Some Gifts

You may remember this as a top from a post a few months ago. It was recently quilted by Susan Atwell of the Fat Quarter Quilt Farm. This was a gift for new son-in-law Adam, the hockey player. After I made this top, Adam retired from playing, and is now on sports radio in Corpus Christi, Texas. These were the team's (Corpus Christi Rays) colors. They also happen to be the Chicago Black Hawks team colors, so it was a win-win! One of his former college teammates plays for them. This was his Christmas gift from me this year.

The border and binding used up many of my black strips.
Jessi asked after some of her quilts that she used to have in her bedroom. She asked if they could go home with her - they drove from Texas! - and I was happy that she asked, and happy that it freed up a bit of space in the quilt/linen closet.

This was maybe the fifth quilt or so that I ever made in the mid-90s. It was also the first quilt that I ever machine quilted. I remember going about it fearlessly, and really didn't encounter any problems. It was quilted with invisible thread which I still really like. I think that it gives a hand-quilted appearance because only the texture is noticeable. People don't seem to quilt with this type of thread much anymore, do they? Do any of you have experience with the invisible threads? I remember that this was nylon, but I know that Superior makes a polyester, too. Perhaps this is the new generation of these threads?

Just some simple, straight line quilting. Free motion still scares me silly!

This was Jessi's graduation gift. She went off to college in North Carolina, and became a marine biologist mainly because of her love of dolphins.

I also machine quilted this one, but used an invisible thread here, too, but with a bit of sparkle to look like light reflecting on the water. I used a walking foot, and had no problem with these narrow curves.

Another gifted quilt that I made recently was for my niece, Betsy. She and her husband, Richard, welcomed their first child, Fiona in October. They are both art majors, and seem to enjoy modern and 60's retro designs. This fabric had to be purchased for this quilt. I certainly don't have anything like this in my stash! Her is the back where I was able to use leftover strips, and one width of yardage.

This was inspired, and, frankly, copied from something that I saw online, but can't recall where. Susan quilted this one, too. It was fun to use fabrics that are completely different than what I normally use, but I am anxious to get into the sewing room, and work with some of the dark, and depressing that I so love!

Roberta Horton Plaids

Well, National Quilting Day proved to be more like National Basting Day for me. I basted some little tops to have ready for hand quilting, and haven't spent much time in the sewing room since. So, I thought that I would show you one of my quilts for napping/reading. This was made from the Roberta Horton plaids. I remember buying small amounts of all of them. In anticipation of making what, I don't remember.
The pillow on the settee began life as a reticule, I believe. It had a casing with a drawstring of the same fabric. The linen fabric is so beautiful, that I wanted to see more of it. Three edges were already sewn, so the casing and drawstring just got tucked down inside, and one more seam made a pillow. Couldn't have been much easier! Here is a detail of the quilt. I quilted it with embroidery thread using a big stitch. It must have been the "thing to do" at the time. There is no give to the thread, which has caused breakage of the stitches. Perhaps that's why that type of quilting isn't done much! Oh well, it's not the first one of my quilts to be used, and somewhat abused. My dog still likes to lie on it when it's on my lap, so it's serving it's purpose.

Vicki and I are attending the local String A Long quilt show tomorrow, so we should have some great quilts to post!

Getting Chilly

Here in the Midwest, I woke up to 49 degrees. My house was only at 62 degrees. I know that it will be much colder before too long, but these nippy mornings come as bit of a shock until I adjust to it. Time to get out my favorite napping quilt. A quilt of this pattern was on the wall of a quilt shop about five years ago. I took some quick notes, and went home to make it. One of my favorite color combos is blue and brown, and since it was to be a quilt for me, that's what I ran with. Susan Atwell quilted it for me. I asked her to do something organic in the snowball block. This is what she did - kind of a free-form flower. I really like it, and the quilt is nice and snuggly; plenty long enough to tuck under toes, and plenty wide enough to wrap, and tuck around me. It will be getting some heavy duty use in the next few months.