Pastel Schmastel

I LOVE making custom quilts. It's my favorite sewing activity. Quilting is super fun for me, but when it's for someone I know (even just a little), a whole new piece of my heart gets involved. It is such a laborious project, often taking weeks or months or yes... even years if you are a good procrastinator like me.

So I received a custom quilt project a few months ago that involved only pastels. Ugh. I hate pastels. I know God made all colors and all creation quite beautifully. But really... I see pastels serving the same purpose as decaffinated coffee. Why bother?

And when I finally came to terms with this pastel thing, I learned only two were going to be used - green and yellow. OH MAN! First I have to limit myself to sad washed-out lifeless pastels only to realize that it will be even more colorless (yes, that's right - MORE COLORLESS, that's for all you pessimists out there) with just two.

The crazy soft minky backing was my favorite part of this quilt. The client wanted free-motion-quilting on the front, which minky doesn't work well with. So I quilted just the front and batting together. Then quilted "in the ditch" with the backing so everything was secure. It worked well, I recommend this process for all your free-motion but minky-backed projects.

I had to dig deep on this one; I won't lie. There was a lot of stress in this house over such a little project. But it got done and the recipient loved it and...


her friend requested an identical green and yellow pastel quilt.

Joy.