Blogger's Quilt Festival--Spring 2010

I have been out of the blogging loop for a few weeks and just now see that we are up again for another fantastic round of quilt inspiration with the Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2010!

Thank you Amy for organizing us again!

I have had a hard time choosing a quilt for the round. One of the beauties of blogging is its journalistic effect. I had to go back through all the older posts to see what I had made. I have chosen my Dad's quilt that I made last summer.

I have been quilting for eight years and haven't made him one yet. So this is it. I chose batiks because he spends his winters in Mexico and I wanted something cheerful and fun. This is also one of the quilts that I made with the Old Red Barn Co. quilt along last August.

I adore this quilt. I've never really worked with batiks before and their vibrancy really gave the quilt the feeling I was going for. The back is by far the biggest departure for me. I love the way it turned out. The only thing I would have changed is that I wish I had made it one row wider. It is just a bit short for their bed (which I had only intended it as a throw!)

Quilts completed

So it's been a long while since I last updated. I don't seem to be at all able to quilt etc. and actually find time to update a the blog about what has been going on. We took a family vacation to Washingtion state and Canada (Vancouver Island) to visit with my family. Lots of fun and two quilts delivered.

This first quilt is for my Dad. I have been quilting for eight years and haven't made him one yet. So this is it. I chose batiks because he spends his winters in Mexico and I wanted something cheerful and fun. This is also one of the quilts that I made with the Old Red Barn Co. quilt along.

This one is for my mum. She was one of the first to ever receive a quilt from me. A lovely bed quilt. But she needed a smaller throw over the knees type quilt. The requirements: small and light weight but soft and warm and thicker than the cotton quilt but thinner than a duvet. Not a tall order at all :) I knew that I wanted to use Minki dot for the backing and it had to be blue. The top was a little more challenging. Over the years I have sent her many Mary Englebriet journals. So when I saw this fabric I knew that this was the right choice. I also decided to use a double layer of wool batting and tied the quilt (actually my sister tied it for me!) I used satin quilt binding for the extra touch of cuddliness. The end result is great. She loves it.

This little quilt was made in a hurry for a baby shower. While I rarely make baby quilts anymore for shower gifts (just not enough time) I hated to go with nothing home made. I have been hoarding this darling farm fabric for at least 4 years. It was time to send it to a better home. I didn't have any extra batting on hand so I used two layers of cotton flannel for the middle. I love the way it turned out. If I had had more time (I think this took 2 hours to make) I would have added a little more quilting. I hope the wee baby enjoys dragging it around.

Sneak Peek of Batik

Well I am madly sewing quilts to take to Canada with me in 4 weeks. EEK! I have two to make. One for Dad and one for Mom. I am very excited about both and they are very different. I just finished the top for Dad. The colors are inspired by Mexico. A little bit of summer and warmth in the drizzly winters of the West Coast.