Bloggers Quilt Festival - Baby Quilt

My second entry for Bloggers Quilt Festival, thank you to Amy of Amy's Creative Side for setting up the Quilt Festival.  This is the first year I've entered, but I have watched the last two years and am always so impressed by everyone's quilts, talents, and stories.  I'm so glad to be a part of this quilting community.

Baby Quilt

I made this quilt November / December 2012 for my first grandson.  I used a quilt that was given to my son when he was one, that had seen much love and wear; I took this apart and incorporated pieces into a new quilt for Calvin.

Original Quilt - 28 years old

I painstakingly took apart the old quilt in four patches.  This quilt had been hand pieced and hand tied, the pieces were uneven and and threadbare in many places.  This isn't a slight on the quilter!  She was a family friend who was only 14 when she put this together, it had withstood 28 years.  The thicker fabrics she used which were corduroy and velvet held up the best, the sheet materials were the thinnest.  I wanted to use some of the brighter pieces like the green in the new quilt.  

I chose fabrics that complemented the originals, I wanted a nice blend of old and new.  

I cut down the four patches from the old quilt to the same size and made the new four patches.

I tried to keep the feel of the original quilt.  All the red and green pieces are from the original.  I backed with a cozy flannel and a Kaffe Fassett was used for the binding.  I straight quilted this on my home machine.  

A nice comparison of the quilt tops of old and new!

Thank you for visiting if you are here for the Bloggers Quilt Festival!  A big thank you to Amy's Creative Side for setting up this event for all of us.  I hope you will take a look around and come back and visit another time.  You can find me on Flickr and Instagram 'FairlyMerry' I enjoy seeing my quilty friends projects and accomplishments through blogs, and photos.  

P.S. Calvin was born Christmas Day 2012 and his quilt was waiting.  

Keep Calm and Quilt On!

Mary

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Throw Quilt

My very first entry for the Bloggers Quilt Festival sponsored by Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side. 

Throw Quilt 

I finished this in December 2012 for a friend who loves sunflowers.  She had recently lost her pet and wanted her to be included in the quilt.  I struggled with a way to add Hannah into the quilt and not make it a sad reminder of the lost one.  Quilts are to be happy!  It took me awhile to finally come up with something working with all the sunflower fabrics.  Although the colors fit me to a tee, the multitude of prints I was trying to incorporate was driving me crazy.  I finally eliminated some of the prints and went with colors that fit the theme rather than all the prints that fit the theme.  It came out so beautifully, I am glad that it took me so long to get there, or the quilt would be entirely different.  

Hannah's Sunflower Garden

I used a sunflower panel which I sliced into sections to create the focal area.

Free motion quilted on my home machine.

The measurements were approximately 53" X 60"

And this is Hannah, she is highlighted on the back of the quilt and if you know she is there, you can find her hidden in the sunflowers on the front.

This last photo was taken prior to quilting.

Thank you for visiting during the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I hope you will come back!

You can find me on Flickr and Instagram under FairlyMerry and I love seeing all the photos and fun going on in both places.  

Big Thank You to Amy and all the sponsors of the Bloggers Quilt Festival.

Keep Calm and Quilt On!

Mary