Linda's Labours of Love

I've got two recent finishes from Linda to share with you - one big and one little. Let's start with the big one. 

I know that she's been working on this quilt for a while, but in my mind it's come together very quickly. It is going to her godchild who is a physician in Janesville, WI, one of four doctors in that community that is treating COVID-19 patients in hospital. Originally she was making it for herself but generously came to this conclusion: "I figured there would be more happiness in giving it to her; she likely needs some comfort right now". I can only imagine.

Here's a better look at the entire quilt. The design is her own with each star block measuring 10" and it is completely stitched by hand. 

I wish that I had a photo of the fabrics that she used to share with you, because they are beautiful, and obviously beautiful together. There is this one that she sent when she was debating using the floral border. You get the idea, but it still doesn't do them justice.

One who sleeps under a quilt is comforted by love.

The second one was finished a month or two ago and is for the granddaughter of a dear friend. She used a series of fairy panels and it is as sweet as sweet can be.

There will be lots to keep a young mind entertained as they explore each new scene.

Sweet little four-patches in corresponding solids adorn the corners.

It's backed with this lovely little green check (if memory serves me correctly, it is flannel). The floral quilting design works beautifully with the woodland scenes.

She had just picked it up from Roberta and was tickled with how it turned out. I would be too! I'm certain that baby will be thrilled. Happy maker 😊....M

Lovely Lena

Despite my recent moaning and dripping about making quilt backings, there is another one that I finished recently.

It was for Hugs 'n Kisses, the baby quilt for my darling new great niece, Lena.

I had lots of yardage of this sweet, sweet cherry print, so it was a breeze to put this one together. No wailing or gnashing of teeth this time around.

And Roberta at Cocoa and Quilts brought it to life with the beautiful feathered swirl panto that I have a definite obsession with. 

All that was left to do was bind and wrap it.

Apparently Lena loves it. I know that I am just a tad biased, but I have to say, she is just as cute as a button and suits it perfectly.

It's plenty large so she will be able to enjoy it for a good long while, rather than when she is just teenie tiny.

Given that she was born in September, we've been having to social distance for everyone's safety, but that doesn't mean we haven't been able to love every little bit of her from afar. Hopefully it won't be long before we can cuddle in person....M

Backing Up

I've whined before about how making backings is just not my favourite part of quilting, but there comes a time that you just have to buckle down and get them made. So, when a recent sudden spurt of initiative struck I didn't feel inclined to argue with it, at least for the first little bit.

God's Green Earth was the first one on the block. I love this quilt and have had the backing fabrics for ages so to the front of the line it went. If there were a few more meters of this blue I would have loved for the entire backing to be made solely of it, however, I only had about half of what I needed so at least one other print had to join it; a mauve won out. 

BTW, I love the way ThousandsOfBolts ships their fabric labelled - no need to unfurl, measure and refold the entire thing to figure out if the piece will do.

Roberta always chuckles at my backing grumpiness saying, 'It's one big seam!' But I realized as I moved on to Snippets why this was seldom the case for me. My quilts tend to be BIG, so they are quite often a little shy of being able to just use two widths of fabric. I also try and avoid having a seam directly down the middle. It all means that there's some figuring and math involved. So much for one big seam.

I was very close with having enough width on this one but it was just too tight and I didn't feel good about making Roberta make it work when she put it up on the frame to quilt. Sooooo, down to the sewing room I went to see if there were any remnant blocks. Eureka! I found a few and a few others that could be sewn into HSTs and added to the mix.

So they became a strip...

and added just under three inches to the width. 

I'm happy with it, but what started out as 'two quick seams' quickly moved to a couple of hours of work. I shouldn't complain - they are now both ready to go. Maybe I need to start working to a smaller size so that I can avoid some of this grief.

Now to figure out how to quilt them....M

Exhaling

I'd be lying if I said that we haven't been glued to the US election news for the past couple of weeks. Now that it's over, we join millions around the world in their optimism for the President and Vice President Elect and congratulate them for finally putting a woman (and a woman of colour!) into high office. Things can suddenly be seen through a more positive lens - a perfect time to get back to some soothing hand quilting.

I'm hoping that between the morning talk shows and the afternoon football there will one or two more hexies finished up (assuming I don't get hijacked by washing windows....).

If memory serves me correctly, there are about eight pieced hexies left, so I will focus on them first. Then there will be several unpieced hexies to tackle, and finally the setting triangles. Hopefully there is no need for a recount 😉....M