Monday, August 2, 2010

Two Finished Projects

The quilt I showed last week is now completely finished. Just out of curiosity I kept track of how much time it took to hand-sew the binding to the back: it was 3 1/2 hours! This is actually not a large quilt: just 67" x 84". The pattern is not "Turning Twenty" as I thought, but "Turning Twenty 4 x 4," the difference being that in the 4 x 4 version each block is cut after it's finished and then resewed. There are a few places on the top where this results in a nice 4 x 4 square, thus:

It's maybe a little hard to see the seam between the two upper 4's and the rest of the block, as the colours are very close.

The whole quilt turned out very well, and when it was finished I realized how the
colours in this quilt match the colours in our
living room furniture, so I decided to keep it
there: a little hidden behind the large Dracaena, but hanging nicely over the railing above the spiral staircase to downstairs.

I also finished the hat for son #1 that I started when in Niagara Falls in June. Now I need to figure out how to make a nice neck scarf that will complement the hat:




Of course, now that these two are finished,
I'm hard at work on the next project. This is a true "Turning Twenty" that I made this past spring. Today I cut the backing and batting, and spray basted the three layers together.

This quilt also had its origin in the whack of material I received earlier this spring from my friend. She gives me a box of odds 'n ends every so often. Some pieces are as large as 20" x 40" but most are closer to 8" x 12", with all sizes in between, and lots that are even smaller. I love sorting through the box, putting similar materials together. Often I have to add pieces from my stash, and sometimes even need to buy a few fat quarters or a half meter to make up enough for a good sized quilt.

This is a very colourful child's quilt. The section on the table is the right hand half of a 71"x86" quilt. Generous size for a single bed.

The backing is a lovely, mottled orange flannel. The batt, this time, is a light weight polyester. I usually use the "warm and natural," but wanted something that didn't weigh so much for this child's quilt.

Here's the machine quilting:
I'm doing freehand flowers for this one with the occasional circle. They've improved a lot as I went along, as so often happens. I plan to put hearts in the border.

Dear Daughter #2 is in the process of moving from a small condo to a fairly large house. The two kids, boy (10 this month) and girl (6 in Sept.) will have their own bedrooms, and I'm thinking this would make a nice quilt for the girl.

We hope to visit them in September, so I'll take it along then and see if it's suitable.

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful work! Your children and grandchildren are very lucky to have hats and quilts made for them with so much love.

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  2. One of the wonderful things about "retirement" is that I have time to make these fun projects. Our kids did have knits along the way, but there just wasn't as much time to spend on knitting, quilting, etc.

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