A Simple Lap Quilt

This is, I know, an odd choice for the beginning of my Quilt Journal, but I just finished it and am pleased with it, although the only part that is mine is the binding.

A friend gave me a bag of fabric leftovers from her deceased mother's stash, and this large piece of specialty quilted fabric was in it - one side denim and the other side a homespun plaid, looks like, commercially quilted with a light batting inside. I don't know what Ronda's mother may have made from it, but the leftover piece trimmed to about 41 x 54 inches, perfect for a lap quilt.

I spent a pleasant hour or so rummaging in my fabric tubs for a binding fabric. Almost anything would've been fine with the denim, and I considered choosing something I knew would probably never be used elsewhere. Maybe a school print, with rulers, notepaper, apples, and such - the quilt will probably end up on the school bus anyway, to cover my special needs children on cold mornings. But I wanted even this almost-ready-made lap quilt to be special and look pretty, so I kept auditioning different pieces as I tried to match the plaid as well as the denim. I found two 10 inch pieces left from the Deer Quilt, the same pattern but one was gold and olive-brown and the other more orange and rust-brown. Perfect. I cut three 2 1/2 inch strips of each, and then cut the six strips into 12 shorter strips to alternate colors as I made the binding.

I never realized before how quickly and cheaply a good utility quilt could be made, one that can actually stand up to continuous use for a good many years, pretty yet not so special that I will need to worry about something happening to it. I'll be taking a closer look at the specialty quilted fabrics next time I am at the store.