Yeap! I did a first in terms of doing up a baby bag and a baby quilt which is fully free motion quilted (FMQ)! Something I have been wanting to do (FMQ) for the longest time, but wasn’t confident enough to do it!
I have never done a baby bag before, although I have wanted to do one when my brother Ayis had his daughter, Fatin, more than 2 years ago. Instead, I gave his wife a tote bag as I felt that I wasn’t confident enough and was running out of time to make a bag for Sufia, my SIL, before she was due to deliver in March 2008.
But, this time around when my SIL, Eina, gave birth to Adam on 5th March 2010, I was quite firm that I needed to do this bag. I had wanted to initially make a tote bag for my SIL, Eina, even before she delivered, but as I was going through a lot of crisis on the office front, I could not get myself in the mood to sit down and make one. I wasn’t in a creative mood to design.
But when Adam was born with Crouzon Syndrome, an occurence of one in every 25,000 people, I knew I had to make something special for him. He came into the world being special, and so, it was the least I could to do as a show of moral support to my SIL, Eina and her hubby, Rushdan, as they will be going through a lot of trying times as Adam goes through many corrective surgeries to enable him to live a normal and healthy life.
He had just gone through his first surgery at only 47 days old. He will be going through another one in two months time, and many more after this until he is about 8 – 10 years old. May Allah give Eina and Rushdan lots of strength to go through it all, and may Adam be able to go through each surgery with success. Amin.
I started on the bag in early April 2010 but put it on hold many times as I find myself mentally and emotionally exhausted almost everyday that I come home from work with a crisis. I thought that I would not be able to complete it as the crisis at work escalated in early May 2010. But, when Adam went through his first surgery on 22 April, 2010, which coincidentally was also Aiman’s birthday, I pushed myself to complete it.
I completed the bag in the first week of May, and immediately started on the baby quilt.
Again, when the crisis in the office worsened in mid May, I pushed the quilt aside and did not touch it for another two weeks, spending a lot of the time in tears as my stress got simply too much to handle that I almost felt like throwing in the towel .
But, each time my hubby or I spoke to my SIL to inquire about Adam’s health, it was heart-wrenching just listening to her tell about what Adam had to go through that I forced myself to push my crisis aside and start concentrating on completing the quilt.
After I had done the top of the quilt, I contemplated whether I should just quilt the quilt in-the-ditch like I always would so that I can just get it done and over with. But, as I looked at the quilt, I thought that since this is a baby quilt, this is as good a time as any for me to give FMQ-ing a go, with the hope that my SIL Eina will not scrutinize the quilt too much! LOL! If ever the FMQ-ing turn out lousy, at least it is going to be a piece that my SIL will be able to just chuck it out of sight in a few years when Adam has outgrown it! LOL!
I spent many hours doing the free motion quilting, and enjoyed every minute of it as I see the FMQ coming to life, so to speak, as I quilted it. I took many breaks as advised by many of my quilting friends to avoid getting any shoulder aches and to ensure that my stitching stays consistent.
I must say that I am very pleased with the outcome. I just love the variegated thread that I had used and just love the effects it gave to the quilt.
Here is the other side of the quilt which matches the inside of the baby bag.
Of course you can't miss the AZNIQUE label! *wink*
I just can’t believe it that I had actually managed to fully free motion quilt it! It was something I have wanted to do it for ages, and I finally did it, through the crisis at all! LOL! I am so proud of myself. I should give myself a pat on the back, right? LOL! *wink*
I don’t know if I would have the guts to fully FMQ a queen size quilt though! *grin*
I have never done a baby bag before, although I have wanted to do one when my brother Ayis had his daughter, Fatin, more than 2 years ago. Instead, I gave his wife a tote bag as I felt that I wasn’t confident enough and was running out of time to make a bag for Sufia, my SIL, before she was due to deliver in March 2008.
But, this time around when my SIL, Eina, gave birth to Adam on 5th March 2010, I was quite firm that I needed to do this bag. I had wanted to initially make a tote bag for my SIL, Eina, even before she delivered, but as I was going through a lot of crisis on the office front, I could not get myself in the mood to sit down and make one. I wasn’t in a creative mood to design.
But when Adam was born with Crouzon Syndrome, an occurence of one in every 25,000 people, I knew I had to make something special for him. He came into the world being special, and so, it was the least I could to do as a show of moral support to my SIL, Eina and her hubby, Rushdan, as they will be going through a lot of trying times as Adam goes through many corrective surgeries to enable him to live a normal and healthy life.
He had just gone through his first surgery at only 47 days old. He will be going through another one in two months time, and many more after this until he is about 8 – 10 years old. May Allah give Eina and Rushdan lots of strength to go through it all, and may Adam be able to go through each surgery with success. Amin.
I started on the bag in early April 2010 but put it on hold many times as I find myself mentally and emotionally exhausted almost everyday that I come home from work with a crisis. I thought that I would not be able to complete it as the crisis at work escalated in early May 2010. But, when Adam went through his first surgery on 22 April, 2010, which coincidentally was also Aiman’s birthday, I pushed myself to complete it.
I completed the bag in the first week of May, and immediately started on the baby quilt.
Again, when the crisis in the office worsened in mid May, I pushed the quilt aside and did not touch it for another two weeks, spending a lot of the time in tears as my stress got simply too much to handle that I almost felt like throwing in the towel .
But, each time my hubby or I spoke to my SIL to inquire about Adam’s health, it was heart-wrenching just listening to her tell about what Adam had to go through that I forced myself to push my crisis aside and start concentrating on completing the quilt.
After I had done the top of the quilt, I contemplated whether I should just quilt the quilt in-the-ditch like I always would so that I can just get it done and over with. But, as I looked at the quilt, I thought that since this is a baby quilt, this is as good a time as any for me to give FMQ-ing a go, with the hope that my SIL Eina will not scrutinize the quilt too much! LOL! If ever the FMQ-ing turn out lousy, at least it is going to be a piece that my SIL will be able to just chuck it out of sight in a few years when Adam has outgrown it! LOL!
I spent many hours doing the free motion quilting, and enjoyed every minute of it as I see the FMQ coming to life, so to speak, as I quilted it. I took many breaks as advised by many of my quilting friends to avoid getting any shoulder aches and to ensure that my stitching stays consistent.
I must say that I am very pleased with the outcome. I just love the variegated thread that I had used and just love the effects it gave to the quilt.
Here is the other side of the quilt which matches the inside of the baby bag.
Of course you can't miss the AZNIQUE label! *wink*
I just can’t believe it that I had actually managed to fully free motion quilt it! It was something I have wanted to do it for ages, and I finally did it, through the crisis at all! LOL! I am so proud of myself. I should give myself a pat on the back, right? LOL! *wink*
I don’t know if I would have the guts to fully FMQ a queen size quilt though! *grin*
3 comments:
Za, a BIG WOW to you! The large quilt and its detailings, it looks so neat and pretty. And , I LOVE the baby bag. :-)
Thank you, Hani!
It's not actually that big actually, though it does look big in the photo, doesn't it? LOL!
Oh Kak Nun, so sorry to hear about Marina's newborn. May Allah give her and family strength raising him up.
Btw, he deserves that pretty bag you made :) Our salam to Marina and family.
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