Portrait Quilt

I'm really struggling with blogging at the moment - I hear others say the same - but it really is a time sucking sport. I seem to have a lot of quilt requests at the moment which makes me more than aware of the time I'm spending away from my ever 'speeding to adult hood' little bunnies. This quilt however really deserves a little narrative.

I never thought I wanted children. Children plain scared me. When I fell pregnant with my first child I was petrified. I remember crying in check ups. The ultrasound pictures scared me. I remember standing in prenatal yoga and being asked to touch my belly and 'be at one' with my unborn child - to feel lucky - I didn't feel lucky I felt purely petrified. I barely made it through prenatal classes - in fact I turned to my husband at one point and said 'if I have to watch one more video I'm going to cry'. I didn't know what it was to have a child. I didn't know how it felt. I didn't know that the moment I saw her that I would fall so deeply in love that the past 9 months of petrification would melt away into pure awe. I didn't know that having her would be so much, mean so much. Since this little bundle arrived I've become addicted to the little people. I have 3 beautiful children whom I couldn't adore more - despite their tantrums and their insistence that my cooking is 'yuck'. I'd love to have more (i.e. read 'begged until all dignity is gone) but my husband insists that that shop is now shut!

So finishing this quilt which I have been saving the pajamas for for 6 years now (although I have only used the first 3 years of pj's in this one) marks something for me. Love - for sure - but also a strange confidence that I finally found to know that I could cut up theses precious things and do them justice. And sadly due to my mean husband that there will be no more little people coming along to dress in these cute clothes.

Can you spot Tinkerbell?

There was some distress from Bunny#2 when she saw her favorite Ariel Pj's had been included!

A huge thank you to my hugely talented friend Luke Haynes who taught me how to construct portrait quilts.

A huge thank you to my new equally as talented friend Karen McTavish who told me 'don't not do something just because you are scared' ... I will be taking that mantra to my grave.

And a big thank you to Michelle Jackson who's wonderful work I fist saw in my favorite Machine Quilting Unlimited and she showed me a different way to quilt portraits with tiny bubbles. I love the effect Michelle - thank you!!

I love this quilt.

And I love this little girl.

Luke Haynes

I haven't made much progress with any of my projects because I've been too busy hanging out with this guy (Luke Haynes) who has take a few days to come and give me some guidance. His quilts are VERY cool - you can see more of his work on his website www.lukehaynes.com

I first noticed Luke Haynes some years back. This is the first of his quilts I ever saw (below.) (I love this quilt!)

Luke doesn't usually travel with his quilts - but this time he was (lucky me) - so I got my own private quilt show - which was really cool - and I got to ask lots of boring questions like 'what stitch length do you use' - to which he rolled his eyes!

I love love love the detail on the jeans in this quilt. 

And Bunny #1 insisted on giving her own quilt show which Luke humored very well.

Sharpie Art Quilt

 Painted Picnic Blanket

(Blotter Art Quilt & Cushions above & below)

She was very descriptive about how she made each quilt.

And then Luke showed her his quilts and I was blown away by the questions she asked and how interested she was. It was so cute and Luke was a bit of a superstar for going with it it all so well!

I fear I'm not going to have time for anything at all (like I had lots of spare time before!) as this guy has provided me with so much 'homework' and ideas I am drowning! But how lucky am I to be hob-knobbing with the professionals!

Best Beetle Ever

There are some really special moments when I hand over the quilts to the families I have been working for. 

I was sad not to be able to hand this quilt to Asia & S in person because they live some distance away. I was so utterly thrilled to hear their response to the Bess Beetle quilt was more than positive!

To quote the adorable little S - "This is the best quilt ever. I love Bess Beetle's babies there are so many of them"

 

S - "Thank you this is the best quilt ever and it is also a toy. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Oh how I love children, their imaginations, the words they use & their unique perspective on the world. I want to make more of these quilts - if you would like to make one with your child - lets work together to make that happen.

If you have small children don't forget to check out Asia's website Fun at Home with Kids - it is a magical resource for exploring the world with your little people.

A big thank you again to the whole Citro Family for giving me this very special project to work on. 

Kids Art Quilt: Bess Beetle

There are few things I am more passionate about than turning clothes into quilts - but making quilts from kids art work is probably up there too. This was a quilt that I took some 8 days to longarm - that is about 64 hours of non stop quilting - which for a good sized twin sized quilt is a pretty decent amount. This quilt has some fun surprises in it too. The original drawing of Bess Beetle can be seen here. 

To begin with I began Googling 'beetles' to get some ideas. Beetle tracks popped up - and I liked that idea. So there are beetle tracks all over the quilt. I made my beetle tracks with a round foam brush and black fabric paint. Once the paint was dry & heat set with a hot iron it was time to load the quilt onto Freddie and begin quilting around those beetle tracks.

Have you spotted the quilting design yet? It is a mix and match leaf pattern. All the leaves are the same shape.

I made my own template out of a cereal packet to quickly mark the outlines & then each leaf line is heavily quilted - more than a micro stipple - and each leaf has its own design.

Bess herself was made from a panel I created and ordered through Spoonflower.  (Spoonflower Tip: To create an image the same size as the width of the fabric your picture needs to measure 6300 pixels x 5400 pixels.) Here is Bess ....

Here is what the whole quilt looks like.

 And of course you need to see the back. 

 And that isn't it.

What is this? A little bag? What could be in it?

Well when Bess was with us she had some babies. (Again with the help of Spoonflower.) Fifteen babies to be exact.

And on the back of each baby is a piece of Velcro. 

And each baby attaches to various places on the quilt. (The black beetle tracks hide the Velcro spots perfectly.) I wonder if S will be able to find where they live!

I used a wool batting AND a cotton batting for this quilt so the texture is divine. 

And here is the quilt - all folded up and concealed in its matching Bess Beetle pillowcase.  Did I forget to mention I made a matching pillowcase too? I used a very old pillowcase tutorial of mine - and I was pleased that it all still made sense!

I really hope that Asia & S love their beetle quilt as much as I loved making it.