quilt...she had already pieced together all of the triangular shapes in the middle. Sneaky!
This is me helping! (Otherwise known as "Watching") This is extremely typical of Mom teaching me to do things, remember the chicken!
I did cut the material for the outer edges! It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it. Really, it was a little difficult. This material isn't easy to work with.
Gavin watching Grandma!
Gavin and Maddox watching...we were hoping they could keep a secret. 
Me quilting! Proof that I did help. Actually I did quilt half of it. It is super thick material, so it's not good starter material.
Showing off my thimble 
The front of the quilt. It's pink and brown. It is larger than most baby quilts too. Mom had made Maddox's that way and it was a little big for when he was tiny, but he loves it now and uses it on a daily basis around here. If I ever want a blanket to cover up with, I grab it too!
The back is pink with the striped binding.
Whew, that was by far my longest post ever! I had to show off this quilt though. I'm pretty proud of it...and Mom you should be too (Thanks Cindy for all of your help too...she quilted one night with us and helped me pick out fabric) Thanks!
I did cut the material for the outer edges! It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it. Really, it was a little difficult. This material isn't easy to work with.
Gavin watching Grandma!
Gavin and Maddox watching...we were hoping they could keep a secret. 
Me quilting! Proof that I did help. Actually I did quilt half of it. It is super thick material, so it's not good starter material.
Showing off my thimble 
The front of the quilt. It's pink and brown. It is larger than most baby quilts too. Mom had made Maddox's that way and it was a little big for when he was tiny, but he loves it now and uses it on a daily basis around here. If I ever want a blanket to cover up with, I grab it too!
The back is pink with the striped binding.
Whew, that was by far my longest post ever! I had to show off this quilt though. I'm pretty proud of it...and Mom you should be too (Thanks Cindy for all of your help too...she quilted one night with us and helped me pick out fabric) Thanks! 
12 comments:
Love the blanket. It's so cute. You guys did a great job. I made Kyle's blanket when he was a baby. Did you know that you can pay someone to quilt it by machine! =)
Thank you Jeanette, DeAnn, and Cindy!! It is by far the softest material I have ever felt, and as you all know now, I love soft material!! I have actually been using it already! You know, I have to try it out before I let my baby use it!! Wink Wink You guys are wonderful!! Love ya!
Kelly...I'm glad you are enjoying it. I'm sure your little girl will love it, too.
DeAnn...you are lucky to have a mom who teaches you so many things. Now we know that you can do the next one by yourself...right? Like the chicken!
The blanket is really cute. I think it is my favorite so far. Mom your are going to have a hard time outdoing this one.
That is so cool. What a great idea. It is a gift to cherish.
Kelly, I'm glad you like it so much. DeAnn, you did a good job also. I would never have got it done in eight days if you hadn't helped so much. You did very well with the thimble for the first time.Some say I was crazy, but it was worth it and I was on a mission. Angie, I know we could have had it machine quilted, but this is more STRESSFUL!!!!!That's the way we like it.
OOPS!!!
Leave it to you mom to always give us something to laugh about! Just know we are laughing with you, not at you. We would never do that. :)
I don't know if all of you are getting as much entertainment out of "anonymous" comments as our family, but it has gotten a lot of laughs around here.
Mom, You have GOT to be kidding!
Don't worry Mom, I believe you when you say you ARE NOT hitting the anonymous button!!! :} But I have to admit that as soon as I scroll down the comments and see "Anonymous" has left a comment, I am laughing before I even read what it says.
You guys did a great job on the blanket, it looks AWESOME!!!
DeAnn, love the thimble!! Did anyone get to use the Elvis thimble??
Wow!!! You guys did an AWESOME job!!!
You know Elaine, Mom didn't pull it out. She must be saving it for a particular project. You'd have to ask Mom about that one. We'd lose ours...well, she would lose hers every once in a while and she never did pull out the Elvis thimble. Jordan will be disappointed in her Grandma for that one.
Grandma and DeAnn you did a GREAT job on that blanket, it's adorable. I wish i would of had that kind of material and blanket when i was born, but mine was great to.
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