Quilt in a Day

One of my proudest quilting accomplishments thus far is my Quilt  in a Day, or what I’m jokingly referring to as my Roman Holiday quilt (“Rome wasn’t built in a day” + holiday gift… get it?).

Every year, my closest friends and I draw names for a Secret Santa-type gift exchange. After I received my secret name, I excitedly ordered fabric on Etsy, knowing that I was going to have about four days to finish the quilt after the fabric arrived. Unfortunately, the scheduled arrival time came and went, and that’s when I started to get nervous. Two days before the gift exchange, I rushed to the local fabric store, only to find that I showed up 15 minutes before closing time.

I took a deep breath and dove into the aisles of fabric. I quickly decided to focus on a polka dot theme, with yellow being the primary color (yellow has been my friend’s favorite color since I’ve known her, all the way back to first grade). In five minutes, I had completed a process that typically takes me days, and my fabric was at the counter to be cut. I then realized that I had no clue how much fabric I’d need, or what I would be using each one for, exactly. So I made a quick guess, and the patient lady at the counter had my fabric ready quick enough for me to be out of the store with moments to spare. As I lay in bed that night, I realized that I had no plans for the backing.

The next day, I planned the quilt as I went along, cutting and sewing and running last-minute Christmas errands as the hours passed. I was also wracking my brain trying to think of what I could possibly use for the backing. I’d already spent my entire Secret Santa budget on the quilt top fabric, so I had to use something I already had on hand. Suddenly, it came to me! I had a flat sheet I’d bought two years ago for use as fabric (on clearance at Target). It was perfect: cream-colored with black and gray polka dots. And it was super-soft. I was a little worried that the higher thread count would cause trouble for my needle as I quilted it, but it was smooth-sailing.

At midnight, it was finished. Surprisingly, it was a little bit difficult to think of giving away, but I got over that pretty quickly and wrapped it up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures. The next day, when it was with its proud new owner, she wouldn’t let go of it long enough to get a full picture. I take it as a compliment. 🙂

In the end, the quilt was so simple, but so fun to make that I’m pondering the idea of doing a tutorial. And it just so happens that I have just enough fabric left from the original that I can recreate it! I have to go back to work in a couple of days, so time will tell if this actually happens, but I’m excited at the prospect.