Quilting in the hotel....

This is definitely not something I would recommend if you are looking for a beautiful, hand-crafted piece to warm up your house. It is just hard to make it work when you have about 50 square feet to work with, none of the spaces being big enough to lay your quilt flat...

Tim and I started this quilt on our anniversary (June 16th) as a way to have fun in the house while we acquainted ourselves with Jaxson and all the routines that came with a new baby. We spent a rainy afternoon looking for fabric and designing the quilt (Tim was the project manager). We decided to take on an "Irish" theme and chose a series of greens with cream and red accents.

Cutting and sewing each individual square was a breeze. We were so happy with the precision were sure we were master quilters. We even ironed each piece so neatly. Tim created the middle square and hand-stitched the shamrock on. It looks great.

Sewing the squares and borders together went relatively smooth. There were only a few bumps along the way, and an extra trip to the fabric store. The quilt top was completed and looked pretty good! Unfortunately, that is only the beginning to the "quilting process."

I was going to try and finish the quilt during the day while Tim was at work and surprise him with the finished product (Tim volunteered strictly for designing, cutting, and managing, NOT sewing). So, I thought this would be easy to hide. Well, it turns out I am a messy crafter and I found myself running out of time each day to clean up the traces of my days work. I also had a hard time explaining to Tim that I "just hung out" all day. One day, the mess was too much and Tim was able to see the progress.

Now for pinning the quilt top, batting, and quilt top together.....let's just say it's done (This is the part that is NOT easy to do in a small hotel room).

I do not have a quilting sewing machine. And if you are going for that artistic precision, I recommend using one.

The quilt is mostly completed. I am going to turn over the red backing to make a border around the front. I hope to finish it by the time we head back to Boise.