Calvin's Quilt

Calvin Paul Carpenter arrived on August 24th at 8:43 in the morning.  He weighed in at a healthy 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 and 1/2 inches long.  Calvin's parents, Abby (my daughter) and Paul are parents for the first time.  Calvin is our first grandson and second grandchild.  We've been waiting seven long years for number two to finally arrive.

Abby and Paul told us on Christmas Eve that they were expecting.  They had been trying for awhile so it was good news.  And I'd been thinking that since all of my kids were married now, more grandchildren were certainly a possibility at any time.

I saw this cute pattern made up and on display at "Pioneer Quilts" in Happy Valley, OR.  It's not a shop I frequent very often but I believe I was tagging along with my friend, Kay.  I bought the pattern (called "Uptown Baby" by Bunny Hill Designs) when I was there and also remember buying pink striped fabric to make aprons for Girl's Camp so it had to be spring of 2011.  It actually could have been the day I was going all around looking for fabric for David's wedding quilt.   But anyway, when I found out Abby's baby would be a boy I decided to use it and purchased the fabric in April at a cute shop in American Fork, Utah when I was there for Annie's graduation. 

 

If you've been reading my blog posts, you know that I've made a lot of quilts this year.  Seven to be exact (and at least 2 more to come before the year is through).  I thought this one would be fairly quick.  There is not too much piecing.  Just these little pinwheel blocks.  Well, I was reminded how long it takes to measure and attach multiple borders.  Longer than you would think. 

I decided to quilt this one myself because of the little red flange that goes around the inside.  A flange is a narrow strip of fabric that is folded in half and inserted in the seam between the center of the quilt and the borders.  It's loose on the folded edge and an allover quilting design would stitch it down, sort of defeating the purpose (and cuteness) of it.  I quilted diagonal lines in both directions through the center, went around the borders and through the pinwheels in the ditch, and did free motion quilting on the cream square to make the loopy flower/star (don't know what to call it exactly).  The outer border just has straight lines out to the edge.  It was a lot of quilting but fun to do and a manageable size to do on my little Pfaff.

I love this blue flannel for the backing.  It adds some color and coziness to the quilt.  It's the same print as the cornerstones on the front, but flannel instead of cotton.  Well, it's cotton, too but, you know what I mean.

I finished the quilt just in time to send it with Annie when she flew to Sumter to visit Abby in July.  The trip was a birthday present for both of them.  Paul was on a temporary assignment in Nevada so Annie went to keep Abby company and attend her baby shower.  But as luck would have it, Annie's bag didn't arrive until after the shower was over (thank you Delta) which was disappointing.  But it sure looks cute in her nursery.

We all went to "Simply Southern Bistro" for a late lunch today.  We cruised in at 2:30 which was exactly the time they close their lunch service.  But how could they turn us away?  We had the restaurant to ourselves and very attentive service.  The server offered to take our picture before we left.  It will be hard to leave on Saturday but Abby is a great little mother and Paul is a fabulous father.  He cooks, does laundry, swaddles, changes diapers, buys groceries, etc. etc.  They are just going to have so much fun raising Calvin.