Monday, May 28, 2012

the flip side

These are the fabrics Katie chose for the back of her quilt.  I wanted to go with just one but there were no if's and's or but's about it for Miss Katie.  I think her quilt has a split personality.  The back is nothing like the front.  In colors or pattern or...anything.

What's amazing is she picked the fabrics because she loves pink and she thought the flowers, hearts, kitty cats, and ladybugs are pretty.  For me most of  those fabrics say something about my Katie girl.  Cats have always been special to her.  In fact, her very first word was "meow" and "kitty" was a close second.  So the kitty cat print was very fitting.  Bug has been one of her many nicknames and so the ladybug print too was a serendipitous choice.  The hearts, well, duh, that one was a given, what with my love of anything heart related and she is one of the loves of my life.  The floral one is the wild card.  There isn't any underlying meaning behind that one. 

I ended up adding a pink gingham border to the back because I needed another couple inches around in order of it to be the same size as the front.  That's just the way I do things, especially quilting.  I kind of guess and then when things don't quite match up, figure out a way to make it work.  One hundred years from now, someone will be looking at my quilts and think a seven year old put them together.  For most quilters, precision and aesthetics are paramount.  I just want to create some warm and snuggly. 

Friday, May 4, 2012

quilting with heart

I must be the slowest quilter in the history of the world.  But to be quite honest, I don't mind being slow.  I savor each and every minuscule stop along the way.  I finally got to the fabric store this spring and Katie and I picked out the border fabrics for the top and the flannel for the back.

   Wait until you see the fabrics Kate chose for the back.  I haven't uploaded a picture of them yet but hooooo boy! This is going to be one interesting quilt.  I wanted to just slap one HUGE piece of flannel on the back and call it a day.  Not my girlie though.  She fell in love with not two fabrics, not three fabrics, but four sweet flannels.  She assured me, using a cajoling tone and a little smile, I could piece them together to make the back and it would be more than perfect.   How could I say no?  And it is her quilt when all is said and done.

 

   Anywho! I got lost on a tangent there.  We've had a spell of dreary rainy weather.  Perfect weather to get some sewing done.  I spent one afternoon and evening cutting and sewing and the top is officially FINISHED!!! I really love how it turned out. Miss Charlotte approves too. 



On a side note...look at this most adorable pin cushion my sister made me for my birthday! She could have stopped right there but she didn't. She added some pins...pins with hearts adorning them...that make me want to squeal, they are just that cute.


   I am hoping once we are done with the craziness that is the dance recital, I will get to work on piecing the back together.  That's another step that should be relatively quick.  My speed quick, not actually quick kind of quick.