June 7, 2011

A Quilt for Ian Archer

I had all these plans for crafting projects in the weeks before Ian Archer's birth, but even though he dilly-dallied for a week before making his grand appearance I didn't quite get around to finishing them all. OK, I only managed to finish one, but I did at least make pretty good headway on another: a baby quilt, which I was able to finish just after his birth when I was still riding my oxytocin high and not yet exhausted from sleepless nights with a newborn. (Although, to be fair, this babe has given us precious few of those. He's been wonderful.)

I only finished sewing his big brother's baby quilt around his first birthday, so I consider the fact that I was able to finish this one while Ian Archer was only 10 days old quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately, I can't say as much for my sewing. Again, I can't seem to sew a straight line to save my life, and I'm still not too keen on the fabric selection. I had wanted something very different from Colin's quilt--something colourful and vintage-looking. But since the Heather Ross fabric I had my heart set on over at Spoonflower was all sold out, and since I have no talent for choosing colours (I missed that course requirement for my art major), I left it up to the professionals and bought a quilt bundle from the talented folks over at Fabricworm.


And, oh, it was colourful all right. Maybe a little too colourful. For the first few days after I finished it, it sort of hurt my eyes. I guess I still prefer newborns to be swathed in pastels. But it does have the advantage of coordinating really well with the primary-colour/zoo-animal theme in the boys' room (not that Ian Archer spends any time in there just yet, he's still bunking-in with us). And aren't infants supposed to get a lot of healthy mental stimulation from busy patterns? Well, if so, he'll be plenty stimulated.

I do have it in the back of my head to try making another quilt, perhaps with a more simple pattern, and I've already got my eye on some beautiful fabric that's set to be released next month ...

Am I crazy? Probably, but feel free to send me your ideas for a new quilt pattern to try, though nothing on a log-cabin pattern, please. Even I'm not that crazy.

4 comments:

Vicky said...

I think its gorgeous. Well done.
And an extra well done for getting anywhere near a sweing machine within 10 days of having a baby. x

Vicky said...

oh and that fabric you've got your eye on if beautiful.. if only I had a boy.

Rachael said...

They did a bunch of studies (in the 80s I think) showing that the more colors, shapes, etc that babies were exposed to, the better they saw them. That's why we have baby mobiles. So yes, this quilt will have a positive impact on your child's visual potential!

Sarah Ligon said...

Thanks, Rachael, that's good to hear.

And Vicky, did you see that they also have the Birch Fabric line in girls' colourways? In any case, I am jealous of all your girls--they make the most beautiful fabrics for girls. Boys are much, much trickier...