Treasure Hunt

Since last week, it feels like I have been sewing nonstop around here.  This quilt using Bespoke Blooms fabric is the very last quilt that I had to finish before Christmas, and now that it's done and delivered, I can take it easy and just sew for fun.  I always try to have my Christmas to-do list finished with a couple of weeks to spare, because December is just so full!

The soft colors and prints in the fabrics create such a pretty wash of light and dark over the quilt, and you might notice that there are a few different pieces mixed in.  This quilt is a special gift for its recipient, containing small pieces of clothing from all four of her grandparents, both parents, her husband, and all three daughters.  Seeking out all of the snippets of clothing will be a special treasure hunt for her, so that's what I decided to name this quilt.

On the back I used all of the leftovers, rounded it out with strips of Kona Tarragon, and quilted with a gentle stipple.  Some of the clothing pieces contained cute embroidery, and I didn't want to quilt through those too much.  And of course, less dense quilting keeps the quilt nice and soft as well.  I decided to use Kona Silver for the binding.  I wanted to be sure that the quilt felt grown up, even with the softer colors, and the soft gray does the trick.

The back also contains a special dedication, with the recipient's name and date, as well as a quote from a favorite piece of literature.  It is placed at the top of the quilt, so that when she is covered up with the quilt and it is folded down, she will be able to read it.

This finished quilt measures 70" x 90" and though the soft colors are outside of the norm for me, they really work to give the quilt a timeless feel.  This quilt is sure to be treasured by her family for years, and I'm so glad I got to create such a personal keepsake for them.

Finishing a Set of Four

Since I quit teaching to quilt full time, I have made several memory quilts from clothing, and I have been dividing my time between "work" quilting and "hobby" quilting (quilting where the design and fabrics are mostly of my own choosing).  Memory quilts are so special to their recipients and each one has its own unique qualities, but I don't usually include them on here because I feel like there are only so many men's shirt quilts I can write about (in October alone, I made eight).  

This week however, I have been working on a set of four memory quilts that are a little different.  They are the first I have made from ladies' clothing, namely pajamas and a few blouses.  Since most memory quilts I've seen are masculine, I wanted to share them.

I took the photos of these four quilts yesterday after quilting, but before binding since we had another full day of rain today (which incidentally made for an interesting trick or treat experience).  Oh, and the breeze in the air is making the seams look crooked, but they aren't.  Admittedly though, some of the stripes and plaids are not completely straight, but that's inevitable when you're working with clothing and are trying to use every bit of fabric.  Straightening the print sometimes just wastes too much.

The trickiest part was making the limited fabric stretch into four quilts.  It took quite a bit of planning to ensure that I cut the clothing wisely.  Each quilt measures 48 inches square.

Also included in the box of clothing for these quilts were four embroidered pillow cases, and when I saw them, I knew I needed to find a way to incorporate that lovely hand work into a quilt without cutting it.  I made a giant log cabin quilt, which perfectly used the long, wide strips, and also made use of shorter pieces without them looking out of place.

There are four pieces of embroidery in this quilt, and most of them are small, simple flowers, but my favorite by far is this one.  Aren't the little birds so sweet?

The backings are identical on all four quilts.  I found this large pink polkadot fabric that is almost a spot-on match for one of the pajama fabrics (can't resist a good pun!), and Kona Candy Blue is just about perfect as well.

Although the photos don't show it, the binding I chose for these quilts is a pretty shade of buttery yellow, and I finished all four this morning before all of the Halloween hoopla tonight.  I can't wait to get these delivered!