all around the world

before I headed to d.c. last week I whipped together a baby quilt for a friend of mine to give to a friend of hers. the baby is expected to arrive any day now. I didn't have much time to make the quilt and my friend said a simple quilt was fine. she didn't want to go down empty handed and she thought it would be lovely to bring a magical mouse quilt along for the baby.

my friend's friend and her husband are world travelers so I thought an 'around the world' quilt would be perfect. I'm keen on having the quilts I make symbolically represent something about the people who will be cuddling or hanging the quilt - sometimes the symbols are in the design I settle on or the fabrics I choose for the project. most often theres a bit of symbolic 'thinking' in both the design and the fabrics.

we don't know whether the baby is a boy or girl - not that it matters, I'm always fond of bright, bold colors. however, if I know a baby is a girl I sometimes will incorporate a bit more feminine touches (ironic that I the queen of androgyny feels this way! but perhaps I'm being sensitive to prevailing notions and the dominant cultural paradigm) there are 16 fabrics used in this quilt. strip piecing makes this quilt a snap to construct. for this quilt each strip was 2 1/2 inches by 13 inches. finished block was 2 inch square. I had the top and the bottom both done in a day. it did take a couple more days to do all the finishing work.

stars heal

yesterday the starry surprise quilt was mailed - I'm crossing my fingers that it arrives to its destination by saturday and finds the final recipient home from the hospital. if not it will be a most cuddly welcome home gift!

front: two traditional designs - friendship star and flying geese, each star block measures 6" square. top is composed of all batik fabrics

back: center fabric reproduction of fabric from the 1800s (pennsylvania)

detail: hand stitched and hand tied

helpers on a snow day

yesterday ms t and dixie came over to hang out on ave c.

while sitting on the floor working a bit on starry surprise, first dixie then ms t were drawn to the project. funny, sitting there I felt like a quilting equivalent of a hopi storyteller figurine.

in a few years, I expect ms t will be able to handle the needle!

starry surprise

I've returned to one of my favorite quilt patterns - the friendship star. this quilt I'm calling starry surprise as it will be given as a gift from one friend to another. the recipient will be very surprised. for now that is all I can tell regarding the story for this quilt. I don't know the person who will receive the quilt, at least not directly, I do know (s)he is fond of green and has seen my work and has wished for a mouse quilt to cuddle into.

the person who will be receiving the quilt has been ill for a while and fortunately word is will make a full recovery - but there still is a way to go. (s)he is currently in the hospital. my hope is to have the quilt finished in time for the trip home. there will still be a bit of healing and strength building to complete apres hospital. the friend of mine who is having me make this quilt for his/her friend says hopefully it won't be long. so I'm stitching away and sewing love and healing energy into each stitch and knot.

quilt top composed of all quilts. friendship star and flying geese. quilt measures approximately 50"x58" - all cotton materials.

I see with my little eye II

yesterday I finished up the kaleidescope quilt which I'm calling I see with my little eye and as of this afternoon it has been signed, sealed and delivered. I think I made record time with this quilt and completed the project in ten days - of course I had terrific motivation with the fact that the child it is for decided to come 3 weeks early!

the finished quilt measures approximately 46 x 52 inches, center is hand-tied with floss, border stitched with the full name of the child the quilt welcomes along with the following verse: I spy with my little eye my mama and papa, and a world of love and wonder.

top batik fabrics, back 'juvenile jungle print, 100% cotton materials.

I see with my little eye

the newest project currently underway is another 'welcome to the world' quilt. I finally broke away from the faithful friendship star pattern and am giving the kaleidescope a whirl!

like with most of my quilts, there's a story behind why I go off on a particular direction for a project - whether it's the pattern, the palette of colors, or the type of fabrics. for this quilt I chose the kaleidescope pattern because the mama of this particular baby is an ophthalmologist. I thought it would be fun to play around with a pattern that is actually based on an optical instrument! I chose bright batiks with colors spanning the rainbow. the baby that this quilt will be given to arrived last week - three weeks ahead of schedule! impatient to enter the world thus putting a little 'production' stress on the quiltmaker - that would be me. well, truth be told, I'm really not feeling stressed. the quilt is coming along nicely - next tasks in line - the borders and choosing fabrics for the back. things get done when they get done and not a second sooner.

blocks in progress.

detail of center of top. 6-inch block (finished)

twinkle, twinkle little star II

here's a picture of another twinkle, twinkle little star quilt which I completed yesterday. I played around with the sizing of the blocks (increased each star by a third from the last star quilt I made) so I would have a quilt that was a larger. border hand stitched with the lyrics to twinkle, twinkle little star along 3 borders and the baby's name and date of birth along the fourth border.

each star block is a 9-inch block. overall size is approximately 52 x 52. top composed of batik fabrics. all materials 100%. center of quilt hand-tied.

above detail of quilt showing a bit of the back- back is blank & white and a red frame. there is a border past the red of black and white checkerboard fabric (not shown) .

although the pattern is the same, the color, scrappy-ness, and size of the blocks convey a totally different feel for me. I think I prefer the scrappier and smaller stars. what do you think?