HOPE QUILT: The final product!

A while back in March, I did a blog post about making a HOPE QUILT. I had been wanting to do one for a long long time and So in the midst of all the IVF stuff I decided it was time. 

I asked for anyone- family or friend- that wanted to, to give or mail me a scrap of fabric, new or old, along with a note explaining why you were contributing.

I would use all the pieces to sew a baby quilt.

This quilt is what we will wrap our baby or child (now that adoption is a possibility too!) in when we bring them home----wrapped in the love of all the wonderful people in our lives that have prayed and hoped with us over the years for that child to come into our home and our lives.

So I started asking for fabric. It came slowly, bit by bit. The notes were tender and the fabrics all so beautiful. They all touched my heart so much.

It took months and months to get them all. A few sisters eh-hem eh-ehm...were slackers. ;) but that's ok because it gave other friends and family members time to find out about it and contribute which made me so so happy! 

Sadly I've talked to a couple people since I finished that didn't know about it and so couldn't contribute and I'm sad about missing out on them but their love is sewn in there too. :)

NOW let me tell you about how it went!!

Here's my cute little stack of all the fabrics we received! I couldn't believe how it just kept growing! :)

I had found a tutorial on how to make..... an easier quilt. :) A beginner's love, I guess. Very simple and forgiving and has character! 

Then I found a picture of a quilt with the squares turned like diamonds and decided I wanted that as well.

So I set out to do a practice tiny baby quilt with some fabrics I had that happened to work together. 

I was so incredibly happy with the result! It was fast and simple and right up my alley! I had never quilted before and hardly ever even used my sewing machine so to have it actually turn out had me jumping up and down. I love showing it off.....I hope no one thinks I'm a bragger. I just can't believe it actually worked! Ha!

I am in LOVE with the quilted look on the white flannel. I think the texture it just gorgeous. I don't know why, it just is so lovely. Even though my lines are uneven and crooked in areas. I think that's what it so cool about homemade quilts anyway. They have character. 

I learned from Bryce's grammy that you always put a patch on with the date and your *signature. 

It makes them so extra personal! 

SO here is when I started out. I was originally going to do it on white flannel: 

But realized I needed something with color so I went with teal/light blue. It's my fave lately and I'm happy with the results.

Here's a closeup of a few of the square after I sewed them on:

This type of quilting is so easy.

You just cut your squares of fabric.

Use a fabric glue stick on the backs of the squares and place them on one full piece of quilt size fabric.

Use batting spray to 'glue' the batting to the back and then the same thing for the fabric for the opposite side. 

Then you run the whole thing through your sewing machine, one row at a time, all the way across all the squares. Do all the horizontal lines across the quilt and then go back and do all the vertical lines.

Then iron and sew on the binding and the patch. 

BAM! ;) 

Lastly is washing it. This makes the edges of all the pieces fray. Now I will warn you, if you use cotton fabrics, they fray in long threads and have to be trimmed after the first few washes but should* (still testing) stop once they reach the stitching. If you don't want this, then use flannel. It frays nicer from what I understand. That's what they used in the tutorial I watched on it.

The binding was a big question for me. It took me a lot of thinking to come up with the color to use. Because it has such a wide variety of patterns and colors on the front, I realized I needed a bright bold color binding that would frame it all together and 'hold' them all together. Another concern is that this has to remain somewhat gender neutral since we have no idea if we'll bring home a boy or a girl. SO, I went back and forth a lot until I went back to the store and just walked around with the teal fabric I already had for the back. 

I came across this gorgeous orange fabric and just knew it was perfect. 

I was so SO excited when I found it! I even ironed and sewed it to have the circles line of perfectly all the way around. I love how it worked out.

Also, I have to say.... When I was making the patch, I asked Bryce what he thought and he totally helped me pick out the yellow and where to put it on the back and how to place it. He's a doll. I love him so much! 

This time I *signed it as "Made with love by Mommy" instead of by Cherise because this will one day be my little one's blanket. I don't know how our children will come into our home. We still hope that we will be able to have one biological child because we have our one precious embryo still waiting for us. But we also know there are children that will be coming to us through adoption. We don't know when but we know it will happen. :)

Here it is, already being put to use: Snuggles!

Yes, those are my feet at the bottom and my hands at the top holding it up. 

It's about 45x60inches. I wasn't going for a specific size because I just wanted to fit all the pieces (60) of fabric I had but it turned out to be a good size for a crib! :)

I am putting it to good use already. I love snuggling up under it and feel the love of so many amazing people who helped contribute to it (and those who didn't get to as well!). It's a physical reminder of the many people who have blessed our lives. 

So by the time we get to bring our first little one home, this blanket will be well-worn and ready to snuggle in.