Saturday, May 22, 2010

It's that time again: Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy is hosting the third Blogger's Quilt Festival. Instead of just looking this time around I've decided to join in. Some of you have already seen my entry. I asked my kids which quilt I should blog about and they both picked this one. You just can't argue when two kids agree on something right away :)

This quilt started out as a throw. It sat unquilted for a year and every now and then my son would check back about who it was for. He was very clear about not wanting this one to leave the house. In the spring of 2009 I realized his bed quilt was getting worn and I decided his favourite quilt top might be expanded to a twin size. A few extra borders later I started hand quilting it and it finally made it onto his bed in October or November 2009.

I learned 3 things while making this quilt.
First - don't take shortcuts when bias edges are involved. I thought I would cheat and sew the sashing strips on without measuring them, then cut the extra off the ends. Oops. The sides of the braids are all bias edge and they just stretched, so my quilt developed a very pronounced curve. I had to rip all the those seams, measure the sashing as I should have done in the first place, then sew then back on. Lesson learned!
Second - I hate having to pull thread through wax or some other conditioner to make it stronger for hand quilting. I'd always used hand quilting thread before, but this time wanted to try a variegated thread in the braid so it would blend more. It turned out just like I wanted it to, but I'm not sure I'll do it again.


Third - Traditions are easy to start. Back when I made my son's first quilt I messed up the first block and didn't have enough fabric to redo it, so I made one plainer block and embellished it by quilting his name onto it. Then it was expected that I would quilt my daughter's name into her quilt somewhere. When I started quilting this one my son's first question was "Where are you going to quilt my name on this one?" It's in there. This picture doesn't show it, but each letter of his name is in one of the coloured squares in the small innermost border. I'm now quilting a new quilt for my daughter and guess what she wanted to know?
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's quilts. I'm off to browse the festival now!

30 comments:

  1. LOVE this quilt! Contrasty quilts rock!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i love your quilt tradition! how fun for the kids to search for their names. next time, don't tell them where you quilt it!

    i made a french braid quilt a while back, and like yours, mine got curved. of course, i didn't take apart and fix the problem. instead i quilted and squared it up and ended up trimming about 1/4 of my quilt off to get it square! i'll never do a french braid again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This quilt is just my style -- nice and bright! What punch the colours have set against the black. I love the name stitching too, a great tradition you have started!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful quilt. I love the bright colors against the black background. That's so sweet that your kids expect their names to be sewn into their quilts.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved this quilt the first time I saw it, and I still do! And you are right --- bias edges do create lots of problems! But you handled it! ---"Love"

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful, cheery quilt! Great tips too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very pretty! I love the bright colours.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your quilt is very colorful and the black makes the colors pop. What a neat idea of quilting their names into the quilting design. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the quilt;) And the name thing is great;) I quilted my husband's and my initials in one of the quilts I made years ago. You really have to look for it, but it's there;)
    Happy Quilting!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a fantastic tradition and superb quilt. The bright colours are fabulous. Ann :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. This quilt is just amazing! Every time I see it I study it all over again and I love the way you did the borders. You have very luck kids!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very beautiful quilt work !
    Wonderful colour you have a world ?)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love that quilt with all the colors! As if I didn't have enough project....LOL

    Liri

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your quilt is stunning. Love your "Lessons Learned".

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the color that you used:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great colors, this quilt has a very happy feel to it! Love adding the names!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love your quilt I have made a few
    "Braid" table toppers but not a full size quilt yet. It is on my to do list.! Love the colors...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Love the colors, and I LOVE the black background. It really sets off the rest of the colors. My heart started beating way fast when I saw this :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Your children have good taste. Delightful quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love the brights against black! Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  21. The quilt is so bright and cheerful. Thanks for the tips. Great job.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The kids were right, awesome quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Loving this quilt, can't blame the boy for being anxious about it getting away !
    Found your post through another blog where she's sharing your quilt's photo and linky. You're famous !

    ReplyDelete
  24. wow this is so lively and bright and fun. great quilt

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wow at the colors! It's really great. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

    ReplyDelete
  26. LOVE this quilt. a lot of work, but so well worth it. and love your tradition.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is just beautiful; the brights just POP because of the black.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The black sashing gives a real stained glass effect that is stunning.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. I truly appreciate your comments and will try to reply to comments by email if your commenting staus is not set to "no-reply".

If you have a question, emailing me directly at joanne@canuckquilter.com will ensure I have your address to respond. I promise I will not share your email address and I will not use it for any purpose other than replying to your message.