My very first quilt *wow*

Maybe some people remember that I shared some  

quilt blocks 

a LONG time ago.

When I say long, I REALLY mean long! ;-)

The blocks were supposed to be for a blanket for my little boy and I actually intended to give it to him for his first birthday. 

Which was last year!

So this year when his second birthday came up I had just gotten a new sewing machine - which I had to test so I would know whether I want to keep it. And really really wanted to get this whole thing finished.

So I did!
YEAH!

Well, not quite yet. I could not quilt the blue squares yet, because some little bugger sweet boy ;-) stole and hid my blue quilting thread. 

He really seems to like all my crafty tools and material ... maybe I should just give that to him instead of a quilt ...
 

Now I gotta order new one - cause he does not tell me where he put it - to get everything done. *sigh*

Also I do not yet have a real clue how to finish the binding. I was thinking to just use bias tape - the slightly wider variety.

Can anyone tell me whether this is a really stupid idea?

To be honest, I really have no idea what I am doing here. I have read quite a bit about it ... but everone seems to do the binding differently somehow ...

*

And I wanna add a big thanks to  

CARE from Obsessively Stitching! 

Without you, I surely would have never ever even thought about making a quilt. 

So that I made this - and I am freakishly proud of myself that I did! - is pretty much thanks to you. 

I know, it is not an I-spy-quilt. But now I know I can do it. And the I-spy-squares are still waiting to be used. ;-)

And another block ... heart ...

I know, this is nothing too exciting. But I love it! It turned out simple yet nice. I love the edge actually. I have had this trim I think for over a year and never knew what to actually do with it ... It looks good around the heart!

Of course once my daughter saw it she instantly requested a similar one. Now that the red trim is almost gone. *sigh*

And another block ... sailboat ...

Well, I am not too happy with this one. I am totally loving the giant ricrac. But somehow I think the fabric I chose for the sailboat body and the sails does not go together too well. Or it is just the embroidery that seems too much? I am not sure ... 

I quite like that the sails are kinda poofy and stand a bit away from the fabric (I only sewed them to the background fabric in the middle.) But the overall picture to me somehow seems just a little "too much" ... 

Guess I should be happy that baby boy will not complain. At least I hope he will not. Maybe his first words are going to be "Oh no, that is just too much" 

In German of course. Otherwise it would be really creepy. ;-)

Two more blocks done ...

The stars are cut out of fleece and stuffed a little ...

The sun is made out of yellow curdoroy. The sun beams are ribbon which I only sewed on at one side. So he can actually grab it. I am hoping it will hold up! He definitely seems to like this one. As soon as it was done he ran of with it playing with the sun beams. :-)

Another block finished and .... PANIC!

So yesterday I was lying in bed and thinking that now that baby boy is better we could try to get back into some kind of rhythm ...

that I could try to finally get some projects started ...

err ... or finished ...

and while I was thinking I realized that baby boy's birthday is in less than TWO WEEKS!

*GASP*

I will have to finish his quilt until then!!! 

*gasp*

I actually told myself it is alright to just finish the top - there is NO way I can finish it all, with batting and quilting and everything. Just to get the top ready will already be quite a challenge ...

And even worse - I have to plan his birthday party! 

I mean I usually like planning parties ... but I DO need some time. I do not like to rush stuff and I do not like to have to rush several projects at a time ...

So what do I do?

I was thinking of a bird or duck themed party as I wanted it to be not "girly" but not totally "boyish" either. (No cars or dinosaurs or stuff.) 

And baby boy LOVES birds. 

He spend all summer each morning and evening in our garden watching the magpies. 

And he loves ducks, too! 

Anyway ... so that was the theme. 

And I wanted to make cookies rather than a huge cake that he would not be allowed to eat. 

It is hopeless to try to sneak food somewhere without him noticing it - and wanting it! 

But other than that ...

I am actually kinda thinking ... maybe I should just relax. He does not need a big party. He does not care for it anyway. All he wants is some cookies - whether without ducks or with ducks he probably does not care. Maybe I should just stop worrying about it and just bake some cookies, invite the grandparents, uncles and aunts ... and have a nice time together. Go visit the ducks at the lake or something ... ;-)

On the other side I think - hey, it is his 1st birthday. It is special. He should have a big party with decorations and everything. (No idea what everything actually means though.) 

So I am kinda torn ...

Do you have any advice?

What did you do at your kid's 1st birthday?

Big party?

Or rather relaxed affair?

I am really not sure ...

I did finish this block for the baby quilt last week. Loving it!

Am working on two others right now ...

Dino and scotty dog block

Two more blocks for the baby quilt done!

 

You can see that I loved the designs from the bibs I had made so much that I used them again. :-)

One block at a time ...

Here are four more blocks I finished for the textured baby quilt I am working on. These are the ones where the circle applique actually did work!

In the photo above just regular black cotton fabric that I appliqued with red embroidery thread.

In this picture the red circle is some kinda silky fabric - it's not silk though - which feels very smooth and kinda cool to the touch.

Some pinkish cotton velvet. I think little man likes these - he already tried to eat them. :-)

Striped corduroy. And if you are wondering - yes, I do realize that the circles are not centered. They are not supposed to be. :-)

I am actually quite curious what I will do next ...