Lucie's Quilts

No sewing at all for a couple of weeks: pre-camp prep, camp and post-camp clearing up have taken up all my time.  I hope to steal a day this weekend though and get some quilting done as the tops are starting to pile up...

So today I just want to share a couple of quilts that I made about two years ago which I have given to a very lovely young woman, the daughter of a friend of mine, who was married in our village church recently.  I have known Lucie since she was a toddler (how embarrassing is that?) and I know she loves fabric and will be a great sewer herself when she has a bit more time.

It is often hard to be sure that you are reading someone else's preferences correctly, so I invited Lucie and her mum to come and look through the pile of quilts I thought might be suitable.  As you can imagine, I have quite a pile, all unused, just waiting for the right person/occasion.

I was thrilled when Lucie chose this one,

and I wanted her to have this one too, as it is the twin and might have been lonely without the other.  As I said in a previous post, I often end up making two related quilts from the same fabric palette because of my shocking tendency to over-purchase - do you?

Neither is huge (sorry, haven't kept the measurements), but sometimes that makes quilts more versatile because they can be used in all sorts of different ways.  And I think the best thing one can wish for a quilt one gifts is that it will be used and used until it falls to bits.



The story behind the first-made quilt, which is the second photo above, is that I wanted to make a blended quilt, a modified Jacob's Ladder design, from the book Blended Quilts by Marsha McCloskey and Sharon Yenter.  

The blending was reasonably effective and they are both definitely low-contrast quilts which gives a nice shabby chic look.



















The slightly smaller quilt came about because of the leftovers: it is a simple Sawtooth Star with double four-patch middles and corners adding interest.












I especially like the change of scale provided by the the mini-stars.in the top and bottom borders.  As with all the best design decisions, this happened because I didn't have enough fabric left to put a border of stars all the way round...












I am quite pleased with the quilting which was all done with a walking foot.
I drew out the cable borders for the larger quilt on Golden Threads paper (like very fine greaseproof paper) so they would fit perfectly and then tore the paper guide away after quilting.






 It worked well as it saved marking on to the quilt top, though it is odd quilting something which crackles!

 Lucie especially loved the backing of this quilt - so great to have such a discerning recipient!

I washed both quilts before I wrapped them to check for colour fastness and to get the lovely soft crinkle that you get from shrinkage of the cotton wadding, and I included washing instructions.

Do you make your quilts with someone in mind, or choose to give them only after they are made, when you can see how they have turned out and who they would suit?