On the Design Wall---

I finished quilting the quilt that originally was for my granddaughter, but will now be a birthday present for my daughter (her mother).  I quilted it, and bound it by machine so it is all finished. Although some people really like to sew the binding on by hand, I NEVER enjoyed the process and often even though the quilt was almost finished except for the binding, it was left to languish on the unfinished pile.  I am also finding that the more I attach the binding by machine, the better my technique is becoming.  I still haven't gotten sewing exactly in the "ditch" perfected, so even though you can see the stitching on the front (I sew from the back), since I quilt by machine, the stitching actually looks like it is a part of my quilting.  At any rate, if I ever get the courage to enter a quilt in competition, I will stitch by hand, but until then-----machine is more than adequate, since I am more interested in a finish.

The picture looks like the quilt is not straight but is bowed.  It is straight though---I was holding the camera up above my head to try to get the entire quilt in the picture as it lay on the floor.

My daughters favorite color is red and her den sofa is red leather, so the quilt will look nice on the back of her sofa.  I also made her a pillow case to match, more to hold the quilt and act as a sort of "wrapping", but I think this adds a nice touch.

This is the quilt I am now making for my granddaughter.  She has decided that her dorm "colors" will be brown and burnt orange.  Not a color combination I was aware of that she liked, but it is her room.  Not my favorite colors either, but this quilt is made of batiks and I am taking license and adding some bright colors.  The border will be a really nice brunt orange/brown combination so it should be to her liking.  The size is a generous twin, big enough to lay across her bed and wrap up in if necessary.  She is a tall young lady so it should cover her adequately.  The sashing is a unbleached 200 ct. muslin that has the feel of a batik as well.  I have five more rows to go.  I started it yesterday so if I keep going, the top should be done by this week-end.  I think I will quilt it in concentric circles---a nice contrast to the rectangle blocks.  I also think I will use two layers of batting to really accentuate the quilting.  I have been reading about several quilters who do that and the quilting on the quilts really shows up nicely.  Since batik is such a tight weaved fabric, I think it should work well.

Well--this is what has been going on in my "studio".  I am trying to keep my promise to myself to blog more---we shall see how it goes.

Thanks for stopping by!