A Quilt for Ruthie
I’ve never shown the finished quilt that my 10-year-old daughter Emma made for her doll Ruthie.
She machine pieced the Dresden Plate and borders and appliqued the plate by hand.
The other thing she did by hand was the quilting. Yes, I did think about having her restitch this section. I have concerns about its longevity ; ). But I didn’t have the heart to make her redo that much stitching. By the time I spotted it, she’d gone on for inches.
Plus, it is so dear. I love those big stitches.
Practice really does make perfect. Just look at how much her work improved! Her hands are so small, it was hard to rock that needle back and forth. I was proud of her that she kept at it.
She has been thinking about quilting it more… but decided to take a break before she decides for sure.
I told her it was up to her. She is the quilter. She gets to make her quilt exactly how she likes.
She even sewed a little hexagon throw pillow and pillowcase to match.
Lily also finished the quilt top for her doll, Kit. She did such a beautiful job with the hexagons and her color choices. It turned out so lovely. Now for her hard decision- to hand quilt or machine. Since her quilt was all hand pieced, except for the teal border, she is a little wary of hand quilting.
She is ready for some time on the sewing machine baby.
Again she is the quilter… and it’s up to her.
They are both already planning 1940’s style quilts for their other dolls Molly and Emily… both machine pieced.
They are AWESOME! Don’t know many adults who can come even close :) You tell those girls they did a beautiful job. And I love their fabric choices as well!
Absolutely fantastic!! They are naturals! Looking forward to seeing more of their creations!
Just found your blog and am so in love with all the fun ideas you do with your girls! I love quilting but and new to it. I have really enjoyed lookingthrough all of your quilting. I do have question about the hexagon quilts. how do you make them all the same. do you use paper templates? remove the paper templates or do some other method? Can you please send me details. I would love to do a quilt like that sometime but have not been able to find a good tutorial on it or even clear directions anywhere. Thanks!
Oh my goodness these are adorable and there is alot of work and talent on display here. I know that for a fact as I tried to make hexagons not too long ago and my first round was pitched…though the second one was ok and ended up on a pillow. But these are tiny! Much harder!
I found your blog a week or two ago and marked it to favorite but I don’t think I’d left a comment yet. Sorry, because I am most assuredly enjoying your blog! :)
Hi Debra, Thank you for your kind words! We use paper piecing for our hexagons. Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet makes hexagons the exact same way I was taught. It’s a wonderful method. Here is a link to her tutorial: http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2010/04/hexie-paper-piecing-tutorial.html
Wow, good job to those girls!
Good job ladies. Please post more pictures of your work so we can admire it.
Wow! She did an awesome job! Tonight my daughter (11 years old) is doing a quilting project for her 4-H club at school. I hope hers turns out as nice as yours!!!! Great job!
They are absolutely priceless. I hope they play with them but also keep them. They did a wonderful job.
I have been teaching my two kids to sew as well. They have done mostly hand stitching up to this point. I may show this post to them for inspiration. What grade are your girls in?
My girls are in 5th Grade. They just turned 11 a week ago… but were 10 making their quilts.
Beautiful work! I woulnd’t have a clue where to begin! Love the color choices! Excellent Job!
I am so proud of you for not making them re-do the quilt because it wasn’t perfect according to “quilt police” standards. Nothing kills creativity at that age than having to do it over or the thought that it isn’t good enough. What a good mom you are!!!!!!!
I am so proud of your girls! Their quilts are so beautiful!!! The American Girl Dolls should be so happy to sleep in such beautiful beds! There was definitely a lot of love put into making these quilts!!!
These little doll quilts are so sweet. Congratulations to your daughters on a beautiful job. I think something like this will be the perfect first quilt project for my granddaughter.
[…] my favorite two quilts in the show were my girls quilts… Emma’s Dresden for Ruthie and Lily’s Hexie for Kit. Lily is still hand quilting her quilt, but it was done enough to enter it into the show. Their […]