welcome to the world, here's some pie

One of my oldest friends (perhaps the first I can remember having) had a baby recently (our parents grew up together in Florida--the dads-- and Korea--the moms-- and we lived across the street from each other when we were kids, she is kind of like my big sister, actually).  The baby is cute.  Cute babies deserve cute quilts (though I have made some quilts for some ugly babies too, so I guess cuteness isn't really a prerequisite for quilt making for me).  I am not sure if there is anyone else in Angie's life who feels the same way I do about the babies and the quilts, so I thought I should probably make sure Marley (that is said cute kid's name, how cute is that!) had a quilt to soil in creative ways love.  (Also, it was a great way to avoid weaving ends. And no, Minty, I am still not done.  That is how pathetic I am.)

I am not trying to kid myself or anyone else, my sewing skills are craptastic rudimentary, at best.  I need more practice to achieve the awesomeness adequate results that I can produce from knitting; but, honestly, I don't think I have it in me to knit a baby blanket.  I have crocheted them (though I really know very little about crochet); but knitting a blanket is like knitting a really wide and short scarf to me.  I hate knitting scarves. 

Anyway, this quilt...  I did a re ally good job piecing this quilt (if I do say so myself, and I do) and the layout is pretty cute--nothing like a charm quilt to emphasize fun creative fabric that one stumbles upon in Jo-Ann's.  Binding quilts make me nervous, but I think I did okay with that. 

I used Joelle Hoverson's method of machine binding because she is a genius (and also Marley had already entered the world at this point, so my deadline had come and gone so the binding needed doing lickety-quick-like). 

My problem is always the quilting.  I basted this thing like crazy; but, maybe I need to switch to basting without all the pins.  Also, I suppose it is a good idea to know how you are going to quilt the quilt before you baste.  I kind of made it up as I went un-clipping safety pins along the way.  Very inefficient (and just a little stupid) and, it didn't produce quite the finished look I was going for, but it is quilted.  It has also been packed, shipped and received.  Welcome to the world Marley. 

I hope you enjoy your quilt, because you certainly can not enjoy the pie I made for this week's cyber consumption.

It is a simple pear pie.

The filling is quartered pears with sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon.  It was supposed to have a walnut pastry crust; but, I left out the walnuts. 

It was still pretty good though.

I left out the walnuts because I got distracted.  I was working on Marley's quilt.  You know, priorities. 

Comments

[christine]

Okay, you can tell we no longer live in the same state because I had no idea Angie was pregnant! Congrats, Angie. I love the name Marley. Super cute. And I also love pie. Especially pie that is novamade. Can you please move here next year? :)

[Zarah]

I love the quilt! I think I'm going to copy it for my next baby quilt. Have you tried the basting spray? I guess I can't 100% endorse it yet, because my current quilt's not finished (so it might be super wrinkly and wonky once it's washed), but so far it seems AWESOME - sooooo much faster than sew basting or pin basting.

[yaiAnn]

My theory on baby quilts is this.. no matter the cuteness of the baby, the baby gets a quilt based on how dearly I cherish the friendship of the mom, or dad, to be.. and really how bad I want to become that baby's favorite auntie of ALL TIME ;) But seriously, yes, baby quilts rock!

And that pie, how did you know I have a sack of fast-ripening pears in my kitchen and that I was looking for a pie/tart recipe for them!! That pie is BEAUTIFUL!

[tiennie]

That is a fantastic quilt and sure to be cherished! I do love some pie and I so wished I lived closer to you and yaiAnn to sneak bites of your desserts!

[lolly]

the quilt looks great, Nova!!

[stacey]

the quilting part has always been the nightmare part for me also. I can never get it flat no matter how many hundreds of pins I use!

[kathy]

I wish I were as craptastic as you...

[Amy]

The pie looks fantastic as usual, but what a lovely baby quilt, too!

[katie]

love the quilt. it is great. Love how you did your pie crust for the pear pie. Yum. If you ever visit maine again, you should stop by. With some pie, of course!

[Mandy]

There are so many rules about quilting that it boggles the brains. But the more you make quilts the more you figure out. Because I am (obviously) a professional quilter. As if. But really, what I'm trying to say is that your quilt is fantastic. And maybe if it didn't come out exactly how you envisioned this time, you'll be able to get closer to your vision with your next quilt. You're right, too. You did a fantastic job piecing.

[Sarah R]

Hard to imagine that the baby is cuter than that adorable quilt. I'm betting there's an equal amount of cute spread around there. That quilt is so cheerful and...well, cute.

And the pie looks darn tasty. Yay for no walnuts. I never would have thought of making a pear pie. How dim is that!

[Opal]

That quilt is awesomeness personified. I love it.

I totally get not wanting to knit a baby blanket. I imagine knitting blankets as something akin to torture unless the design is extremely complex.

Love the pie too!

[Zarah]

The pie is just as beautiful as the quilt - one would be lucky to have either! I'm going to borrow the halved-fruit method of pie-making next time I make pie.

Also I love it that I'm the second Zarah to comment - it's nice to have company.

[Mintyfresh]

Wait, what did I say? Did I make fun of you for not being done? Because it would take me forever to finish that, too--ugh, ends.

But you're totally within your right to delay the ends for such fun quilts and tasty pies!!

[Johanna]

I love the quilt!

I also love the pie. The last few nights I've been making free form tarts for dessert. I thought about going pear tonight, but unfortunately Mike doesn't like pear... wish I lived closer to share with you. ;-)

[Kirstent]

The quilt is adorable!
And the pie, yum!

[SpiderWomanKnits]

What a quilt! What a friend! It's perfect and I am sure it will be cherished :-)

[Bea]

I think the quilt looks so awesome! I just took up quilting too, and I've just used straight pins to baste, and the lady who gave me some info at a local shop told me to space the pins a hand's width, and to start in the center and spiral outwards. My quilts don't look super finished either, granted I've only made two, and they are blankie size, I don't prewash either, I just sew as is, and wash and dry so that it all puckers at the end and gives it a "broken in" look. I think your's looks so awesome, you did an incredible job! That pie looks awesome too, I wish I could have some :) I bet it's gone already though!

[earthchick]

Super quilt! I love it!!!

[mmmmm the pie looks good too!]

[Charlene]

I found your blog linked from 'throughtheloops', and I really enjoyed it! You had me lol reading your 106 things about yourself. Loving your projects from quilting, to knitting, to pie making. I've got an obsession with knitting bags, and I think I'd like to try sewing up a 'box bag'. Thanks for the inspiration!

[Chancy]

I love the colors in your quilt in contrast to the stark white. What a great quilt. I also don't prewash the fabric so that once it gets washed it gets that broken in look and any quilting mistakes don't stand out as much. So you might want to think about that, but I think it turned out great as is.

[Beth]

I love that quilt. I received a quilt for my oldest son but not for the others. Maybe they weren't cute enough?

The pie looks yummy. If I come visit will you teach me to make pie crust? It intimidates me.

[Oiyi]

The pear looks divine. I can amost taste it!

The quilt looks adorable. And the piecing looks fantastic.

[leslie]

okay. love love love the quilt. and all of that white!
so. let me ask you. i am so new to quilting. are the strips in between squares or just strips. or are there a ton of white squares. oh i am confused! :)
excuse me while i tell my husband that we are in need of pears.

[Schrodinger]

Well, you can try and put down your sewing skills, but I'm in awe of the quilt. I'd be so happy if I can may anything half as good for baby.

Thanks for the pie tease, it looks as though it was delish!!