The Bear On The Chair

This was a request from one of my Sister-in-laws. 

Would I make a cot quilt for H? With a bear on it like your big quilt? With lots of bright colours?

Why not?

You can't have a bear floating in mid-air, and most bears that I know are fond of a comfortable chair, so there had to be a chair for the bear and he became The Bear On The Chair.

As it was for a baby, I kept it simple and washable!!! The materials were all cotton and the wadding machine washable so that it could be put through the machine. We (still) have a wide selection of quilting fabrics so I had a search and selected two fabrics with bears on for the body of the bear and another larger pierce for the border. Since it was for H, I created the background as a series of interlocked H's in bright blue, yellow and red, the Mother's favourite colours. The quilt was all hand stitched using English Piecing, in 1" squares and hand quilted 'in the ditch'.

For those who don't recognise the term, "English Piecing" is where you tack each piece of material onto paper, in this case 1" squares, then join all the pieces of the quilt top by hand before removing the papers. I love English Piecing because it gives sharp edges and accurate corners.

Looking back, I'm not sure I actually enjoyed making this quilt, but I was determined that it would be properly done. I spent 140 hours designing and stitching this and whether I liked the finished product or not, H's mother liked it. She even sent me a picture of H on the quilt - a picture I am not going to share - no man wants his 'Cute Baby Snaps' to go public.