Quick Quilt in One Afternoon

This weekend, my daughter Alina graduates from Wake Forest Law School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  She's had an amazing three years there and we are so very proud of her, of how hard she worked, and all she accomplished!  One of her funniest accomplishments is that a judge there gave her the nickname "The Fist in a Velvet Glove".   

Alina (Bean) and her husband Gonzo moved to Winston-Salem so that they both could attend Wake Forest.  (Gonzo graduated last May with his MBA and we are very proud of him too!)   Soon though, they will be moving to Albany, NY ...which is Jim's and my old stomping grounds. This summer, Alina will be studying for and taking the NYS Bar Exam and then, in September, she will begin her job as the new Appellate Court Attorney from the New York State Supreme Court, 3rd Department.

I teased her that the next step up will be Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. (We are a family of Trekkie nerds, yes indeed.)  

This morning, our family members all began their travels to North Carolina and will spend the next few days with Bean & Gonzo celebrating.  Since I was unable to go with them, I thought I'd write a blog post celebrating Alina's first machine stitched quilt.  But first, a little backstory...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Friendship for Life 

When Bean was an undergrad, she studied abroad at Brighton University in England.  It was there that she met Misha and the two of them became instant bosom buddies.  The two new friends set off on adventures all over Europe, staying in youth hostels and taking advantage of very cheap travel rates for students.  They even went to Italy together - Twice!  

The girls together in Brighton - Misha (L) & Alina (R)

When the girls came back to the states, Misha became another daughter to us and for a few years was a part of every family Thanksgiving.  

Bean & Misha choosing Thanksgiving recipes to try... 
I have to wonder just what they were looking at here.  LOL

Misha married an incredible young man who is an officer in the US Navy.  They just recently became parents for the first time, but Jef has been stationed away and was not able to be with Misha for almost all of her pregnancy.  He was able to come ashore to watch his daughter's birth via skype.  (My how the world has changed.)  This separation has been very hard for both Misha and Jef, but soon they will be reunited.   

Around Christmastime, Misha was understandably feeling quite low.  It happened that Alina was home with us for Christmas and had one afternoon free of commitments.   She wanted to send Mish something handmade to help cheer her up, and decided to make a quilt for the new baby.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Quick Quilt in One Afternoon

What kind of quilt can a brand new quilter make in one afternoon, quilting and binding included?  Well, one with very large strips of fabric did the trick.  Misha's nursery theme was Travel, and I had a some Feather River fabrics from Birch Organics, which were just perfect.  Alina was able to complete the quilt and ship it off to Misha the very next morning.  Misha was delighted with the surprise and the quilt!

We used painter's tape as guidelines so that Alina could do wavy line quilting with the walking foot.  
We laughed a lot because she kept forgetting to move her hand as the quilting moved along and would end up sprawled across the table.

Ahh - there now... that's better.

 

A Quick Quilt for a Dear Little One

         

It's pretty amazing how nicely this turned out. We both could see a child having fun with imaginative play on these fabric designs.  The campground, trees, and river fabrics really lend themselves to this kind of quilt.

All set to ship!

Do you have any really quick baby and toddler quilt patterns that you turn to when you need something in a jiffy?  I tend to overthink baby quilts and this quilt showed me how nice it could turn out to sew something simple.

I feel warm and glowing inside just from thinking about Alina & Misha's friendship. We are very thankful that they found each other!   In fact, Alina just returned from spending a week out in California, helping Misha adjust smoothly to being a new mother.  

Thanks for visiting, because...

Click on the pup to leave a comment...

If you are also a blogger, she is highly likely to follow you home!

Linking up to Sarah's Whoop Whoop party at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Linking up to Crafty Comment Karma at Prairie Sewn Studios
Linking up to Yvonne's Quilty Thankful Thursday at Quilting Jetgirl