Well, it was supposed to be a shower gift, and little Katie turned two last weekend. Better late than never, as they say.
My goodness did I learn a lot on this one. I almost didn't give it to her, it was pretty bad. While I do like applique, I learned that I don't like this much of it, and this tiny. All of those leaves, hearts and letters were cut out and fused on. And because the pieces were so small, I didn't feel like I could do my usual machine blanket stitch around every one, so I tried a simple straight stitch around them, which I'd seen someone else do, but I must not have the trick because it came out awful. After a few shaky and clumsy attempts, I decided it was making things worse and I'd be better off just leaving them plain, no stitching. But I'm not pleased with that look either, and convinced that they'll all come right off with the first washing. I also feel that the colors are too jarring. So, this is definitely not my proudest moment nor my best work. But a good learning experience.
I decided to give it to Katie despite it's embarrassing details, because what else could I do with it? But I made it clear to the parents that this was no display piece. At best it's a doll quilt. Hopefully they will take it in that spirit.
After all that buildup, here it is:
This was also my first experience with this kind of label. I wrote it with a pigment pen, then ironed the edges under and used a hand blanket stitch to attach it. I hate doing labels and am still working on finding a reasonably painless way to do it. Haven't found it yet, although hand writing was way better than using my machine to stitch the letters, which is painstaking.
