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Friday, May 21, 2010

My Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry







Well folks, this quilt is hot off of the sewing machine pressers! I have been avoiding many tasks today in order to finish this quilt for two reasons--1.) I wanted to enter it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival going on over at Amy's Creative Side and 2.) this is a birthday gift for my daughter who will turn 9 on May 24th.



I made this quilt top about 3 years ago. I saw a quilt in a Land of Nod catalog made of diamond shapes. I wanted to make a similar one for my daughter Anne. However, I lacked a pattern and I was forced to figure it out as I went along. As you can see, it is imperfect--there is a wonky slant to the diamond pattern--oh well. At the time I made this I didn't have the time or energy to finish it properly so I made the top into a duvet cover and called it good.
During spring cleaning last month, I found the quilt top/duvet cover wadded up in the corner my daughter's closet. I rescued it and decided to finally finish it. I posted about it on my blog a few weeks ago and asked for advice on quilting it--I agreed with those who suggested that a soft large swirly pattern would contrast well with the geometric feel of the triangles.
I quilted it free motion on my Janome 6125 (for those who are interested). I used a Crayola washable marker to draw the design on--I find this works better than those overpriced fabric markers. I finished up the quilting, washed it, bound it and clipped off my strings between the hours of 11am and 5pm today :) and that is why my family of 6 ate cereal for dinner tonight!
I am so happy with how it turned out--I hope Anne will treasure it but I won't be surprised or angry if I find it wadded up in the depths her closet again. Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet girl--I love you so deeply!


34 comments:

Deanna said...

The red stripe makes the quilt. Good job, Mom!

Jane said...

A beautiful quilt and ministry.

Tammy said...

It is absolutely beautiful! I love the quilting design...and I would have never thought of using crayola washable markers. I will have to try that on my next one!

Carol said...

Very pretty. I like the contrast between the lozenges and the swirly quilting.

Anne at Film and Thread said...

It is beautiful (and so is your little girl)! The quilting is amazing and I would not have known to use the markers.

Allie said...

What a lovely quilt - the colors are so soft! I read your about us page on your website, what a remarkable ministry. Your daughter is darling.

Chris said...

Perfect for a little girl. Lovely.

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

It is a beautiful quilt and I am sure that Anne will cherish it the rest of her long life.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

lovely. subtle and lovely. nice job, i can see she loves it!

Marika said...

Very beautiful Quilt work

Marjorie said...

Thanks for the marker trick. I'll have to give that one a try.

Jocelyn said...

Your quilt is so lovely! I love the design.

Leslie said...

i love this...the colors and the pattern and the quilting especially! so beautiful

Karen said...

I love the quilt. The colours are so pretty and the quilting looks stunning. Fantastic job. I admire you for quilting it on your domestic machine. What a mammoth job. I have the same machine. It is back in the shop. Could you please tell me what needles you use in your machine? My machine keeps missing stitches, especially when quilting.

Stephanie said...

Very pretty!

mary said...

Quilting makes the quilt. Lovely.

Marie said...

The quilting is beautiful

Kathy said...

Excellent birthday quilt!

Kelli said...

So gorgeous! great job, I bet your glad you finally finished!

szkornelia said...

It is a lovely quilt. I can see how much your pretty little girl loves it.

Anonymous said...

Great story and I think the quilting is perfect for the pattern.

Anonymous said...

What a pretty quilt! I love the swirls - it gives a soft, whimsical feel to the quilt.

Miri said...

Very sweet quilt (and daughter!). Love the circular quilting!

QuiltSue said...

It is absolutely gorgeous, and so is your daughter.

GLÃ’RIA said...

Very nice quilt, and quilting!!! Happy Festival for you!

erin lebeau said...

this is just darling :) how special. & good job on figuring it out without a pattern --i just started a quilt for my daughter too- it's so special to pass on something made with so much love to such an amazing little person in your life:) http://erinlebeau.blogspot.com/

Randi said...

What a special b-day gift!

Amanda Jean said...

What a beautiful quilt to give to your daughter! I love the soft colors. (and I love land of nod stuff, too!)

Justella said...

I think your quilt is lovely and I especially like the quilting.

Eileen said...

what a delicately beautiful quilt. i didn't notice the wonkiness you talked about and i think anne won't care about it. great idea about the markers. quilting is just such a wonderful contrast to the harder lines of the piecing!!

Dolly said...

Oh, that looks beautiful on that bed !
Wonderful job !

Congratulations on your win over at the blog festival.......

Piece N Quilt is offering 1 layer cake of winner's choice!
71. Carin@Margaret's Hope Chest

.....she say to be sure and come and claim your prize if you've won !

Anonymous said...

so pretty... the colors, the pattern, the quilting! its past life as a duvet cover made me think that maybe i could do that with quilt tops i'm not 100% sure about, then if i still love them after a few months i can put in the effort to turn them into quilts. thanks!

Unknown said...

I love your quilt! The colors are so nice, and thanks for the markers tip!

Sandra said...

what a peaceful quilt with a sophisticated feel.
Come see my antique quilt entries
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com