Wednesday, January 27, 2016

A Birthday Pillow for Morgandy

Morgandy turned 7 last Saturday.  She had a dance class all afternoon, so her birthday was celebrated Sunday.  I wanted to make her something for her bedroom in her new house.  I did 't want her to feel she had to put it on the wall.  Morgandy has some creative colorful ideas for her wall.  Negotiations with her parents are on-going.  At this point she has agreed to their preference for a white room.  However, she will have a huge lightening bolt covering one wall.  It is something stuck on, so as she grows and changes, it can easily come off to be replaced by a new idea.  At any rate, that is the reason, I made her a pillow.  She immediately said, "I can put it on my bed."  She loves butterflies and moths, so that was the idea behind the design.

The Moth is double quilted.  That is, I quilted the moth first using a layer of polyester batting.  Cut away all the excess batting and first backing when done. Attached the whole thing to a new backing faced with cotton batting.  Then I heavily quilted the painted background [the green part] so that the moth really stands out.  It is similar to trapunto, but not done that way.  I call it double stuffing or double quilting, depending on the time of day and my mood.   What would you call it?


Side View to show the depth.
The quilted lines follow the lines of the moth's wing.

Finished Pillow

Thursday, January 21, 2016

First Birthday Book for Alex

Although Alex does not yet talk, or have much of an attention span, I still decided to make him a small book [printed pages are 8.5" square before trims] for his First Birthday.  My hope is that before the year is out, he will be interested in learning about the animals. 

COVER page 

Because everyone likes their own name, I decided to make it all about the letter 'A'.  The research was very interesting.  I found some animals I have never heard of before.  I also found the 'Armadillo closing up'.  FASCINATING to me!  

His Grandmother Carla told me he really gets excited about bright colors.  I used every bright color I had for the leading edge, plus fringe plus the colorful soft binding which ends in a carrying handle.  I used a different color gross grain for the leading edge of each page.  One end is longer; alternating up and down similar to a tab.

Back cover, spine, Front cover

Page 2 and 3

Page 4 and 5

Page 6 and 7

Page 8 and 9

Page 10 and 11

Although there are some obnoxious construction problems, the quilt police will never see this FUN BOOK.  I do not think the construction errors will impede the enjoyment.

STANDING UP


PS.  The background fabric is my next pair of PJ bottoms.