22: he's still a baby

If anyone was wondering...I finished Theo's quilt in time for his first birthday.  In fact I was nearly 3 weeks early.

Hoo-ray.

And I did a bit of fancy quilting on it.  Well, sort of fancy...

First over the main fish part I did a sort of horizontal meander that's supposed to resemble water.

I wasn't confident enough to just do it, so I drew it all out on paper-piecing paper and then sewed over it.  It looked like this as I drew it.

If I did it again I wouldn't bother with that step, but I didn't want to "ruin" it after all my hard work.

Then on the first border I did some cute whales.  No I didn't draw them myself.  They came from the "book" Follow-the-Line Quilting Designs, Volume 2 by Mary M. Covey.

And finally I did two rows of waves.  This I did do freeform and for the most part I'm pleased with how it came out.

Now all I need to do is label it (I try to always put a title block on the back).  I'm thinking of learning embroidery just for that.  I don't want to write it with a marker again.  Anyone want to tell me how you typically transfer an embroidery design to fabric?  I basically want to print the words on my computer and then stitch over them.  I know there is that iron on transfer stuff you can print on, but I didn't know if there was another way.  I'm worried that will change the whole background of the fabric too.

And now I shall leave you with a few cute one-year-old pictures, mostly for the grandparents' sake.

      

JT

Comments

[Carrie - washmycloth]

He is adorable! Love the shirt and the crown and bib are great! I love that quilt. I have no patience or technical skills for all that piecework. Not sure about transfers, but I would print out the words, place under the fabric, and trace with either a pencil or a disappearing ink pen for quilters and then embroider over those marks. You could tape the paper and fabric to a window to help see through the fabric, assuming you would be using a somewhat light colored fabric for the label.
Good luck! That first birthday is the BEST!
Congrats.

[Doris at Threads of Conversation]

Oh. My. God. That is too precious.

Oh, yeah, the quilt is pretty great too!

;->

[Sarah]

that came out great!

I put the fabric on a light box and trace the design with a water-soluble disappearing ink fabric marker then stitch it. All you need to do to get rid of the lines if they show is a little spray of water and they disappear. Very easy. You could use a brightly lit window too.

Whoops, just saw this was already suggested...

Happy Birthday to Theo :)

[Paper Dolls for Boys]

I can not believe you MADE that. Holy crap you are GOOD! Nevermind finding the time, you have mad skills!
And the birthday crown is one of the coolest I"ve seen. Very modern (and not Waldorfy moss fairy style)!
Happy B.Day to the little cutie!
Tracey
ps- Thanks for the nice words on my blog. Made my day!

[Tricia]

This quilt is beautiful! I am so impressed. I have bookmarked it hoping that someday I will know a little boy that I can made a similar one for.

[Amy @ parkcitygirl]

He's too cute! His quilt is amazing - love all the bright colors and the quilting.

[Alexis]

Super-cute boy and quilt!

[mary]

Happy birthday little one! Beautiful quilt and fabulous blog! Thank you.

[Amy]

The quilt came out beautiful and I'm really impressed with your free-form quilting!

Sometimes for labeling, I design what I want and print it onto fabric sheets (those kind that go through the ink-jet printer) and cut it down, then blind-stitch it on. I can't think of a way to transfer embroidery designs to the back after it's all been quilted... but I like a good challenge so I'll let you know if I come up with anything.

Happy birthday Theo!

[Paige]

Happy birthday Theo! And that quilt is just beautiful!

[liz]

i love the fancy quilting! fantastic idea! i still have yet to finish my son's quilt that i started about 16 months ago! hmmmm

embroidery - if you're doing it straight to the quilt and not on a separate piece of fabric -i would write your info on some light weight sew-in interfacing. pin it to the quilt (or use a hoop) and embroider on top of that. then you can just tear away the interfacing.

[jessica]

My goodness-I love LOVE LOVE that quilt! Sometimes I think that making the quilt is the easy part, but putting the label on is so tricky-just the right words on just the right design. Looks like a great first birthday celebration!

[Jessica]

Ooo, I love this quilt! I always have trouble thinking of boy things, but this is perfect!

[Mary Corbet]

Hi, Jessica -

Beautiful quilt!!

Transfering embroidery designs is easy, and there are heaps of ways to do it. I notice some already suggested a light box or a sunny window. You can use the water-soluble pens, but if you don't have one handy, just use a light pencil. If you spray starch the fabric really well before transfering, a light pencil will come out really easily by washing, but if you're covering the line with your stitches, it won't matter, anyway.

You can also trace your design with a fine-tipped permanent marker onto solvy (clear water-soluble stabilizer), and then hoop up your fabric with the solvy on top of it (in the hoop, too) and stitch through the solvy and the fabric. Then soak the piece until the solvy dissolves. I have a tutorial on that here:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/10/transferring-embroidery-patterns.html (part I) and here: http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/10/transferring-embroidery-patterns-solvy.html (part II)

Wonderful job on the quilt - I love the whales!!

Mary Corbet

[dana]

Precious quilt but not nearly as cute as your son!