Retrospective: Tweet Quilt

I was working with my students last night at the beginner quiltmaking classes I run (last one - they gave me chocolates to say thank you!!), when it occurred to me that I never showed the full pictures of the commission quilt I made back in September last year.

I was using one of the birds as an appliqué pattern for my students and they really liked it so I wanted to show them pictures of the quilt it came from.

What was tricky about this quilt was all the fabrics.  The woman who I was making it for asked her friends to bring pieces of fabrics to the little girl's second birthday party with the intention of putting them into a 'keeping quilt'.  Of course, because they all came from different people, none of the fabrics were particularly coordinating!

I had a pinterest board to work from, which was a big help in designing the quilt.  Adding lots of white space made most of the fabrics play nicely with each other.  Then I used all the NZ themed fabrics on the back with a black and white strip, black and white being very 'NZ' colours.

There was a woollen scarf in the bunch of fabrics and the suggestion was to use this for a tree branch, which I was nervous about but it worked out great.

I added more fabrics from my own stash to bridge between some of the original fabrics and I had great fun drawing up different bird shapes.  And the one last fabric that I just couldn't make it go with anything else, I made into a bag to put the quilt in.

It's the first time I've made prairie points and they were so much fun!  I think they added lots of texture to the quilt and really finished off that central image.

I free-motion quilted it with wavy lines in the sky, grass like lines in the foreground and a line of loops and a line of flowers in the border.  I also added the child's initial, a dragonfly, a heart and a leaf into the corners for whimsy.

I changed my bobbin thread colours as I went so you would see the 'picture' on the back too.

I machine bound the edges, because I was running out of time and I think it's a stronger finish for a child's quilt.  And then, to finish it all off, I made a little doll quilt for the girl's dolls.  And I still gasp at how cute that is!  How about that striped binding?!

So there you have it.  It was a great challenge and I was incredibly nervous about whether they would like it or not, but I had a wonderful message back about how much she loved it.  Yay!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

The final tweet

Quick update:  The tweety quilt I've been making for a friend is finished.  I won't show the whole thing until it reaches it's destination, but I think this bird is my favourite!

I've been and come back from the Quilt and Craft Fair in Hamilton.  Saw my quilts hanging in the Aotearoa Quilter's annual exhibition - no prizes for me but I sold another of my RED challenge quilts.

I'm now organising to head off to Australia in about a week.  My Dad turns 70 and the family is gathering.  And before I go I have one more quilt to finish.  The top is done, the back is not, wish me luck for a finish!

Prairie Points

Prairie points I doth love thee - I can't spell thee, but I still doth love thee.  You solve a plethora (such a cool word) of problems and you look just so darn cute.

Give it up for the prairie point, ladies and gents!  

Tweet top is finished, the back is almost finished and then it's basting, quilting and binding - let's call it halfway done.

Tweet

I'm not very well, and haven't been for a few days now.  The eyes have almost healed, still have a lump on my forehead - that's almost gone too, but what's bothering me is a nasty cold.  The kids and Hubby had it a week or two ago and I thought I escaped...ha!

So I'm hanging out at home and working on a couple of quilts that have deadlines.  The blue log cabin, and hopefully I'll be able to show you the completed top very soon and this bird one.  I'm showing just a couple of sneak peeks as it's kind of a commission and I don't want to spoil the surprise by too many WIP (work in progress) shots.

Hubby is slowly working on me with the house.  It's a complete dump and needs so much work, but in reality that's the best way to buy a house - it's much cheaper to put in your own elbow grease!  He's also talking me round by designing a second floor studio...oh the water views I'd have...yup, he's a pretty good sweet talker.  I'll keep you posted, but right now I think it's time for another lemon honey drink.