Guilt + Sew, Mama, Sew! Fat Quarter Month = Doll Quilts

After reading a post from Sew, Mama, Sew!'s month-long ode to fat quarters I was inspired. Three doll quilts were in order. A dose of mama guilt helped. How could I not have sewn my girls doll quilts before?! Well, maybe you can understand my aversion to sewing anything doll-related after reading this.

With three very young girls around the house we are never in short supply of baby things: diapers, blankets, brushes and cute clothes are everywhere. So when they do play with their dolls they just grab things we use everyday. But I hadn't made anything special for their dolls. In fact they have been hopelessly neglected if I do say so myself (many don't even have clothes to wear).

My girls don't particularly have an affinity for dolls anyway - they seem to prefer more active games like dress-up, spaceship and school - but I thought I would give these a whirl. I have plenty of fat quarters and scraps around the house. I didn't spend one extra cent on these projects, I just used up things I already had in my stash. I even used up some thrifted binding strips that were really too small for anything else. I feel particularly happy about this aspect of the project.

There is one in blue tones, one in green and one in tan/brown.

I also have to share that this was truly an inter-generational project. The girls and my mom created the the 'sandwiches' and helped get them ready for the final quilting. It wasn't hard to convince them to join in once they saw the fabric, masking tape and fluffy batting on the dining room table. Later that afternoon my older girls took turns sitting on my lap while sewing at the machine. I asked only that they sit relatively still, and place their hands on top of mine as we sewed. They sniped stray threads for me, picked up scraps from the sewing room floor, and were generally happy to play near me when not directly involved in the sewing. It didn't result in the most beautiful (or quality) quilting ever - and the experience wasn't without it's stressful moments. But I must say these are among the most meaningful projects I've ever done. I'm not too sure how much the quilts will get used. I couldn't even find them when I was picking up this morning. But right now I don't care. We had fun together.

With so many great little projects going up on the Sew, Mama, Sew! website for fat quarter month, I am tempted to go out and celebrate not spending money on this first project by snapping up some new fat quarters and making more cute things. I really have my eye on this little boxy pouch.