A Quilt for Kayleigh

Kayleigh's little quilt is finished, and I LOVE IT!!  

As I mentioned in last week's post my little girl is turning 3 on 18 April, and I wanted to capture a little something of her within the quilt.  I did not have anything specific to work with, she has no favorite colour yet, not one single toy that stands out, or one specific movie I could use as inspiration.  

But I really wanted to have something to remember her at 3 years old, so I decided on her hands.  Trapunto was the best technique to really make them stand out.  It was the first time I've tried it, and I really love the effect.  The design really pops.

April is mid autumn here in South Africa, and in our region, Cosmos flowers spring up everywhere.  These flowers are also a wonderful reminder of Kayleigh's birth date.  So we took all of these pictures just outside of town between all the pretty colours... I think the quilt blended in perfectly in the background.  Even the blue sky and puffy white clouds helped bring out the colours of the quilt.

She had a lot of fun running around between all the flowers, its at times like these I wish I can freeze time.  She is at such an adorable age, everything is an adventure.  She has no fear!  She is such a loving child eager to give us all hugs and kisses, and she's very funny.. and even at this young age I already know she has a strong personality and she's very strong willed.. 

I used all of my favorite free motion quilting designs in this quilt.  Swirls and pebbles in the center and feathers inside the border.  I also quilted figure 8's within the white sashing borders. I admit, those corners proved to be a bit tricky, not one ended up the same....

This little quilt finished at 52 inch square.

I think she will love her new quilt, especially as she grows each year, comparing her little hands to those of when she was 3....

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Lets blame Instagram...

I have not been as active in blog writing this past month as I would have liked to be.  Its not that I did not want to or that I haven't been busy with some or other project that I had nothing to share.  I just lacked the energy to sit down and write.  I blame Instagram for that, LOL.  Its far easier to post a picture with a short description, share it to my facebook page and flickr account than to make time to sit, write and edit pictures.  In a word, I guess I have been LAZY...

After I have finished my Summer Solstice Quilt and wrote the pattern I guess I felt a bit drained afterwards.   Pattern writing is a lot of work, its time consuming and you really need quiet time to concentrate.  The only quiet time I had available was at night when my little one went to bed, so I sat up till late at night editing and writing.  But it is so rewarding to still get a lot of comments and interest in the quilt and the pattern.

As for what I've been busy with?  Well, not as much as I would have liked to be.  I made a few crochet cushions that I shared with you last week.  You can find the tutorial on my tutorials page, when you click on the image it will open up the blog post in a new page.

Coming back to Instagram, there is a world of inspiration to be found in any craft.  So I decided to, not following along any set pattern, make up a row by row quilt for Kayleigh, either to put up on her wall or to use...  The biggest inspiration for this work in progress is from @beelori1 / Bee In My Bonnet's quilty fun.  This is what I've come up with so far, a few apple blocks to make up one row, and some random applique pictures.

...and I have made up a few feather free motion quilted samples.  I was invited to the Carltonville Country Quilters regional quarterly meeting that was held this past Saturday, and I needed a few samples to share with them.  They had asked me to do a little demonstration and we decided on feathers... I'll share more about my experience on another day, I am just waiting for some of the pictures that was taken on the day.  But for the time bing, what I can say is this, I HAD A LOT OF FUN!!!

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Karli's Quilt - True Love

I've started piecing this quilt little over three months ago and I am happy to say its at last finished.  I don't think I've ever made a quilt with such care and attention to detail as this one.  

This is the first quilt I've made for a customer, and even though its a paying job its still a labour of love.  I have enjoyed every moment in making this quilt and by far I am most proud of this one.

This quilt's name is 'True Love', not only does the hearts symbolize love, but it also is a reminder of the love felt, even from the first moment when she learnt she was pregnant.  For this Mom to be, she is so overwhelmed with love and emotion for her unborn baby, due in September, that I think this quilt be a beautiful reminder of how she felt even before she is born. 

'Louise, I hope you 'love' this quilt, just as much I loved making it.  May you have a beautiful, healthy, strong and happy baby.  She is going to be the luckiest baby girl, having a Mom like you, and may all your hopes and dreams for her come true...  God bless '    

For this quilt I used Willow Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake and main green yardage of the same range for the backing.

Piecing and quilting was done on my Bernina.

For the free motion quilting I used Colourful Embroidery Thread no C1181, I've quilted, stippling, swirls, feathers, connected circles and pebbles.

The finished quilt measures 65 x 77 inches (165cm x 195cm)

Here are some tutorials for creating the two sided hearts, padded hearts using batting and how I hand baste my quilts.  I've also included a link to a video showing you how I've quilted the circles inside the sashing.  Just click on the images below to direct you to that blog post.

           

Pattern used for this quilt is in a local magazine 'Craftwise' issue 83 Jan/Feb 2012 called Meadow Friends.

For all other blog posts on this quilt click HERE.

Happy quilting.

Feathers

Kayleigh has been keeping me so busy these past few days that progress has been slow, but I am getting there, at a snails pace.. Or so it feels.  I guess its not all bad, if rushed I might just mess it up.  Don't you just love feathers?  I do, combined with smaller pebbles and swirls it looks even prettier. 

The next two images is from the front and back of the exact same spot quilted.  I think this time the tension is perfect, can you see how the feathers pop both on the front and back?  I was worried when adding the smaller scale quilting that puckers will form, but so far so good, its looking great!

      

Unlike when I quilted the circles inside the sashing, I am not making use of any markings when quilting the feathers.  I love the result quilting white on white, it really blends in well with the background and it really makes the design stand out.

 

A big thank you to everyone's response on my Monday post.  Most of you know I reply to every comment via e-mail, unless you're a no-reply blogger, I always keep a note pad writing down questions I've received, and I will soon share some of them here on my blog.  Its sometimes a bit hard keeping track bouncing from e-mail to blogger...

If you'd like to see more of this baby quilt I'm making, click HERE.

Happy quilting.