Friday 19 August 2016

In the Garden: A Finished Quilt

One of my husband's aunts is turning 65 this year. She is a kind, generous and very humble person and has never asked for a thing in the 15+ years I have known her. But two years ago she hinted that she was going to be turning 65 and she sure does love my quilts....

Well how could I say no to that? I asked her for colours and she said "brown and earthy." I hate those colours. Yuck. And I have to love the fabric to love making the quilt. So I found the perfect Lewis & Irene print for my starting point and then went with it. This unusual colour combo is the result and I really love it!

Here is In the Garden:
I still am not sure if the flying geese look better up or down. The recipient can decide!

I love how the small flying geese look next to the big ones.

I did lots of straight line quilting at random places to add some texture to the quilt overall (as well as secure all those geese!) This picture also gives you a good shot of the Lewis & Irene print that started the whole thing!

There are a few playful details like this mouse block which is a bit of whimsy, perfect for the whimsical recipient.
The binding is Carolyn Friedlander in this lovely dark shade of brown.
The back is my go-to Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets in chocolate. I didn't even try to match up the pattern. I went with all one fabric this time because I specifically ordered this from a clearance sale at Pink Castle Fabrics and since brown is NOT my thing I didn't want too much left over!
I used white Aurafil for all the quilting and I like how it adds subtle texture and interest on the reverse of the quilt as well.
I will not be seeing this aunt until (Canadian) Thanksgiving, which is two weeks after her birthday. My mother-in-law saw the quilt and is sure that the aunt will absolutely love it. I hope so because I sure love it!

Sunday 14 August 2016

Midnight at the Museum: A Finished Quilt

I have wanted to make a triangle quilt for a very long time. I bought a 60 degree ruler for this purpose but never seemed to have the right project. Then when I did this pull for a five-year-old who is in my close group of friends, the idea of triangles seemed just right.

Now. The ruler is awesome. And the quilt is awesome. But I did not read the directions about how to assemble the rows and that bit me in the butt. EVERY SINGLE POINT was cut off when I assembled the rows. It was entirely user error. There is a tricky way to put them together so this doesn't happen but I didn't bother to check that until after all my rows were all assembled. My friend A suggested I call it an artistic choice. I voted yes! (Now WAY was I ripping out every single row!)

The end result is still adorable and the error is probably most noticeable to me. The quilting helped to fix the illusion a bit so overall I'm very happy with the end result.

Here is Midnight at the Museum:
I totally love how these prints work together. The pops of lime green really make it for me.

Though most of the prints are from Lizzy House Natural History or Pearl Bracelets, there is also the only Cookie Book print from C+S that I like, some Herringbone and a few other navys that are from my stash. Don't they play nicely together?

I used the blue Mini Pearl Bracelets that is the majority of the backing for the binding too.

I had more than enough of the mini Pearl Bracelets to do it in all one print but I so much prefer to have a pieced back. I had a strip of this beautiful print from the elephant quilt I made my new nephew and couldn't resist adding it.

Doesn't this add more interest and fun?

I did angular straight line quilting and I love how it looks on the back (and the front) where the lines intersect!
The quilt's colour scheme and overall look both delight me and I definitely want to try another triangle quilt in the future...but this time following the instructions!