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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Summer Solstice Quilt - Finished!

This is one of those TA-DA moments.  So be warned, I have LOTS of pictures to share :-) 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest finish.

I am really proud of this quilt, from designing, cutting, piecing, basting, quilting and binding, it was a fun quilt to make.  I mainly used the same free motion quilting designs throughout this quilt, which includes swirls, pebbles, some dot to dot diamond variations and in the border an arch/cathedral window type of design.  

The finial dimensions after quilting is 65 inches x 85 inches.

If you'd like to read up on the making of this quilt, it can be found HERE, HERE and HERE.  I designed this quilt myself and the pattern is available in my Craftsy Store, its also displayed on the left sidebar of my blog.

Source: Summer Solstice Quilt via Marelize Ries on Craftsy

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Asymmetrical HST Quilting Progress

Have you ever started a project and about halfway through you step back, look at what you've done, and thought to yourself, 'this is not what I thought it would look like?'

Well this is exactly how I am feeling right now looking at the progress I've made quilting this asymmetrical hst (half square triangle) quilt.  I was so eager and excited since this was my first design (you can read about it HERE), that I immediately started quilting.

I had a set image in my mind of what it might look like, and I loved the quilting design I had in mind and really thought it through before I started.  I honestly thought it would look great.  

But now that I'm stepping back and really looking at the quilt, I am second guessing myself.  I know, ... I know, we are own worst critics, but seriously, it is bugging me!

Sure it looks okay, but I think that what I have quilted so far, is 'ugly'.  The  pebbles aren't even, the straight lines aren't uniform and even the stitches itself is just not pretty.  I've checked and double checked the tension and its perfect, front and back...

  

I think I like the back more than the front :-)

It cant be that I'm rushing, I don't get that much time to quilt anyway, my little one is keeping me so busy wanting to be outdoors most the day, so I don't get that much time to quilt.  When I do, its short periods, so I don't think its concentration lapses?  Maybe its because I'm not quilting long periods, that my mind is not fully focused on what I am doing.

This quilt will be a wall hanging, so it would be in plain view, seeing all the little mistakes all the time.  Could or would you be happy to hang something for everyone to see if you are not entirely happy with what you've made...?

Maybe once I'm done, blocked, bound and hanging on the wall I might feel differently...

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