The Unveiling of THE BABY CLOTHES QUILT!

This is a project that has been in my head or in the works since Clara was born.  I'm so excited to share it!  Here goes...
Many of Cora's clothes start out as hand-me-downs from a friend of ours.  They survive through Cora and then are passed down to Clara.  The ones that are seldom worn or somehow make it through stain free, go on to baby cousin, Sloan.  The rest, well, frankly, they are trashed or donated.  Many of the girls baby blankets, onesies, pajamas, dresses, and bibs were so cute, but ruined by one stubborn stain or a hole.  I couldn't bear to part with those precious delicate flower prints, or the monogrammed initials.  So I didn't!  One day I had this fabulous idea of using these scrap clothes to make matching quilts for the girls beds once we redecorated their room.  I've been saving clothes for some time now.  I checked websites online and purchasing two twin sized custom quilts was going to be like a gazillion dollars.  I decided, I could do it!  (Keep in mind I can ONLY sew straight crooked lines)
Step one went something like this...
 #1 I made a cardboard template of the size of squares I wanted to use in the quilt.  I cut the squares out.
#2 I bought fusable interfacing and ironed it on the back of each square that was thin or made of a stretchy knit.  I then sewed my squares into 10 rows of 12 or was it 12 rows of 10?  whatever.  They looked like this.

 I then debated and debated about whether or not to put strips of white between the rows of patches.  Above is the picture of when I laid them out with the patches.  I decided against the white.  It seemed too complicated.  I needed to keep it very basic.
#3 I sewed the rows together into a rectangle.
#4 I purchased wide turquoise fabric binding to use as a frame and sewed it around the rows of squares.
#5 I  needed the quilt to be larger so I bought pink and white polka dot fabric and sewed another wider border around.  Still not large enough.  I needed more fabric at the top and bottom to make it long enough for a twin bed.
#6 I then sewed my third and final layer of white around the edges.
(Keep in mind I started on this over a year ago!)
#7 I even used all of the monogrammed names and things that I wanted to include that were too large to fit into my square template to make a matching pillow sham top.  I sewed them all together and outlined with the same border.

Now I had really maxed out my sewing capacity.  The top was created, but I knew quilting was ENTIRELY out of my league.  Just getting this thing to resemble a straight rectangle cost me many nights of sleep.  Luckily, I have very talented friends!   I knew that one of my co-workers was a fabulous quilter.  She made Cora a throw sized quilt years ago that is PRECIOUS!  So, I begged and pleaded with her to take on my very unprofessional project.  She agreed!!! Connie, you're a gem!

I have a before picture somewhere, but I can't find it!

So Connie worked her magic.  She totally went above and beyond.  She quilted it in the most precious design pattern and even put a tiny little butterfly in the bottom corner (that's Cora's favorite part).  She used a very soft light pink flannel to back it and a fun print for the binding!  IT IS AMAZING!  Cora and I were so excited to get it back this week!  We were ecstatic!  Connie brought it to me at work and we took it up and down the hallway showing it off to anyone who would look!  I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS QUILT!  The pictures really don't do it justice!  Here it is...

 I love all the precious little details and pockets and bows.  When I look at it, I can just picture a tinier version of my sweet girl wearing all of these things!

                                                                              the sham!

What I didn't anticipate is how much Cora would love it! She never sleeps in her bed.  We put this thing on Friday night, and she's 4 for 4 ever since.  She swears it made her bed much more comfy!  I don't doubt her for a second!

I love it! I love it! I love it, almost as much as I love her!   And now, thanks to Connie's inspiration with this one, I've almost got the top of Clara's ready!   Connie, I owe you big time!  If you ever need anyone to sew semi-straight lines for you, I'm your girl!  Thank you! You're an amazing seamstress and an even more amazing person! Check out her website fiddlercreekquilts.weebly.com   (for some reason the link isn't working, cut and paste it in your browser) She's got some great stuff for great prices and she can even make you a custom quilt too!  

Stay tuned for Clara's.  Hopefully before school starts in the fall we'll be able to unveil the girls' room re-do!