It began so innocently. We were visiting Lizard's parents in 2022, when it was safe to be in the limited company of trusted others again, when I received an email from a favorite quilt shop advertising the cutest table topper kit. Lizard's mom's favorite color is teal, and her entire house has a western theme. I showed her the ad, and she fell in love with the table topper. I ordered the kit. It arrived at our house the day after we returned home. I couldn't wait to get started!
I was so excited to make something Lizard's mom might actually like. She loved the advertisement photos of the project, and she commented how perfect the table topper would be for her dining room. Unfortunatley, I was so excited, I didn't thoroughly read the instructions. I ran out of fabric and had to order more because I cut 2.5-inch strips instead of 1.5-inch strips. In my defense, I think the larger strips show off the fabric far better.
I made a HUGE table topper! I presented it to my mother-in-law on Mother's Day. Thankfully, her table wasn't too small for the giant. (I'd made one of like size from stash leftovers for my mom in her favorite color, blue, and she loves it, even though it is as big as her little table for two.) Lizard's mom asked if I could make a smaller one, too. I bought more fabric to comply.
I presented the smaller table topper to her later that year for her birthday. She loved it. She still uses both but favors the smaller one. I had enough leftovers to make a third table topper in the smaller size for my Etsy shop. (I loved the pattern so much, I made a dozen more table toppers from various stash for my Etsy shop. Only five remain!)
My mother-in-law loved the fabric of the table toppers so much, I decided I would try to teach her to quilt. I bought a yard each of two of the teals in the Home on the Range fabric line and a charm pack. I thought one teal might make a great backing, making the quilt reversible. I cut the background teal into charms, and we returned at Christmas to help Lizard's mom make a cute quilt with fabric she liked. Even Lizard was going to help, if he could. I'd been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to get him back into quilting as part of his art therapy.
The Christmas visit didn't go as planned. We encountered some resistance every time we tried to sit down to the sewing machine. Finally, Lizard's mom confessed she did not want to learn to quilt. She said she's an old dog and doesn't want to learn a new trick. I was pretty discouraged because I'd done all this prep work for her. I decided I'd make the quilt for her. Maybe I could teach Lizard to longarm again so he could quilt it for her... I hoped she'd still like it, even if it wasn't her own creation. I even found a fat quarter bundle of coordinating solids, and I bought it, thinking I could make the quilt larger than lap-size.
Along came a variety of health challenges for Lizard, his mom and his stepdad, plus, Lizard unexpectedly lost his stepsister just a few months later, and then I unexpectedly lost my dad six months after that. All the stress accelerated Lizard's Parkinson's. I don't think I touched my longarm or my sewing machine for two whole years, except for emergency clothing repairs on the fly. Life seemed so non-stop out-of-control. I began feeling guilty for not finishing that quilt while Lizard's mom could still enjoy it. I think it became my most dreaded project. I got depressed every time I walked by the quilt-in-waiting.
A few months ago, I learned my neighbors were expecting their first child, and they were decorating his nursery with a western theme. I thought (hoped) I'd have enough Home on the Range leftovers to make a baby quilt. That meant I'd have to finish at least the flimsies for my mother-in-law first so I'd know how much fabric I'd have leftover and if it would be enough. I found charm squares AND one layer cake of the Home on the Range line, even though it's going on four years old now. I was SO tempted to order another charm pack and a yard of background fabric so I could make a matching quilt for the baby.
Especially after I finally finished piecing my mother-in-law's quilt top! Man, did it ever come out cute! Much cuter than expected, too. I still got depressed every time I looked at the stack of fabric, but, man, did the finished quilt top improve my quilting attitude! I was able to get a little more size out of the charm squares by incorporating all the teal squares in the charm pack (and cutting a few more), which I had not planned to do in the original MIL quilting lessons design. (I originally had wanted to keep it simple so she wouldn't get frustrated and not want to finish.)
Next came the backing for the first quilt. I didn't have enough of any single fabric for an entire backing, and I've always been a fan of pieced backings anyway. I decided to try to use up as much of the teal as possible because it's Lizard's mom's favorite color and to get rid of the fabric I couldn't stand to look at for so long. I am so pleased with how the backing turned out! (And I used up almost all of the teal!!! There's just enough left for the binding.)
I was beyond tempted once again to buy another charm pack and another yard of background fabric (which was still available online in two different shops) so I could make another top similar to the first one, just in a different color scheme. (The dark brown and cinnamon burlap weave prints are still available in yardage.) I didn't do anything for two days because I was fighting the almost overwhelming urge to buy more fabric. Finally, I decided to cut up my leftovers into six-inch squares and use the coordinating solids to make my own non-standard charm squares. And to use up as many of the leftovers as I could.
I'm not sure now which top I like better because they both came out SO stinking cute. (Plus, I twice resisted the fierce impulse to buy more fabric!!! YAY!!!!!) I had one full yard left of one boot fabric, so I cut it up and pieced in stitched leftovers from the table toppers to create another GREAT backing. Now I just have to quilt. Home stretch!!! I can finish up at least the baby quilt in a couple of days. I can take my time with the MIL quilt because I will give it either as a birthday present or a Christmas present. The pressure is gone. I'm hoping if I give it enough time, I won't hate the fabrics anymore, and the rest of the chore will be fun. How can I not love quilting such adorable quilts?!?
Linking up with Alycia Quilts.
