I wish I had measured it before washing it for a comparison.   It looks smaller in the picture but I probably had the camera at a slightly different angle so there’s no telling.

Check out those monster bumps on the jeans side:

 I could have sewn the lines of stitching closer together but I wanted to sew around the pockets so they could still be usable.

 So…bumps it is.

After

Besides slightly fading the colors in a pleasing, vintage-y way, all the wash did was turn the birds upside down (just kidding).   Well, not really, obviously bird fabric shrank.  I’ve sewn jean quilts with lots of space between stitches before and they didn’t bump like this.  I’m considering this quilt a lesson quilt rather than a failure quilt because that’s just the way I think.  I’m still gonna gift it.  I think having a quilt with usable pockets is more important than having a quilt that is perfectly smooth…right?

Getting gifts with a bunch of apology statements is kind of uncomfortable so the real trick will be handing it over without any qualifying statements.  Like it just is what it is and it’s all on purpose and doesn’t need any explanation.  So, that’s my next challenge.  Wish me luck.

 I was the Queen of finishing yesterday.

I will admit to tossing and turning in bed a couple of times because I was worried about the colors being so un baby like.  I also worried about the weight of the quilt.  But I’m all in now.    

I did add a couple of lines of purple stitching.

 In my “so into this project I’m going a little nuts” brain, I imagined them as two friends who’s lives intersect and then separate over and over, but they still care for each other.  

Does anyone else do that or am I just a little goofy?

Probably both.  

 

Here’s a spot that looked a little weak.

 

The edge of the denim was  little frayed where I sewed them together so I reinforced it a bit.  It was also just fun to stitch. 

 Here’s a patch I added where I didn’t like the way the intersection of blocks looked so I just covered it up.  I could have kept adding and changing details into the wee hours.  As it is, I was up till midnight.

And here’s the ultimate test.  The quilt is in the wash, regular cycle, as I type!  Even though the colors aren’t typically babyish, it is a baby quilt and will need to be able to withstand a lot!  I may have to do some repairs after the wash but I prefer to be the one to do them, along with whatever reinforcing it will need.  

I’ll post pictures of the aftermath. 

Almost done stitching.  I picked off white thread to quilt the layers together.  I know, kinda boring.  I did stop by Ben Franklin today to pick up some purples that match the purples in the quilt.  I plan on just stitching a line or two in purple.

I didn’t want to stitch it horizontally and vertically because I thought it would look stupid with the strong verticals on the backing so I went -surprise! surprise!- randomly diagonal.

Sorry these pictures kinda stink.  It’s the lighting in the basement, I think.  

 I’ve made some pretty good progress.  After a couple more lines of stitching across the quilt, I’ll have just the edging to go.

I hope to deliver it on Thursday.  I will post pictures of it when it’s completed. 

 I’ve made some progress on the baby quilt.  Finally…

 Quilt sandwich pre-pinning

And post pinning.  Compared to my last quilt, which was king sized, 

this was  piece o’ cake.

 Here’s the fabric for the other side.  It’s not soft.  Isn’t that somewhat scandalous for a baby blanket?  I really tried to talk myself into other fabrics but the second I saw this in the store, I knew this fabric had to be the backing of this quilt.  It can always end up as a “throw it on the yard or floor” quilt.  With all that denim, it’s not really destined to be a baby covering quilt anyway. 

 Look at those cute birdies.

I hope it’ll soften up when I wash it.  That’s right.  Scandal number two is that I didn’t wash it first.  I’m hoping that when I wash it the first time, once it’s all sewn up, it will take on a nice, vintage look and feel.

Scandal number three:  It’s dry clean only.  Obviously, that ain’t gonna happen.  My only worry is that frequent washing will wear it out faster than I would hope. 

Knock wood that it ends up being sturdy.

 

Next step is to pick the quilting thread color, which is always so much fun!