Sunday, October 20, 2013

Fuzzy Love Quilt

So the friends post I did yesterday is a good segway into the next quilt post!

This past May we drove the nearly 2000 miles out to Alberta (man, that is one long-ass trip!)  Okay, that is a phrase of my husband's, and they are creeping more and more into my lingo. I should say that is one "sore-ass" trip!!  But I digress.

We were gone for two weeks.  We took our two dogs with us, as they LOVE travelling anywhere with us, but we left my darling cat, Bella, here at home in the excellent care of my aforementioned Moon Buddy (I can't take credit for that name; it's hers) who lives next door.  Well, to say that Bella was pampered is an understatement.  A gross understatement.  That feline got dressed up to go to New Orleans, (see below) tried her hand at cards, modelled a bunny costume, got a little out of hand at a party one night, got brushed and petted, and watched movies, and sunbathed, all within the safety of our home, never fear!  We got regular updates on what she was doing, along with photos.  Not only did she get all this extra-special treatment, but she also was treated to my Moon Buddy bringing her life over to my house, as in doing some food prep, or watching some TV in the evening here, Bella by her side, just to give her some human company.  Wow.


So I had to make this wonderful woman, who, over the past couple of years, has become such a good friend, a small quilt, just a lap quilt, something to throw over her legs maybe in the cooler evenings of Fall when watching TV, as a very small token of thanks for ALL she did (and her husband was a huge help too).

It is the first quilt I designed entirely on my own.  It's SUPER SIMPLE, no big fireworks need to go off in the design world, but it is a first.  I've come up with a unique quilt design a couple of times in the past, but I've started with someone else's and modified it or adapted it to suit my needs.  This one was planned out on a blank piece of graph paper!  I've heard they are making EQ7 for Macs... I am looking forward to that release.  I wanted an overall floral, sort of shabby chic feel to the quilt.  I had some of Nancy Halvorsen's "True Friends Collection" fabric left, so it was perfect for this!

Anyhow, Bella helped with the quilt.

Well, she was a bit more of a hindrance than a help.  She loves bindings!
One of the pawprint blocks.  I quilted it on my Avanté.  Of course, I used several of Leah Day's quilting motifs again.  I'd thought of keeping the quilting simple, so as to finish the quilt sooner, but Leah's designs are so beautiful, and so addictive, and I wanted to take the time to make this little quilt special rather than mundane with simple stippling.  I used one of the Sulky Blendables in 30 wt. and it quilted up beautifully.  I did Wandering Clover, from Leah's book, From Daisy to Paisley in the background.
 This is Star Flower Bands.  I love this one.  I plan to use it again where it will show up better.
 This is one from Angela Walters' book Free Motion Quilting.
My own flower design.  I think I saw this incorporated into stippling years ago in "American Patchwork & Quilting" on a quilt.  I've used it several times.
 Here is Bubblewand.
Flame Flower.  I think.  The petals don't look right, so maybe it is a different design!  Again, doing these designs on printed fabrics does not show them off as well as needed.
 Checkerboard
And Miss Bella, perched on "our" quilt!  It shows off her gorgeous blue eyes, no?!  For some reason, she really loved this quilt, and would roll on it, curl up on it, sit on it...it was like she knew it was from her as well.  I cannot thank Leah enough for so much inspiration and such generosity in using her designs.   :-)


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