A Baby Comission

I have a secret. I hate commissions. Don't get me wrong, I love making things and am always very flattered when people want to buy the things I make, but the pressure of making something to a professional enough standard at a price someone is happy to pay in the style they want is very intimidating. My own high standards mean that even the littlest mistake plays on my mind for weeks on end.

A lovely lady at work wanted a quilt for her granddaughter, I've made a few baby quilts recently and I loved how quickly they came together so I said yes. I was looking forward to the chance to use up some of my cute fabric stash, while trying out a new design I'd been wanting to play with for a while. Trouble was I agreed to make a double sided quilt. Yes, not one quilt top but two, and not only that but one side was to be pin wheels. I am rubbish at triangles, I can never get the points straight so you can just imagine how many hours of stitching and un-stitching this bad boy took. Hint: it was a lot.

Now it is done and delivered and the pressure is off I can appreciate how much I love this quilt and what I learnt from making it. I'm particularly impressed with the colour scheme. My brief was neutrals with a some colour, but muted colour which I think I balanced well. The pink and yellows are some of my very favourite Joel Dewberry herringbone pattern and there is a smattering of Japanese prints courtesy of The Eternal Maker as well.

The reverse is adapted from a pattern in Aronzo's Baby Stuff  a book filled with my go to baby gifts. The animals are so cute and so Japanese this is a quilt top I think I am going to make again and again. Out of the whole quilt my very favourite thing is the binding I made.

It was from the same material as the backing but cut on the bias. I was so supremely proud I managed to match all the stripes when stitching strips together - I'm such a sucker for a candy stripe. I wish I could find this fabric in another colour way to make miles and miles of candy striped binding but alas I can only find beige and cream so far. But I am going to keep on searching!

This commission gave me so much to think about and has been brilliant research for my professional practise module at college but I think for the time being I am going to stick to making baby quilts as gifts rather than for profit.