My Quilt Diary

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Paul's "Big Boy" Quilt 2008

Started in April as a carry-along project, I went through my stash of greens and blues. I assembled 3 sizes into a 5" block and those were again combined to make a 10" block.

Designed to be sewed together, they just didn't work when laid out on Sue and Pete's living-room floor in June. At Sue and Cyndi's suggestion, the navy sashing and a blue+green border were added and Kimie helped with the arrangement during her July visit.

It didn't look like much of a "kids" quilt so I decided to use the zodiac animal towels for the reverse side. Paul made a trip to Ginza to pick up a dragon for the top border since little Paul is a dragon. To make the backing large enough I added a strip of dragonfly yukata fabric.

The idea is to have the family members sign their names and birthdays on the animals. I drafted the quilting design and made the templates. The idea was to have and interlocking pattern. I hope this will make up for his baby quilt which had become too small now that he has a big bed. 76" x 86" (193cm x 218.5 cm)

Monday, April 14, 2008

Leia's Quilt 2008

After swearing off hexagons forever, here I am back going going crazy again. Norie liked the I Spy I had made for Julie's boys and I didn't have to do any fabric shopping thus an alphabet for the center. I thought it only fair to put the Hiragana around the edge.

The plans changed when Norie wanted the 1 inch pieces added because the border was now too small. Kato-san gave me some fabric out of her stash of a similar color and the 1-10 counting filled those areas along with name in the upper right and date of birth in the lower left.

Norie got the organic cotton backing. It is soft and shows off my crooked quilting. From a technical standpoint this is the worst quilt I ever made. I was ready to toss it at several points. I hope my darling granddaughter will look at the love and not the imperfections.

68" x 82.5" (173 cm x 210cm)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

ASIJ Quilt 2008

Cherry Blossoms in the Moonlight, completed and hung at the ELC February 26, 2008.

Since the auction date was chosen earlier than other years, we three, Me, Kendra and Jacqueline, met in June and discussed plans to make a smaller quilt designed to be hung on the wall. A 4 panel screen seemed to be a good idea because the panels could be worked on individually and joined at the end. We met again at the end of September and word was sent out to enlist helping hands. Piecing was begun October 23, first cutting and arranging the background fabrics. By Christmas break, the aplique had begun. There were a lot of petals both silk and cotton. Jacqueline did the embroidery on each flower.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

ASIJ Quilt 2007

Again Kendra, Jacqueline and I sat down to plan the projet. The theme of the "Blue Dragon" had been chosen by the Auction Committee. We through we would try a free style and I sketched out a plan. After piecing the small sections we met to arrange them using a large piece of pink paper marked with a two inch grid.

This process made more work for the three of us but we were able to keep the volunteers busy. With spring break coming, we began to get concerned about completing the quilting in time to hang the quilt so Kendra called a few all day sessions. We met again at her house to finish marking the border and a good turn-out made quilting and bias turning go quickly.

I quilted the dragon and background on off days.

Completed 4-9-07. The lucky bidder was Montana Griffin ar 1,2000,000 yen!

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

ASIJ Quilt 2006

Design planning in October '05 with Kendra Mortganaturn and Jaqueline Wein, we decided on a Japanese Blue & White theme.

We also decided to go for a queen sized quilt thinking it might go for a higher price. Once the pattern was decided on we shopped for fabric. The pictures were made mostly of fabric from mine or Kendra's stash. By December the diamond blocks were pieced and we began the applique.

Once basting was done I brought the quilt home between sessions and quilted the diamonds with crest designs then the picture blocks and corner on the border and added a binding and a sleeve the last day, finishing February 28th. The quilt was hung in the stairwell at the ELC for a few weeks. It went to Yasuko Kent, one of the quilters and raised a whopping 700,000 Yen!