Monday, January 4, 2010

Katie

Katie is a woman I work with, who is going through a pretty rough time. So I decided to make her a quilt.This was my own design, and I'm very happy with it. It was laid out prior to sewing into long strips, to make sure all of the little plus signs lined up. I used a lot of my pink and orange scraps, a colour combination that's been pulling me these days. The brown is kona cotton, and I put a 5" wide orange polka dotted border around it all, to pull it all together. I quilted it in random (non-drawn) lines in pink thread. Here's the back:I had made those string blocks about a year and a half ago, and it was part of a quilt that never quite materialized. The pink has a tiny white polka dot, and I put a strip of white on either side of the string blocks.
I'm very pleased with how this turned out. The most time consuming part was getting all of those plus signs where I wanted them, and knowing that I couldn't really change things or add on once I started sewing.
This quilt will be a complete surprise for Katie-- I just hope it brings her comfort and warmth.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

finally, a quilt for me

With a little bit of time off for the holidays, I got a lot of sewing accomplished. Here's the only quilt I started in 2009 that's definitely going to reside at the Sweat Shop:(Click to enlarge)
I love it, especially with the border. I quilted it in straight lines, in green thread, 1/4 of an inch outside each seam going one direction. I know that sounds confusing... so here's the back, with Cassidy:
I used green Kona cotton, I think the colour is celery (or at least, that's what I'm calling it).
One of the most thoughtful presents I got for my birthday was from Nicole, and she picked out 4 different yards of quilting cotton that are all very compatible with my stash, yet nothing I already had. I already used one of those fabrics for the binding in this quilt (and a second quilt-- pictures tomorrow). My brother-in-laws got me a pair of Gingher scissors, and I'm in love with them. They cut extra batting and fabric off of this quilt like it was no big deal.