The Very Hungry Caterpillar

When my colleague told me a couple of weeks ago that her son's first birthday party theme was going to be "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," I thought, "Great, I'll whip up a small quilt for a unique gift!" A good friend sent me the caterpillar fabric which I received on Tuesday.  I spent Wednesday evening researching other quilts made from the same panel for construction ideas. They were pretty much the same, easy round-robin type borders around the central panel. Thursday and Friday evenings were devoted to construction, using some of my own stash fabric. Saturday I had to find backing, pin and machine-quilt it. I finished that about 11 pm figuring I'd put the binding on Sunday morning and off I would go to the birthday boy's party! I think that would have been a personal best for me, completing a fairly good-sized kid's quilt in a matter of days.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling sick, so I didn't get to the party and only finished the quilt yesterday. I delivered it this morning, a week late, but this time his Mom was in sick in bed, so I didn't stick around.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Caterpillar's New Home

Sweet William

Sweet William

Civil War era reproduction quilts make me feel warm and comfy all over. I feel a special affinity for this style but can't pick anything specific about the quilts besides their looking old. However, because my house is over 100 years old, these quilts have an instant home.

Sweet William, about 22 inches square, was made from a kit of fabrics, some of which I swapped out. The pattern is by Carol Hopkins in her Civil War Legacies series. The stars and triangle border were hand pieced during the summers at the beach. It is hand-quilted.