Lakeside Resort Charm Quilt



Here is one of my latest quilts. I made it for my little brother and his wife for Christmas. This is the first year that we have done a gift exchange among my siblings, and the limit was set at $25. I wanted to make a quilt for their gift, but with such a small amount to work with, I didn't think I'd be able to do it. So I was all ready to get them a camera bag for their new camera. Well I was browsing in a local quilt shop the day after Thanksgiving and happened to see two Lakeside Resort charm packs on clearance. I had seen the line before and just loved the blues and greens, so I picked them up, thinking I'd make myself a lap quilt to take in the car or something. There was also a cute stripe print that was not part of the line, but matched really closely, so I got a little of that too. Once I got the stuff home, I started looking for a cute pattern to make, and ended up throwing one together in EQ6. By this point, I had done the math in my head and discovered that if I used fabric I already had for the sashing, borders and backing, I could easily make this quilt for my brother while spending less than $25 in new materials. So that's what I did.


I must admit that this is the first quilt I have ever made using charm packs. In fact, these are the first charm packs I have ever bought. Call me crazy, I like to have yardage! Anyway, it was pretty easy and fast with all the squares already cut, so I think I'm a fan. The only frustrating thing was trying to lay it all out and wishing I had more of one color or print and not having it. Anyway, I got it all put together and quilted it quickly (all hail the pantograph!), then I just went ahead and bound it with the matching stripe. Once I had the binding on, I totally hated it. I threw it on the couch where it sat for three or four days and every time I looked at it, I thought, there is no way I can give this away as a gift! I hate it! I told my husband how much I didn't like it now that I had ruined it with the now glaringly NON-matching striped binding and he said, "It's because it has too much brown in it!" (He hates brown).



In the end, I decided it was too late to find another gift, so I would just have to give it to them and hope they didn't hate it too! And then I took pictures of it. And I thought the pictures made it look so pretty. So I changed my mind...I do like it after all. And more importantly, little brother and his wife like it too! :)