Disney quilt

Last year I made quilts for all the teachers. This year I had no intention of making a quilt for anyone, but a couple sneaked in. Sort of. Quilts take a lot of time to create - even simple quilts - so they never really just sneak in!

One of the teachers who received a quilt from me last year asked if I would make one for her daughter. I don't know anyone who would say no. As the request was also made in the first half of the year I happily said yes.

Her daughter is also a teacher and loves Disney characters. The classic Disney characters from decades ago that are still loved by young and old alike. So, naturally, a Disney quilt was requested.

I struggled with this quilt. The majority of the Disney fabric was provided - including two cot panels. I love cot panels; they provide a base that can be added to or simply left as it is. What I struggled with was the fact that this quilt was for a twenty something woman. Not a baby. I didn't want to make a quilt that looked like it was made for a baby. Yet I had two cot panels to work with, one for the front of the quilt and one for the back, that were pale in colour and, well, babyish when I looked at them.

As with all my quilts I kept the design simple. The panels were not big enough on their own, so I added borders to increase the overall size of the quilt. This also allowed me to introduce other fabric to shake off the baby quilt feeling that I had.

I think I could have gone slightly bigger in size, but I was happy enough with the quilt when it was finished. And I was feeling a bit better about it not looking as though it were made for use by a baby.

I was a bit worried about how the quilt would be received, but needn't have been. The teacher who requested the quilt for her daughter loved it and shed a few joyful tears. That is the greatest thanks I could ever receive. As it turns out, the teacher's daughter has just had significant surgery, so hopefully it will be help to cheer her up during her recovery.

It was also nice to be able to tick an item off my Finish Along list for the final quarter of 2014.