Quilt for second aunt finished

Here is one aunt quilt done. My machine did not take kindly to the straight line quilting. The fabric was really bunched up when going in certain directions and it was not infrequent that my hand grazed the reverse button during this laborious process, despite the fact that this lap quilt is not that large: 49,5" x 68" (126 cm x 173 cm) .

The quilt front was easy to sew with a lot of chain piecing.

A little closer look at the quilting. I like how the white pops up between the blocks - a lovely geometric design. This souvenir block is a keeper.

For once I had a larger piece of fabric that nearly covered the whole back, only supplemented with some leftover purple and grey-blue used in the front. The vertical quilting hardly shows on the back due to the linear pattern of the fabric. Funny how camouflaged the stitching became.

My subway quilt, that I am now using on the sofa and has cotton batting, is really not that warm. Therefore I tried out white synthetic fleece, which was a third of the price. It was not that hard to quilt with and it is cozier. I have heard of wool, but that is not available to me at present.

Of course all my photo sessions attract a crowd of curious little ones who try to grab the camera, climb on the chair I am perched on or roll around on the quilt. All in the name of attention-seeking. It will be great to have my own sewing room soon.

Have an exhilarating day!

Christine

Second aunt quilt top finished

This quilt should be called "An Ode to Rita", as I get that Red Pepper Quilts feeling when making it! The bright fabrics, the crisp white background and the straight line quilting that I have planned for it remind me in a modest manner of Rita's admirable work.

I ran out of Amy Butler print and misjudged the amount of this white fabric I had left, so I had to adapt it somewhat with fabrics from my stash. I like the look of it nonetheless and I think my aunt will love it.

I have been trying different styles of quilts (and more to come!), but I must say I felt very comfortable making this one. Perhaps I am finally finding my path. Only time will tell.

Have an amazing day!

Christine

Tempest quilt top finished for third aunt

This is a quilt that has been unfinished for almost a year. I thought it so luxurious looking and I was looking for an excuse to gift it to someone. My daughter was my first choice of course, but I found the quilt too grown-up for a little girl. Them I remembered my third aunt used purple accents in her living room. I called her up and asked her if she would like this quilt. She was very pleased that I had thought of her and accepted the gift. It is so wonderful when such little plans work out so nicely.

I remembered a lovely water color floral painting my aunt had on her wall and I tried to pick up those pastels for the little stripes in the purple blocks, instead of silvers, greys and such used in the original by Cherri House.

Off to finish the last quilt of three quilts for my beloved aunts. I think I will try my hand at feathery quilting this time.

Have an industrious day!

Christine

Another quilt for another aunt

While waiting for batting for the king size City Aviation Quilt (aka the Disoriented Geese Quilt) for one aunt, I started on a sofa quilt for another beloved aunt. Since she has burgundy and blue tints in her living room, I let myself be led by these colors while supplementing with some others. I pulled out one of my few Amy Butler fabrics (a flower print) from my stash that I had been saving for just such an occasion and managed to find some coordinating solids.

Since the flower prints are so lovely, I fussy cut them out. I then found a block that I thought would frame these nicely, namely the Souvenir block found on Quilter's Cache. I played a bit with the measurements so it is not exactly the same, but still recognizable.

I am still pondering as to whether I should add sashing. I think in this case it would look better, but I am running out of the particular white I used, so I may skip it in the end. You will just have to wait in suspense! Another 20 to go...

Have a flowery day!

Christine

My contribution to the Sandy quilts

Michele Foster from the Quilting Gallery appealed to her large following to contribute scrappy log cabin blocks, which would be assembled by other volunteers. The quilts will be donated to Sandy storm victims. Though I am very busy with sewing projects and moving house in the near future, I could not turn a blind eye to this project.

The blocks are to be around 11" and then an additional 2" dark border so that the blocks can be cut in a wonky style by the team leaders. Here is my modest contribution out of all the 1,800 Sandy blocks being made at this moment.

I enjoyed making these very random blocks using up my left-over strips. After having tried this approach of just pulling out arbitrary fabrics, I think I still prefer some kind of color coordination. It would seem that I cannot lose control in the sewing department just yet! The blocks are off to New Hampshire in tomorrow's mail.

Have a free-spirited day!

Christine

City Aviation Quilt top finished

Admittedly, I have been struggling with the color scheme on this one. Yellows and browns are really not my forté. In any case, I sent a picture of the finished quilt top and she approved (yay!).

No matter how much I moved the blocks around, I just did not manage to get it to flow like the original quilt. Maybe the prints were too disturbing? Also the large king size dimension added to the complexity instead of facilitating the process. As mentioned previously, I snuck in some green and tried to balance it with lots of off-white, but the white ended up emphasizing the geese V formations instead of giving a holistic feel. After some pondering, I decided to just go with it and highlight the geese blocks. If you will notice the three different V formations going in three different directions. Perhaps the quilt should be renamed to "Disoriented Geese Quilt"?

As for quilting, I thought swirls would be suitable to represent the wind the birds are flying in. Any other suggestions?

Have an ambitious day!

Christine

A trip to Petra, Jordan

I have finished the geese for the City Aviation Quilt and tried in vain to assemble the pieces on my design floor (!), but the kiddies could not stay off the blocks. The trampling drove me bonkers so I packed the squares away to wait until Monday morning when the kids are back in pre-school.

In the meantime I thought I would show you some pics from our wonderful trip to Petra in neighboring Jordan. I had always wanted to see this historic famous site and now was our chance. We drove down to Eilat to break the long trip a bit. Eilat is a beach resort on the Red Sea that is highly visited by Russians or Israelis of Russian origin. From there we crossed the border over to Aqaba (Lawrence of Arabia anyone?) and then up to Petra. Southern Jordan was just as desert-like as Israel, but the colors were different - more reddish than light yellow. There were plenty of gorges in between the sandstone that made for a dramatic effect. Absolutely stunning! Here is a taste.

In Eilat trying out the new goggles. Aqaba is in the background.

What is a trip to the desert without a picture of a camel?

It is a bit of a hike but it was really impressive.

Almost there...

The breath-taking Treasury. (Yes, Indiana Jones!)

There are numerous caves carved out of the sandstone and some still have their facades intact.

And of course the Romans had their input here as everywhere else in the region.

This is a view from above. Who would guess that within this mountain range an advanced civilization existed for centuries which has left such awesome monuments?

Needless to say there were plenty of these signs along the road.

Here we are approaching the Dead Sea on our way back home to Jerusalem. The mountain range in the background is in Jordan while we are on the Israeli side. Quite a sight, don't you think?

Have an adventurous day!

Christine

City Aviation Quilt - pinwheels done

I am starting to see the end of the tunnel with regards to piecing this quilt. The 3D pinwheels are done.

Not as intimidating as I thought. In fact it was so easy, I immediately continued onto the 3D geese blocks, which will be shown in the next post.

Have a happy go-lucky day!

Christine