Quilt for Caroll

Springing into Fall

When my neighbour Caroll told me she was having a baby I said cautiously, "Is a congratulations in order?" 

She smiled widely and said, "Yes.  Very unexpected, but very much welcomed."   

 Colours of Fall

Caroll's favourite time of year is Halloween.  She plans for the magic of Samhain all year.   I designed this quilt to play with the colours of the season, to play on nature and complement Caroll's love of plants.

Back of quilt

Leaf it to me

Which witch is which?

When I first met Caroll Patten she told me she was a practicing witch.  I told her I was a professional bitch and we should get along just fine.  I found this fun "prim" fabric and immediately thought of Caroll.  One of the few times when I made my own binding.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

We spent many hours talking over the fence, under the pear tree. 

Our dogs were the best of friends.  Her little Shih Zsu, Wicket and my Xolo, Remus.  They would chase and sniff and water and chase and run and sniff all over each others yards.   

Sadly, that all ended when Caroll and her husband, Laramie moved away in the fall of 2012.  I am not sure where she is living now, or if she has had her son, Kelly Theodore, but I hope they are healthy, happy.  I hope Kelly likes his quilt, each stitch was made with love.

 



Vital Stats:

Approximately 46 x 37.5 inches finished.

Stitch Per Inch:  body 4, binding 4

Batting Type: Cotton (Warm and Natural)

Binding: Made by Morg
Fabric: Scraps from lots of different places, lots of different sources.
Completed: Late Summer 2012

I miss you Caroll and Remus misses Wick. 

Hugs. 

Sunflowers and Primary Colours

Those crazy braids!

Another creation from my twisted tool box.  By now you should be completely aware of my long term love affair with scrappy quilts.  The uglier the better in my book.  Orgies of incongruent patterns and colour schemes are a delight to my off kilter view of the world.

This quilt is no exception.  Red, Yellow, Blue in a braid of scrappy colour, sashing of a subtle green plaid, bordered by a field of black with Sunflowers, backed with a classic calico of black and white with more sunflowers and bound in basic black to pull the whole riot together in one coherent collection of fabric and thread.



Front View



Back view



Great news!  This fun quilt recently sold and will belong to a new baby coming into the world sometime this fall. 





Vital Stats:

Approximately 45 x 60 inches finished.

Stitch Per Inch:  body 8, binding 4

Batting Type: Cotton/Poly Unknown brand

Binding: pre-purchased
Fabric: Scraps from lots of different places, lots of different sources.

Shocking Pink and Skully

Detail of sashing and taste of pink.

Not much else to say about this one other than it's so shocking pink and gurlie it's really quite cute.  This quilt came together about the same time that I did my ex's quilt.  For some reason I keep coming back to this "stacked coin" pattern with sashing.  I dunno.  It seems to fulfill my need to be scrappy but have some semblence of organisation.  (And it's sinfully easy to assemble and sew.)

The whole quilt in all its garish glory.

"Shocking Pink and Skully" as I am calling it, was made from the scraps of my friend's pink braided quilt from previous entries.  I have a LOT of pink fabric left over and since I used most of the black on a previous baby quilt I thought I'd see what would happen when a pile of pinks get together and make a quilt. 

The sashing  - an odd ribbon print - was another serendipitous find in the many boxes and bags of fabrics I had received from my dear friend, Mary Johnson, when they moved to Lander, WY.  I remember briefly looking at this fabric and thinking, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?"  But as with fine wine and diamonds, some things take time.  I knew immediately this was going to be the perfect material for the sashing, and as it turned out, it was.

Detail of backing fabric.

The backing fabric is a darling flannel I picked up at Joann's Fabrics (as I recall).  I am a complete sucker for pirate fabric of all kinds and this was no exception.  Purple skulls with pink bows and roses...yup, I'll take a yard of that, please. 

Binding is always such a hard choice, fortunately the person who bought the quilt decided on pink and I have to say it brought the whole scheme (or is that scream) together nicely.  What's another tone of pink when we have so many!  My other choice was going to be black binding with pink stitching.  Adorable either way!

Peach Out Apricots.
Morg

Summer Time Fun



Close up of quilt detail

Completed in later half of 2011, this quilt was an exploration in three colour:  Blue, Yellow and Green.  I wanted to work on clearing out my stash and playing with some colours.  I love the Stacked Coins pattern with its simplicity, style and flexibility. 


Full view of front

 A little smaller than my usual quilts approximately 44 x 36 finished, I was limited only by the backing fabric, which I could not resist when I saw it on the bolt.  I have learned my lesson about buying fabric and will now only purchase in two yard minimum cuts - unless it is a remnant or a last of the bolt one yard length. 

The smaller size makes it perfect for a baby seat, a stroller or a travel-all bag.  The summery colours are certain to raise a smile or brighten the darkest day. 

Full view of back

I can't say enough about how much I LOVE the backing fabric on this quilt.  I am reminded of tutti-fruitti ice cream, summer time, Woodstock posters, fourth of july fire works and psychedelic sea shells.  So much fun in one little quilt. 

...like a water colour in the rain...

An explosion of colour captured in a cotton hug.

Peach Out, Apricots.
Morg

The Cute the Cat and the Ugly

The FIRST scrap quilt I ever made...

The adorable little baby is my nephew "F." The cat is Bijou and the quilt is the teratogenic nightmare I made for my best friend and her darling son some years ago.  The whole quilt is one big scrappy experiment gone delightly awry. 

The back is a piece of brownish, yellowish floral fabric from the Pamida store in Vermillion, SD which is no longer in business and the fabrics for the quilt top came from my dear friends, The Johnsons.  They are soap makers and these fabrics were all left over pieces from their soap bag packaging. 

I used fleece for batting because I was in the mood to sew and had no idea what else to use and it was there and it was a big enough piece to fit my needs so it was pressed into duty.

The quilt itself is hand stitched using the stitch in the ditch method and was machine pieced. 

For a first shot at quilting and establishing myself as an Ugly Quilter, I have to say it is a personal favourite and "F" still enjoys sleeping with it.   

Peach Out Apricots,

Morg

Boldly Quilting Where I've Never Quilted Before!

Still strippin'

Thought that might get your attention.

I originally saw the design for this quilt in an advert in one of my roommate's quilt magazines.  Being the cheap skate that I am, I decided to wing it on my own and give it a little twist.  The results were this quilt.  Since I did not have the guidance of the instructions I went about this design a little differently.  I looked thru my stash to decide the width of the strips and then just sort of started sewing and piecing. 

 The quilt went together surprisingly quick and I was able to take it to work and pin it that same day.  Good thing I showed it off before I actually fully pinned it as I had managed to screw up the flow of the lines and had to rip out and hand piece a large section of the quilt back together.  Thank goodness it was a slow day.  ;) 

Once again I used the tumbling cows on red field for my backing - effectively using up the remaining stash of this delightful fabric. Well worth it for such a bold quilt. 

Sometimes you can shout with a whisper.  I feel the colour scheme and design of this quilt does just that. I hope the receiving child person enjoys this quilt as much as I did creating it. 

Go Bold or Go Home!

Peach out, Apricots.
Morg