The Wild Robot Quilt

This really fun and unusual quilt was made by a friend of mine--a 5th grade teacher in Virginia.

She made this quilt to reflect the cover of the book: 

 The Wild Robot by Peter Brown.

She might use this book as a theme in her class for next year.

It was super fun to quilt.  I marked it all out with school chalk before I put it on the frame; so, all the "thinking" had already been done before I started quilting. 

I was able to center this quilt between the added yardage on either side.  I have done this a couple of times and you just have to be accurate and square when you put the backing and the top on the frame and keep it straight all the way to the bottom.  

It's pretty dang close!!

Forest creatures on the flannel backing: bears, bees, squirrels and owls. 

Her thread-play radiates heat from a fiery sun!

The skinny twig trees are all raw edge applique, so they will only get better as time goes by and they fray more and more. I love this!

Brown binding adds a finishing touch to the wild forest.

The rocks!  

The rocks were a blast.

Here is my quilty interpretation:

Alluvial fan . . .

 Sandstone . . .

 Lava cinders....

 The Robot stands on a giant, striated granite dome.

Conchoidal fractures on this flint outcrop. . .

Stratified sedimentary layers . . .

Folded Granite. . .

 Gneiss. . . 

. . .and water lapping around the shore rocks.

It was so fun, I hated it to end.

I used light grey on the back and these 3 colors on the top.

Did you catch this little detail?  The robot only has one shoe . . .

Thanks for letting me quilt this awesome project!

Another Quilt to Love

Most of you know I don't take customer quilts anymore.  However, I make an exception once in awhile.

I heard through the family grapevine that this lady's denim quilt top needed rescued after being stored for many years.  She made it while her kiddos were little and something told me this was one of my exceptions.

We sent a few messages back and forth and she chose this piece of flannel backing from my shelf yardage. I had just barely enough yardage to make the backing and the binding (less than a fat quarter is left!)

Since I prefer the backing seam horizontal, I also mounted the top horizontally, only 3/4" from the edge on the top leader....

When I got to the bottom, I had a whopping 1.25 inch left....

There was a plan for this madness!

I needed all the extra on the sides to make the cute crosswise binding!

A topographical meander works well for denim quilts because you can stitch around any heavy seams.

Tomorrow, it will go back to it's forever-home to be loved and used.

  

Pink and Black

Another great quilt by this sweet customer.  I have done a dozen or so of her quilts over the years and they are always fun.  It is for her granddaughter.

I took my cue from this fabric and decided to make my freehand fun funky flowers.

Look at that huge polka dot on the back!  This quilt is full of fabric surprises. 

Works in Progress

I like to have a piecing project and a quilt on the frame.  I work better this way, when I get tired of standing, I can go sit and piece:

This quilt top needs a lot of pinning and careful stitching to make sure all these points a sharp and meet perfectly.  It's tedious work....so I take a break and do some fun freehand quilting in this fun top I am quilting for my sister-in-law for one of her granddaughters.

I know it's not everyone's style of work, but I get a lot more done this way if I pace myself between projects. 

Purple Daisies

I just finished up this classic embroidery top today for a lady just put into Hospice care. I got the quilt in the mail yesterday, stitched up the top panels, cut and stitched the backing, quilted it, bound it and boxed it for the mail. 

I remember my Mom sitting in the evenings, hand embroidering tops like this. These are the tops that are pre-marked with little blue dots in addition to the embroidery pattern. You can't iron the top or it will set the ink and the dots will never wash out. These were made by "Hershners." They are still in business, but they don't make these tops anymore...so, I guess they are collector's quilts now.

I find is very hard to quilt on the dotted line.

I just love all these purple daisies.  What a lot of work!

The purple backing and binding is the perfect compliment to this top!

DWR Done!

This Double Wedding Ring is finally complete and tomorrow morning, will be on it's way to Southern Utah for my sweet friend Shirley.  It was a treat to quilt her unique top.

We wanted something different than the traditional treatment for this stunning quilt with modern colors: black, grey and white.  Asymmetrical freehand feather plumes are centered in each ring, but also centered in a grid-like box that is hiding in the background.

97 x 97

DWR in progress

Just finished the first row tonight.

The grid is developing behind the plumes.

Double Wedding Ring

First customer quilt of the year.

I started work on this DWR pieced by an old friend. She used black, white and grey.

It's going to look very different from traditional DWR quilts.

  In addition to an asymmetrical freehand feather plume centered in each ring...

...there is a grid design behind the rings that will encompass the entire quilt.

The back is light grey and the thread is white.