French Roses Quilt

I first saw this quilt when I was visiting a quilt shop in Vero Beach, FL with my mother-in-law.  I fell in love with it instantly.  I am such a fan of quilts that have that cozy look to them while still being super cute.  It is the French Roses quilt by Heather French, you can by it here.  It is actually quite an easy quilt to make, very little seam matching is required so it actually can be done by a beginner.  If you are seriously interested in getting into quilting, I wouldn't recommend it only because it doesn't teach you the importance of precision in quilting.  I will post later my first actual "quilt" that I did and I will give you a tutorial to follow.  Hopefully it will come in the next few weeks.

I have so much fun at the fabric store.  Pattern in hand, I head through those fabrics with a mission in mind.  "Where do I want to go with this".  If any of you have ever been to Fabric Depot in Portland, you know that it can be a little overwhelming.  I start by finding one fabric that catches my eye and build from there.  With this one, I found a rounder with a few fabrics that I loved.  I loved that blue polka dot, but this was for my daughter so I knew that I had to make it "girly".  The light pink flower print had some blue in it, so I could then work off of those pinks and reds.  It is a building process.  Remember, once the quilt is finished, the colors come from the finished product, not the individual pieces.

I choose this red minky for the backing because I have used it before and it washes up great and keeps its warm cozy feel.  Some of the minky fabrics out there don't wash up quite as well so I stick with this stripe fabric and another boxed one similar to this.

When I quilted this one, I decided to cut some corners and only quilt around the exterior of the flowers.  As you can see, after washing it, I found out that wasn't a good idea.  After washing, I went back and quilted twice around the borders of each petal so I wouldn't have this problem again.  Since then, the quilt has held up great through many washings.  Don't worry about staying on the lines as you quilt around the petals, the messiness gives it the vintage feel it needs.

I finished it with my daughters name in the corner.  It added a little ownership for her.  She is only 5, she deserves it...  I still love this quilt after a year and a half.  I have even made a twin sized quilt for one of my cousin's daughters with a matching pillowcase.  Remember, if you decide to try this and you have any questions, please email me with questions, I would love to help you.

Anybody can do this, even you!


Darla