At the beginning of the year when I finally got the opportunity to be shown around in person Son#4 and DIL#4's home that they had purchased just before Christmas, they joked that they needed a quilt for their spare bed (having already their wedding quilt on their bed and Son#4's thirteenth birthday quilt on the single bed). At the time I had just finished the wedding quilt for Son#5 and DIL#5 and was hoping to work on something for one of our newly renovated but not quite finished bedrooms.
Little did I know that only a few short months later I would be making a baby quilt for Son#5 and DIL#5.
I have mentioned before (complained would be more truthful) that since our one shop in town dedicated to patchwork fabrics closed it has been difficult to buy locally the essentials for my craft. So with the news of a new grandchild, I went online to buy fabrics.
As anyone who has bought online knows, what you think you have ordered isn't always what turns up in the mail. That vibrant green on your screen translates into a murky green-grey when it arrives on your doorstep. Or that muted pink could rival the latest in neon colours when you open the package.
And so it was with the batiks that I ordered for the baby quilt. In all honesty, there was nothing wrong with the fabrics - they just were not what I had in mind for a baby quilt. In the end I was able to buy the fabrics I wanted in town for the baby quilt, and the batiks got put aside for another project. Baby quilt completed, I pulled out the batiks and suddenly realised that, with the purchase of a border fabric, I would have enough for that quilt that Son#4 and DIL#4 had joked about.
And so I set to work. It went together quickly and then I happened to find an Aurifil thread in my stash that matched perfectly. I am a recent convert to Aurifil threads for quilting, and in particular the variegated threads, but while this one on its own would probably never have appealed to me, when I brought it out and placed it against the batiks, it seemed to make them sing.
This quilt that had been totally unplanned, ended up becoming a joy to work on. And I even had a large roll of leftover binding that ended up giving it the perfect finishing touch. Overall, I was quite pleased with the result.
With that quilt now officially handed over, I returned to a quilt top that I had made at the beginning of the year. Actually, I returned to two quilt tops. One was all ready to be quilted (and I had even done a few lines on it) when I decided it lacked something ...
... as for the other one, I was no longer in love with it and doubted I would ever get motivated enough to finish it ...
And so, I deconstructed one and from two quilt tops made one that I am now much happier with. I still have to do a whole lot of applique, but going from the reactions of several family members, I think now it will be worth it. (DH doesn't usually voluntarily comment on any of my projects unless asked, but when he saw this one on the bed he offered up his view that it looked "really good in that room".)
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