I spent a few days working on a quilt for my great-nephew, who is 12 or so. His grandmother, my sister, has commissioned quilts for her grandchildren and we're taking one family at time. Not that we planned it this way, but it's working out quite well. Except that Josh has been a hard one to pin down. He asked for a black and green quilt with X's.
I thought of nine patch blocks in green and black placed so that the blacks would form the X that he requested. I figured that I could easily add a second block for color and variety. The nine patch would form an Irish Chain pattern and the secondary block would be something simple and quick.
Since Angie wants me to use some of mom's stash on each quilt, I thought I'd add in the olive green plaid that I used on Seth's quilt. That is until I saw it on the design wall with the nine patch blocks1
It just doesn't work. No matter what I tried I came up with the same problems. So on Sunday when Richard and I ran to Alexandria for new tennis shoes for me, I insisted that we go by Hancock's. I found a couple o f green that might work, but nothing that had me thrilled. Eventually I found a fabric that I like. There's enough green that the fabric didn't clash with the black/green nine patch blocks.
A closer look at the new fabric reveals little sea turtles swimming all over the place. The green is almost the right color, there black outlines and soft golden yellow background to tone it all down a bit.
Not having to worry about what to do with the spacing between the nine patches really freed me up yesterday. I even had a great chance to sew up a bunch of black/green strips. Now to get back into the studio to press, cut and sew them into the 27 blocks I'll need. I figure that if I work each day the way I did yesterday, I'll be delivering this quilt in a week or two!
Oh, now what do I do with the olive green blocks that I took out? Any suggestions?
The quilts I've been working on lately are for my great nephews. Since their mom posted photos on Facebook, I don't feel too guilty about posting one here. She titled the photos of Carson, "My little turkey growing up." That's how I got my title. :-)
The photo of Carson and Seth on the left is from her Facebook. Aren't they is just adorable and fun?
Some of the fabrics on the quilts are from my mom's stash. Before her death in November she gave me many of the fabrics that she had; later, my dad asked me to help clean the room where she kept her sewing. He didn't care what happened to some of the stuff just as long as we cleaned. I couldn't toss all that fabric and the notions, patterns, etc. Eventually almost all of it found its way to my studio.
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| Seth's Quilt |
When my sister, Angie, found out that I have some of mom's fabrics, she asked me to make a quilt for each of her grandchildren. We decided that we want to save a few yards in case other sisters decide to do the same. So some of the fabric is still boxed up, but the rest is quite happy blending in with my stash. Angie decided that the quilts should be twin size since her grandchildren are no longer in baby beds.
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| Carson's Quilt |
I finished Seth's quilt last week and posted a quick note about it here. Today I finished up Carson's quilt and thought you might like to see photos of the two boys' quilts. One week on Carson's quilt is a new record for me. Those tumblers are just so easy and fast! Cutting them on the Studio cutter really helps to speed things along. Imagine, ten tumblers in about two minutes, including getting the fabric ready for the die. Thank you, Accuquilt! I'll be using it again for the other quilts for Angie's grandchildren.
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| Back of Seth's Quilt |
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| Back of Carson's Quilt |
On the label I noted that some of the fabrics were in mom's stash and sewed a couple of the fabrics to the label so that they will know which fabrics came from Grandma.
Do you suppose that two little boys who will likely not remember their great-grandmother will grow up to appreciate quilts made with her fabric? What do you suppose their mom, who was very close to her grandmother, will say? I just hope she allows them to play and love the quilts the way grandma would have liked? She can still care for them and have the quilts when they are grown men, don't you think?
I thought of nine patch blocks in green and black placed so that the blacks would form the X that he requested. I figured that I could easily add a second block for color and variety. The nine patch would form an Irish Chain pattern and the secondary block would be something simple and quick.
It just doesn't work. No matter what I tried I came up with the same problems. So on Sunday when Richard and I ran to Alexandria for new tennis shoes for me, I insisted that we go by Hancock's. I found a couple o f green that might work, but nothing that had me thrilled. Eventually I found a fabric that I like. There's enough green that the fabric didn't clash with the black/green nine patch blocks. 
Not having to worry about what to do with the spacing between the nine patches really freed me up yesterday. I even had a great chance to sew up a bunch of black/green strips. Now to get back into the studio to press, cut and sew them into the 27 blocks I'll need. I figure that if I work each day the way I did yesterday, I'll be delivering this quilt in a week or two!
