Sugar Pop Charm Square Quilt

I am not a quilter.  Seriously.  I have made one other quilt in my life.  It was a pretty elaborate quilt for my daughter Savannah's big girl room from designer Heather Bailey's "Freshcut" line.  I spent so much time piecing the top of this twin-size quilt that I decided I didn't need to mess it up with the quilting, so I sent it out to be machine quilted by a professional.

I have seen a lot of quilting popping up during this holiday season and was inspired by Anna's "Sherbert Pips Quilt" she made for her daughter and Rae's most recent "Storytime Squares Quilt".   I think it's always good to try new things......so quilting it is!

The first problem I have with quilting is that I'm not the most patient person.  Granted, I have come along way since having children, but I think that is why I love sewing clothing.  I can come up with a design in my head and three hours later, it's out of my head and a finished garment.  But I am continually working on my weaknesses, so I thought a little quilting would be good for me.

Here is the Sugar Pop Charm Square Quilt that I made for my daughter youngest daughter Matilda for Christmas:

I used two packs of charm squares for this quilt.  Charm squares are precut 5" x 5" squares of fabric.  There are typically 42 squares in each charm square pack and you will sometimes hear these sets referred to as "precuts".  Charm squares can be used for many different things such as patchwork skirts, dresses, table runners, baby doll quilts, scarfs or just about anything where you are looking for some patchwork.  They are also a great way to see all the prints in a line of fabric without committing to a whole yard of something.

There are other forms of "precuts" such as layer cakes (10" x 10" squares), jelly rolls (long strips of precut fabric), and fat quarter sets (1/4 yard cuts of fabric).

With my lack of patience, using precuts for quilting makes this a much quicker project as opposed to cutting all the pieces myself.  Plus it's so fun to use all the different prints from one line!

When independent fabric designer, Liz Scott, released her "Sugar Pop" line for Moda, I knew I had to have it!  Liz Scott is a fabulous designer and prior to this release her designs could be purchased through Spoonflower at a very pretty penny.  Having her do a line through Moda helped her designs become more affordable for the masses. 

Whenever I am making things for my girls, I always try to make sure I choose fabrics that they will enjoy now and will carry on into their teen or adult years.  I think the bright pops of color and florals are great for my little Matilda right now, but I think a teen girl would equally enjoy this quilt.

I attached my clothing label to the front of this quilt so Miss Matilda will always know that her mama made this quilt for her with love.

I used my walking foot to do the quilting and did 1" spaces between the lines on the diagonal.  I used pink thread for the quilting and quilters 80/20 for the batting.

The quilt is backed in a pink solid flannel and the binding is done in a soft yellow.  To make the binding go a bit quicker, I stitched it on with my machine rather than sewing it by hand.

Matilda is only 17-months old, so is she really going to love this quilt now?  Probably not quite yet.  But I always feel like she gets the short-end of the stick when it comes to new toys or clothes or really anything since she is the second child and a second girl at that (even though we try so hard not to).  So I wanted to do something special for her this Christmas - something that was just for her!

Quilting is definitely something I have always wanted to try.  Did I get hit by the quilting bug?  Um, well, I don't think so.  I'm still a clothing designer at heart, but it was really fun trying something new.  And it definitely gave me new appreciation for the time and energy that goes into a truly beautiful quilt!