Quilts from 2013

The College Quilt

The cobbler's children go barefoot and this quilter's daughter went off to college in 2012 without  a special quilt.

I had colors in mind to match her new college sheets, but life just got too complicated and it got put even farther back than the back burner.   Then I thought I would try again for her birthday in February 2013.  There had been a demonstration at my quilt guild meeting about how to make a "Lasagna Quilt."  Sew 2.5" strips end to end and then sew them side by side.  Some groups do this as a race.  Hmm.  Speedy had a certain appeal, but other than that I didn't love the quilt.

The more I thought about this lasagna quilt, the more I thought it might just work after all.  R is very creative and artsy.  She does a lot of things with manipulating color using unusual mediums.  So I thought - what if I manipulate the colors on a lasagna quilt.  Instead of sewing the strips side by side as the layers build up, my plan was to sew a continuous strip back and forth on itself starting at one end and letting the colors wax and wane as it proceeded from the color at one end of my strip to the other.



So from my stash I cut 2.5" strips from all the colors ranging between green, blue and purple and laid them out in ascending and descending order until I thought I had it right.  Now in the photo I can see some spots where it isn't quite right, but I'm okay with that.   There was only one gap that I had to actually purchase a tiny bit of fabric for.  I didn't think it would make a difference, but I can see how it connected the fabrics on either side much more smoothly.

I failed to do the math ahead of time and my strip was too long.  Better than too short.  So I shortened some of the longer strips.  Then I cut about 10 widths at a time and pieced them back and forth so that the colors followed their order.  I didn't want to cut too many at a time or I would have gotten them mixed up.  

Once I got the top together I used all the larger leftovers for the back.  I had so many little triangles left from sewing the strips together diagonally that I had to include them.  Unfortunately they were all paired up in colors that were too close together to get a good pattern going.  So I threw them all together in a basket and them picked out contrasting pairs and sewed them back together.  Because of those little HST I almost like the back better then the front.

I had it all ready to go and really, really thought I would have it quilted and ready for her birthday.  But life took a turn for the worse and I just couldn't work on it during that time.  Eight months later I was ready to try again and everything went just fine.  I used it as an opportunity to try different FMQ designs.  I am not very adventurous with my quilting.  A stipple or loops is about all I ever do.  But I made a conscious effort to try something different in almost every strip.  I also included writing - encouraging Bible verses - about every 5th strip.  I thought I would just work away at it slowly and get it done for her next birthday, but several days before Christmas when the girls were out most of the day I settled in and just did it.  I almost had to pinch myself when I got to the end and it was DONE!  The binding had been set aside ages ago, so I quickly got it cut, pieced and sewn on.  I sewed in down by machine figuring it might get some rough use. 

Even though she knew I was working on it, she did not realize I had finished it, so it was a nice surprise for Christmas.  But since her bag was already too full for the flight, it will get sent to her for her birthday after all.

This was a good experimental quilt - colors, piecing and quilting.  I still don't love this style of quilt, but it worked how I wanted it to and my daughter likes it.  As far as quilting, I think I have broadened my repertoire of FMQ designs.  All in all - a success. 

Quilts from 2013

The Green Quilts

I have been thinking that the blog is a good way to document the quilts that I have made and given away.  Most of my quilts fall in that category.

The most memorable quilts of 2013 are usually referred to as "The Green Quilts".  It is almost too sad to give them any other name.  They were t-shirt quilts made for 3 little girls who lost their father way too young.  Their mother was a co-worker who knew that I quilted and asked if it was possible to do something for the girls from his clothes.  I was honored to be asked.

I received 2 big bags of misc t-shirts, a few casual shirts, and some shorts.  I had specifically asked for jeans since on a previous memorial quilt I included the back pocket of the jeans and the response was so positive.  Being able to stick a hand in the pocket of a loved one's clothing was one of their favorite parts of the quilt.

The guidelines were very open - similar but not identical, green was his favorite color, snuggle size.  In between getting this project and executing the project I lost my mother, who was a quilter, so there was a whole new dynamic in making these quilts. 

Once the plan came to me they came together pretty quickly.

I used the same layout for each quilt, but the actual blocks were different.  There were enough t-shirts for each quilt to get 4 full sized blocks.  There were only two Jacksonville Jaguars shirts, but by using all the logos from each shirt and combining them with a black casual shirt that made one block for each quilt - upper right.  The khaki shirt and plaid shorts with lots of pockets got the same treatment using enough features of each one to come up with 3 blocks - upper left.  There were only 2 neat swooshes on the light blue golf shirt so the 3rd block used the logo from that shirt and another light blue shirt and a pair of shorts - lower left.  The center block combined all three of the green shirts, but each in a different way.

She had asked for the word "Daddy" to be incorporated somehow.  After cutting the back pockets off the jeans for a 4-patch I made another square of denim and embroidered a pink heart with "Daddy" on it.  Each square had a different font, but all in green thread.  The remaining squares on that block were smaller logos from the t-shirts and the coach shirts.  Lower right.

The only fabric I added was white for the sashings and green for the outer borders and backing.  Again, each quilt had a different green.  The backs were pieced with a combination of the greens and a few leftover shirting fabrics since I ran out of one of the greens.  The setting squares were cut from plaid shorts and are the same for each quilt.  The inner borders were cut from the casual shirts.  Each quilt got a different inner border.

It took a long time to decide how to quilt them.  I ended up just quilting 1/4" on either side of all the seams, including seams already on the shirt or pants, since I did not want to detract from the look of the shirt fronts.  The quilts finished at just under 70 x 70.  A good size that will keep up with the girls as they grow.

When the UPS man asked me to put a value on the box to be shipped I could only say "priceless."  I was pretty nervous until I heard they had been received.  Then the magic words for a quilter - hearing that the quilts meet a need.  That is all I could ever want when making and giving a quilt.