Friday, October 15, 2010

A change in the weather




































Last night was the first really cold night of the autumn. Quilts come out around the end of September to decorate the house for my eldest daughters birthday, but we don't really need them until mid-October. I haven't finished any large bed quilts - the girls have their cot and crib quilts. This quilt is my four year old's favourite. She loves blue, like me.

This quilt came together really quickly. I had two very similar Italian shirtings (easy to come by  in Italy as many men have their business shirts custom made - but they are still frightfully expensive), some scraps of white cotton and a pale blue ticking given to me by my mother. I found them sitting near each other in my fabric  box and they just seemed so right together.

One of the blues has a fine black thread woven into it, and the other is a blue and white herringbone.


The backing is a lovely brushed cotton with a double blue pinstripe. It makes the quilt warm and soft. The batting is wool/polyester (probably Matilda's own), and the quilt is hand quilted with white thread.









This is the first time that I have done a Baptist fan pattern. I drew up a template with pencil and compass on some thin card, drew over the lines with a thick black marker, and then cut them out. Next time I would like to try larger fans, perhaps hand drawn.

I think I had this quilt somewhere in the back of my mind - it is one of my favourites and one I would love to make one day (Tree of Life - from Ljiljana Baird's book 'Quilts')















Perhaps because this quilt went together so quickly, I didn't notice until the top was finished that the corner stones run itno the outer border - not being able to think of any other solution, I left it as it was. I kind of like it.

This quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. It measures 32 1/2" by 40". I will add the dates once I figure them out.

5 comments:

  1. Our nights have gotten cold too and the winter quilts are out. I love the soft look of your weathervane quilt and the fans are so perfect for it. It's no wonder it is your 4yo favorite- it looks so snuggly!!

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  2. Your little quilt looks so comfortable. No wonder it's a favorite? I especially like the fan quilting. I keep wanting to try that. :)

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  3. I've just learned hand quilting and am amazed at your fine work. Beautiful!!

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  4. I love your little quilt. I'm glad you gave us a close-up of the fabrics to show the beauty of them. I just love two color quilts and am in the process of cutting a blue and white one out right now. I am starting to get a little bored with the sameness of all the fabrics. I should have tried using similiar blue scraps instead of just cutting it out of two solid pieces of fabric. Seeing your quilt completed (and the tree of life one too) is very motivating. I better get busy.

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  5. I have always liked the tree block quilts.

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