Dolls and Hearts Off to be Quilted

Last time I posted on the doll quilt I was deciding on a second striped border or not. See photo below repeated from this post.  I decided to not add a second striped border.

When I made the coral binding I discovered the fabric was not printed on grain...

so I fussy cut the binding so it would align with the printed image...

and folded it in half, then thirds, to wrap around the quilt edge.

 

I waffled for a while on how to cut the backing fabric and yesterday made great progress in striping the back with five rows of the children-holding-hands fabric.  See the backing below...

and a closeup of the children. 

With binding made and backing pieced, I am now going to hand this quilt off to the free motion quilter my daughter uses in Oklahoma. Normally I would lean toward sending a quilt of this size  to a long arm quilter- the quilt measures 55" wide x 63" long- but Mary Ann is very inventive in the patterns she creates, and also, in this case, I think it would be difficult to program a computer controlled machine to navigate around the three dimensional aprons of the dolls shown  up close in the picture below.  The picture also shows how when I banded the five rows of children on the backing I added enough extra at the top, about 6", to adjust the relative position of the top and backing prior to quilting.  The backing is folded over at the top to the front of the quilt; you can just barely see the coral band of the upper border showing through.

I also finished adding the three borders and made the backing and binding yesterday for the pink and lilac hearts baby quilt.  It, too, is off to the quilter but here is a sneak peek at the lilac/pink/lilac border and the rebellious, not delicate, fabric I picked for the backing.  Sorry about the wrinkles, folks.  Pix of finished product will be better.

 Completed projects:

1. Dolls- almost there but not quite
2. Pink/lilac/green baby quilt - almost there but not quite

Ongoing projects:

1. Doll quilt - borders added, backing pieced, binding made, off to free-motion quilter
2. Pink/lilac/green baby quilt - borders added, backing pieced, binding made, off to free-motion quilter

No progress (but re-listed here so I do not forget and leave buried in closet):

• Chicken quilt - made binding and picked backing
• Hexagon Mask Quilt - layout begun but overwhelming
• Fire and Ice Quilt- sitting in closet awaiting decision on backing
• Grinch Quilt - ripening on the design wall
• Pumpkin/Iris/Blossom square wall hanging- needs backing and binding

I want to start:

• Presents with Bows quilt kit
• The Ghastlies- strip quilt
• Rubber Duckies strip quilt

This week's stats:
     Completed  projects - 0 
     New projects - 0 
     Currently in progress - 2

Voices in Cloth Quilt Show

This post was to ooh and aah over the awsome venue and beautiful quilts at this show and enumerate my rather modest purchases there- and I will get to that.  But first off-

I WON ONE OF THE RAFFLE QUILTS  !!

It is called ironically, "Thank Your Lucky Stars" and the women who designed and fabricated it were members of the East Bay Heritage Quilters. I love the way the stars seem to sparkle and many of them are made from polka dot fabrics, which I have a special fondness for, as can be observed by my other entries to this blog. It was such a thrill to get that phone call the day after the show that I was a winner. The quilt is laid out in a spare bedroom upstairs and I get a little burst of giddiness every time I look in on it. Many thanks not only to the talented and artistic women who made this quilt but also to their fellow guild members who put on a fantastic show entitled Voices in Cloth. Read on to see some of the other quilts that were my particular favorites from the show.

There were these two Christmas quilts, hung next to each other, each evoking a very different, though still "Noelic" feel. The blue bordered one makes me think of festive packages all wrapped up.  The artist for the green bordered one said her goal was to deplete her stash of Christmas fabric but that she hardly made a dent in it.

I was fascinated by this the block pattern on this next quilt. The color blend was very rich and almost melodic. The mirror image blocks, angled and made from striped fabrics, were very effective. The shadows falling on the quilt did not permit a unobstructed overall photo of it; but I thought the dark angular images overlaid on the quilt helped to carry out the subtle theme of the quilt. I also took some close-up pictures of a couple blocks.  

 

I liked the crisp feeling conveyed by the strong color choices within this pinwheel quilt.

I actually have downloaded the pattern for this next, very ornate, quilt from The Quilt Show block of the month. It was awesome to see it made up in person. Of course I have not started it as a block of the month so it can easily be overwhelming to do such detail if you do not pace yourself and approach it one month at a time. Some day I will make this quilt. 

I liked this rubber ducky one.  Just because.  Who cannot like such cheerful colors and sudsy bath tub sentiments?

I liked the bold colors of this one.

Isn't the kaleidoscope block formation of these three hearts fascinating? I talked to its creator for quite a while.  There is a lovely poem on the back dedicated to her son and his wife for their wedding.

And here are some of my purchases from the show.  This show for me was more about the quilts than the vendors and I was very OK with that.  Of late I have been buying faster than I have been sewing!

This was a kit for an Easter table runner.  1/2 yd of dots. 1/3 yard of eggs. Free pattern. I bought it for my beloved dots collection.

I could not pass up this cheerful collection of birdie fat quarters...

... nor these luscious mottled dots and swirls.

These are just some basics to replenish my stash of yellow-orange hues... and ya never know when you will need to add an old fashioned typewriter keyboard to a quilt! (Note ... more dots...)

 Completed projects:

1. WINNING "THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS" QUILT AT A RAFFLE!

Ongoing projects:

1. Doll quilt - have post on binding pending in drafts
2. Pink/lilac/green baby quilt for grand niece - main body pieced, pieced border cut out and begun to be pieced- subject of next blog

No progress:

• Chicken quilt - made binding and picked backing
• Hexagon Mask Quilt - layout begun but overwhelming
• Fire and Ice Quilt- sitting in closet awaiting decision on backing
• Grinch Quilt - ripening on the design wall
• Pumpkin/Iris/Blossom square wall hanging- needs backing and binding

I want to start:

• Presents with Bows quilt kit
• The Ghastlies- strip quilt
• Rubber Duckies strip quilt

This week's stats:
     Completed  projects - 1 
     New projects - 0 
     Currently in progress - 2