Tada!!

It's finally finished!! Last night I put the final stitches into Norah's quilt. She had enjoyed a couple of months' worth of playing in her special "tent" while I did my quilting, but didn't seem to mind one bit that her tent had disappeared this morning.

I stretched her quilt out on the floor so I could take a few pictures of it, and she danced on it, spun around and around in circles, and sat down to admire the "flors" (flowers).


I don't know how many memories she'll wind up having from the time that mommy spent working on her quilt. I'd like to think she'll remember the days she spent working puzzles in her little tent, or playing peek-a-boo with Mommy and Daddy under her quilt. Maybe she'll remember the gazillion times she got in trouble for stealing Mommy's thread or trying to snatch my little, purple scissors.











Even if she doesn't remember any of the above, at least she'll always have her quilt. She can look at the thousands of (sloppy) stitches and know that each one was made in love for her by her mommy.







Here is a photo of the finished product. I had to get way up high to fit the whole thing in the picture, that's why it looks like it's wider at the bottom than the top--it really is a true rectangle, honest.

The quilt back is the same color as the outer, aqua border. (Though, I hope no one will look back there at the mess I made quilting it!)












Each of the quilt blocks is bordered by an embroidery stitch. I had a lot of fun learning new stitches to keep it interesting. My favorite was one called the "herring bone". (bottom left, shown in orange)






There are 5 blocks with appliqué flowers on them. I made up the patterns for them as I went along. On the flower blocks, I did a little bit of embroidery, just to brighten them up, and then I echo quilted around them.

The flower blocks have a lot more quilting stitches in them than the plain square blocks do. I think it added a little variety and dimension to the quilt.





This completes step one in my conversion of the guest room into Norah's "big girl room". I hope to have her moved in by November at the latest, so that she can have a couple of months to get comfortable in her new nest before the baby arrives. I really want to avoid making her feel as though she is being "kicked out" of the nursery to make room for baby, so I hope to make her new room a happy, calm, special place.