Her Mother's Daughter

Flicky, my daughter, was home for Chrismas - she's in her third year at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.  She had a plan to make two quilts during her two-week stay as well as celebrating Christmas and New Year and she succeeded.  When it comes to hard work and sheer determination she is indeed her mother's daughter.

February's Bee Block - NYC Metro MOD Quilt Guild

Quite late making my February Bee Block for Queen Bee Ariana, haven't done any sewing for 5 weeks due to travelling and health issues but with several deadlines looming this was an easy project to get me gently back into sitting at the sewing machine.

Ariana provided the fabric - not 100% sure but I'd guess they're peppered cottons, I love the texture and softness.

The brief was to make a square within a square - the inner square to be abstract or geometric and any size while the outer square must take the overall block size to 9.5".

This is my finished block - initially I wanted to just do the tiny 9 patch surrounded with the outer square but, having created it using 3.4" strips which produce tiny 1/4" squares, there just wasn't enough of the outer fabric to complete the block :( .  As you can see I added more sections to the 9 patch to create a larger centre square which enabled me to achieve a 9.5" finished block.

See just how tiny those squares are compared to a US dime and a British penny.  You can also see how the fabric distorts given it's weave and softness.

Fingers crossed Ariana likes it.

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Finally Showcasing My 'Even The Dog's Got Two' Quilt

For the longest time my husband, Simon, kept commenting that I made quilts for everyone else but not for him.  I didn't pay any attention until the day he said

"everyone else has at least one quilt except me, even the dog's got two".

It couldn't be denied, the evidence is right here on this blog:

 Tatty's No Bind Pram/Stroller Quilt Tutorial

Play Quilt And Matching Dog Set

I needed to put matters right.  

I think I'd been putting off making him a quilt because I knew Simon would probably like his very own space themed Star Trek or Doctor Who quilt but there's no way I'm having anything like that in my living room as I have to live with it too. I'll leave you to make your own mind up whether I'm a total control freak ex-interior designer or maybe I just don't love him that much - either way, this is the plan I came up with.

For some time, as they wore out, I'd been collecting Simon's cotton and linen shirts and linen trousers all in shades of blue and brown so even when he's off to work he always co-ordinates with my apartment colour scheme.  At the same time, I saw a sample quilt hanging in a Manhattan quilt store for a  Pleated Patchwork class by Andrea Deal, you can see Andrea's quilt here on her website. The quilt is from the book Modern Neutrals by Amy Ellis @Amy's Creative Side and I knew this would be a perfect way to use the shirts/trousers and I think the quilt has a very strong masculine design too.

Here's a handful of photos taken as the process was ongoing

Other projects kept taking precedence over the quilt and although it was meant to be Simon's Christmas present I didn't actually finish it until Boxing Day (that's the day after Christmas Day celebrated by Commonwealth countries) but the good news is, Simon was thrilled with it.  I think I should tell you at this stage that I did also make him a travel bag lined with Star Trek fabric that I'll share with you another time so don't judge me too harshly as totally inadequate wife material (though I did say 'lined with', well I draw the line at it actually being visible!!!).

Obviously, over winter the weather was dreadful and I never got around to taking photos of the quilt.  I did pass comment that possibly the quilt should never actually be used as if it ever needed washing I really didn't want to stand and iron all those pleats back into place.

So this is the bit of the story where I totally get my comeuppance.

Our new pup, Watson, threw up on the quilt.
He committed his crime on a Saturday when I was working at the quilt store and Simon set to, washing the quilt and tumbling drying the life out of it till it was bone dry.  Every crinkle and crease were well and truly fixed in place, no iron was sorting out that mess.

Here's the only photo that exists of the quilt in its perfect, pre-washed state, taken by Nellie at our February NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting.

 .

Last week we finally had a few days of brighter weather, suitable for taking quilt photos.  I quickly rewashed the quilt and while it was still soaking wet I ironed it.  I was amazed how perfect the pleats still were, washing didn't affect them in the slightest and they required minimal if no ironing.  The most difficult part of the quilt to iron was the back - it's made from Peppered Cottons and no amount of pressing can make it look pristine as you're always pressing against the lumps and bumps of the pleats on the underside.

Ironed as best as I could manage I left the quilt to hang dry overnight and here are the pics from its photocall last week:

The quilt is really heavy and incredibly warm.  I guess the quilt top is actually three layers of fabric due to the way the pleats are created and the pleats themselves probably trap air and, therefore, heat.

This pic shows how difficult it was to iron the peppered cotton flat but you can also see how I've quilted it - either side of the ditch to create the square design and to avoid sewing over the pleats and spoiling the texture and effect of the quilt front.

So the long-suffering Simon, at last, has his own quilt to stay warm under on a cold winter's night, finally a happy ending ...

well, that's not quite how it is ...

there's two little people who have their own ideas about the new quilt on the block and they're not moving anywhere fast.  

Poor Simon, maybe I'll make you another quilt sometime or maybe you're just not meant to have a quilt at all? x

Find out more about the life of this quilt here:

Disclaimer: 
This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

'Across Continents' - An Improvised Quilt

 Love knows not distance; it hath no continent; its eyes are for the stars - Gilbert Parker

Here's my latest quilt finish and it's a first for me - I've moved away from traditional piecing and quilt patterns and instead I've pieced the fabrics in a modern, improvised, rectangular design.

I was inspired by my fellow Manhattan quilt store Staffer, Mallory, who made a fab quilt using Kibibi Sheeting in Sienna from the Africa collection by the De Leon Design Group for the Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection 2012, it's amazing with wonderful birds and flowers and I used it as the inspiration to pull all the other fabrics!  

Other fabrics in the quilt are:

Red fabric on the quilt top - P&B Textiles Bear Essentials 2 collection

Yellow paisley fabric - Andover Fabrics: Crimson Bouquet A-5413-Y by Jo Morton

Below is a fern floral fabric inspired by a quilt from the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln designed by Jo Morton and Kathy Hall - Andover Fabrics: IQSC Square in Square A-5885-K

 

I've switched continents again including a striped panel of Wagara indigo Japanese fabric across the bottom of the quilt top and also two strips of another Wagara indigo to frame the upper rectangle on the quilt top.  I've used these two fabrics sparingly as they're so expensive $36.50/yard!

Creating a base for all the fabrics is the wonderful Kaufman Essex Linen Yarn dyed Black
 and the binding is Shades of Black by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda #22196

The finished quilt measures 52" x 80" and the quilting is 4.5" vertical lines using Aurifil #4030 - Plum and a 3.2 stitch.  I've also quilted 1/8" either side of any seams to support the differing weights of fabrics at these weaker points.

And here's the back - the red on this side of the quilt is the most wonderful, soft Peppered Cotton #26 Garnet from Pepper Cory for Studio E Fabrics.

That peppered cotton is just to die for and is probably one of the main reasons that this is now my favourite quilt that I've ever made!

Disclaimer: 

This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.