A Hand Stitched Hug

One of the challenges when making a quilt for someone who reads my quilt blog is keeping mum on the project until it is time to reveal the quilt. But this weekend, I got to give this one to its new owner in person. So without further ado, introducing... ConVivial Company.

This quilt is designated for my new niece, Vivian, who is just under 6 months old. I drew the colors from my Sister-in-law's description of her nursery - Browns, greens, blues and "just enough pink so people can tell she's a girl," 

For the fabrics, I went to my local quilt shop and picked out a fun bird-and-dragonfly print from Wren and Friends by Gina Martin. The other octagons (and the sashing) are all pulled from the colors of that feature fabric (ie, the ones my SIL indicated). The idea for the Octagons came from an issue of Fresh Quilts Magazine, but of course I had to move things around and change the dimensions to suit my tastes.

For the backing, I fell in love with a gorgeous wooded print from my LQS, and paired that with two more fabrics from the Wren and Friends collection.

I quilted the brown sashing with big FMQ loops. And for the first time ever, I've used big hand stitching in Perle Cotton to quilt the octagons. I'd really wanted them to stand out, so I followed a tutorial from my friend Amanda over at the Cozy Pumpkin. I actually really enjoyed the hand-stitiching process (which took many sessions to complete), leading me to think of Bert's line in "Mary Poppins" when he declares Veronica, Millicent, Agnes and Jane "convivial company, time and again"

That said, despite the timesink, I am pleased with the results. For the binding I chose a fun Chevron print, which I think adds just the right pop of color.

But after the hand-stitched Octagons, I think the thing I am most proud of on this quilt is the label. My Sister-in-law treasures things with a legacy (My niece will be christened in her father's Christening gown, she went home from the hospital in the same yellow footie her mother did, for example), so I want to make sure that this quilt's history is never lost, no matter how many times it is handed down.

Using a scrap from the sashing and the same Perle cotton I used for the quilting, I have dedicated the quilt to my niece, as well as "signed" and dated it. It's attached with both fusible and a hand blanket stitch, which I hope will give it staying power well into the future

But as for the now? Well... now it's time hand over the quilt! It's hard parting with something I've put so much love and effort into, but fortunately, it has been well received. Enjoy your quilt for years to come, sweet Vivian!

Think of it as a hand stitched hug from your Auntie.

Linking up with Linky Tuesday and Sew Cute Tuesday.

Star Wars Game Mat

My  husband is incredibly supportive of my quilting, whether it be letting me run to the fabric store on short notice, giving a quick (or no so quick) color consult, or rearranging his chores so I can spend an entire Saturday making buntings for a quilt show. So, when he asks for something, I listen. 

 

My husband is a big fan of the Star Wars X-wing Miniatures Game, and one of the things he has yet to collect is a playing mat. Typically, the game is played on a 36" x 36" area, which is set of dimensions I as a quilter am quite familiar with. So one day he asks me if *I* can make one, and obviously the answer is "of course." Enter... the Star Wars Game Mat.

I already had some Star Wars themed fabric left over from my Star Wars Quilt a few years ago, and my husband and after some looking online, we found this beautiful Smithsonian Logo Print at  Equilter and ordered it.

I used the space-themed fabric for the front, and the Star Wars fabric for the back. I did add just a *thin* layer of batting to the board, so my stitches would lay nice, but rather than bind it I sewed all three layers together at the outside and then turned it.

It's a little hard to see my quilting (black thread on a black background will do that to you), but I decided to go with concentric squares at ever increasing intervals. So the first square is 4", the second is 6.5", the third is 9.5" and so on. I added diagonal lines to help with centering the larger squares, liked the look so much I ended up adding vertical and horizontal centerlines for good measure. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the effect: it was simple and fast to do, and has the look of an X-wing Aiming sight.

He's going to try at it his game night next Tuesday, and perhaps I will get some pictures of it in action then.

A Colorful Weekend

Nothing says "time to complete old projects" like a new project with a deadline, right? My local quilt guild is having their biannual show this year October, and I am a little bummed because I don't have any eligible quilts this time around.  But, they've asked each member to make two 6" by 8" bunting flags, and I figure that's my chance to be represented.

Of course, the guild is calling for flags in certain Kona colors, and I have been working on a manipulable color card since I took a Color Intensive class in February. So, Item #1 was, complete that. 

Which I did!

Luckily, my daughter picked that day to have a near insatiable appetite for "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," So I had enough time to cut out and attach all the greens, browns, whites and blacks to my poster board in pretty much one sitting.  Which then meant I could use my own color card to see the required palette. 

It was actually quite fun to "audition" all my fabrics against the swatches. And I was surprised to see what things actually "read" as the recommended color when I put the swatch in the center. Here's the full assortment of viable candidates, all from my stash.

And my down-select color schemes for the buntings.

I wanted to reference some of my recent quilts with my buntings, so I chose design elements from "Winnie the Pooh" for one flag, and from my upcoming WIP for the other.

The "Blue Sun" bunting flag is made out of scraps from Winnie the Pooh, and used a modified version of that quilt's cornerstone block. Scraps from my upcoming WIP didn't match the color scheme of the assignment at all, so I had free rein to choose from everything else. I started out with the green and the orange (Kumquat and Pear) from scraps, but at the last second I added the grey from an upcoming project to help soften the look. Both are paper pieced in order to protect the designs.

All of this was done in one very hectic weekend while my husband was working. So, I owe my daughter big time. Fortunately, she was a really good sport about it (and about going to the babysitter for a few hours on Saturday). Then again, perhaps she too enjoyed our weekend of color.