Category Archives: Quilts

Grandma and Baby Quilts

Just so you don’t think I haven’t been sewing at ALL….

My good friend Pru just had her first grandbaby. I think Pru might be my first friend to have a grandbaby during the course of our friendship. I think this means I’m getting old.

But in any event, it was nice to have a reason to make a baby quilt. Baby quilts are usually small and happy. The small part makes it quick to whip them up. The happy part means that I get to chose happy fabrics – pastels that I don’t usually work with, or in this case, bright rainbow colors. When I was in Houston, I got a rainbow set of fat quarters and figured that I’d find a good use for them. Well here they are. Jackson Victor’s baby quilt using my rainbow of fat quarters.

I  really enjoyed making this quilt. It didn’t take too long. I didn’t do a lot of quilting on it, because I didn’t want it to be too busy. Also, rather than using a binding, I decided to sandwich the quilt and finish it off more like a comforter. Then, I sewed about a half inch in from the edge to make it look like it has a binding. That’s a trick to use when, really, you just can’t bring yourself to make binding, put it on, and hand stitch it down.

So, once Jackson’s quilt was finished, I realized that I had cut exactly double the amount of fabric I needed from my rainbow palette. I decided to sew the strips together and create something from them. Here is the resulting “companion” quilt:

I decided to use the backing fabric from Jackson’s quilt on the binding I DID create for this one. And voila! I’ve decided to give the little quilt to Jackson’s grandma to commemorate his birth. It’s always nice to give a close relative a quilt made from the same fabric. It is special.

Later tonight, I will go and deliver the quilts. I’m so excited!

Pinterest

Wow. Have you looked at Pinterest? For a fabric and yarn junkie like me, there is a ton and then some of inspiration out there. I have started a few boards of my own. One is called She Who Dies With The Most Fabric Wins (which is also what my scoop.it page is called) and the other is Knit One Purl One. I bet you can tell what types of photos go on which board.

Here is what I love about Pinterest:

  • Variety of amazing photos
  • Ability to search for just about anything I can think of
  • Excitement of seeing stuff I’ve pinned re-pinned by other people
  • Reading comments on my pins made by people who I don’t know
  • Learning about other blogs and website – especially the ones with tutorials and instructions
  • Feeling like a part of a community of crafters

Here is what I’d like to see improved:

  • Grouping what I am VIEWING (not just what I am posting). I see a big mish-mash of all of the people and boards that I follow. I’d like to be able to see JUST my quilt follows or JUST my knitting follows
  • Some way to post a message to a fellow pinner who either is following me or I want to follow
  • Some way, other than simply typing it in, to say, “I didn’t make this piece” or “I made this”. Sometimes when I’m repinning I have little idea who made something. That makes me feel a little uncomfortable, because I don’t want people to think I’m as good as those others.

What strikes me most about the things I see is the quality of what gets pinned. Rarely do I see work that doesn’t impress me. I am simultaneously inspired and slightly depressed. But, always, it makes me want to sew or knit.

If you join Pinterest, please look for me. And then post some beautiful pins and I will follow you, too!

Sawing Teeth

Years ago – I think it is about 6 years or maybe more – one of my BFF’s, Janelle, and I started making a quilt for her daughter, Novim. The quilt is from Jinny Beyer and is a kit that Jinny put together. I have to tell you, this is the most difficult quilt I have ever worked on.

What makes it difficult is the extensive use of border fabric. Getting the borders to line up in so many places and in so many ways has been a real challenge. Often, it is more of a mental challenge than anything else. I swear it feels like I’ve ripped out twice as many seams as I’ve sewn in this quilt.

So, it’s been years and years of working on this quilt sporadically. And, no, we are still not finished with it. But, today we finally put the saw tooth border on it.

 

But, it’s not done yet! I just hope it doesn’t take another 6 years to finish.