Thursday, July 8, 2010

Couldn't Talk Her Out of It

My mom made this beautiful Garden Twist quilt, which she simply calls "Spring".


My mom is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to quilting--and it shows in her gorgeous quilts.  Like so many quilts, this one did not behave itself one bit during the process.  And like all real quilters, my mom mulled, cursed, and threatened it with scissors until she got it right and produced this lovely bed quilt.

First of all, the quilt was a result of a fabric accident.  My mom was shopping online for fabric for a new shower curtain.  She was trying to get a fabric to match the new tan colored tile in the bathroom.  In the photograph at the online fabric store, the iris fabric looked perfect.  It looked like it had a tan background.  However, when it arrived, she discovered the background was actually gold and not tan.  So out with the shower curtain and in with a new quilt.




This fabric is a little wilder and brighter than my mom's usual fabric choices for quilts.  Periodically she'd wonder aloud if the quilt was just going to be too bright for her.  Aha!  I saw an opportunity to try to snag the quilt for myself.  Each time she'd say that, I'd tell her if it was too bright for her, she could give it to me.  She'd giggle and say, "We'll see."

After she finished the main body of the quilt, she added a border of the light green background fabric that she'd used as the outer triangles for the Garden Twist section.  Looked great, but again there were problems.  Although it had worked well in the triangle sections, the light green background fabric stretched when it was used in the long border strips.  It made fitting the sweet little flower blocks a real challenge.  Yes, there was more mulling, cursing, and threatening.  She wondered if she was going to hate the quilt when it was finally finished.  I told her if she hated it, she could give it to me.  She giggled and said, "We'll see."



The stretched light green border also caused problems when it came to quilting.  It wanted to bunch up in places.  I suggested she stipple it, because I thought it would be more forgiving than any straight line quilting she might attempt.  So although not in her plans for this quilt, my mom tackled stippling for the first time.  More mulling, cursing and threatening.  I again offered to take it off her hands if she hated it.  She giggled and said, "We'll see."  This was becoming a running joke. Ultimately, the stippling was more forgiving and worked well for the stretched border.  My hopes were fading fast that I'd get my hands on this beauty.

My last hope was the prairie points.  She's never made them before.  And while there was a lot of mulling, cursing was minimal and the threats were not existent.  She knew she was on the downhill stretch even if the prairie points were a new adventure.  They didn't give her all that much trouble. 


I gave it my best shot, but I couldn't talk her out of this quilt. Darn!

I'll be linking up over at Amylouwho's for Sew and Tell Friday in order to fully show off this Garden Twist beauty. Be sure to check out everybody else's lovely work.

26 comments:

  1. You get an A for effort. It's a beautiful quilt. I can see why you tried so hard.

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  2. Super pretty quilt! Lovely pieced borders you both come up with!

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  3. Great quilt, and such a funny story!! Thanks for sharing it!! Better luck next time....

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  4. It's very pretty! Your mom did an excellent job overcoming all the challenges involved in making this beauty. It's just what you'd want to pull out on those late winter gray days (do you have those in NV?) to cheer up and and think spring!

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  5. My goodness, that quilt is absolutely stunning! You have a talented Mom.

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  6. Wow that is to pretty! Your mom is very talented. Great way to make lemonade out of lemons.

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  7. I'd be trying to nab this quilt too! It's 'sew' fabulous. Thanks for sharing. Happy Sewing! :o)

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  8. This is truly a gorgeous quilt! fantastic

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  9. Your mom picked the perfect name - Spring is absolutely what came to mind when I saw this beautiful quilt. Have a great weekend!

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  10. Wow...beautiful quilt....lovely colour choice

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  11. Thank you for visiting mine, I'm delighted to return the blog visit, great way to meet other bloggers! Loved the quilt and the story of the quilt... Going to have a good read of earlier posts... hope Nevada is not pouring rain like it is here in Ireland! (Typical Irish summer!!)

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  12. Sounds like this quilt was areal challenge.well ,the result proves it was all worthwhile.Thanks for linking up to lush friday and I am so haapy to see my button on your blog.Thanks so much. See you soon again I hope.Andrea

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  13. It's beautiful, Michelle -- I can see why your mom won't give it up. :)

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  14. Beautiful! Love the colors and the little tulips are just lovely!

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  15. That looks really time consuming and pretty!

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  16. What a pretty quilt! I'd have a hard time giving it up, too:)

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  17. Mom did a fantastic job! I'll have to remember the 'We'll See' thing with my own DD - your story made me smile. Thanks for sharing it!

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  18. Very beautiful quilt! I love the colors!

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  19. That's a striking quilt. i love a good floral.

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  20. In spite of all the "accidents" it turned out to be a gorgeous quilt! Beautiful colors and the tulip border really "does it"!

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  21. That story is so funny! I bet it warms your mother's heart, though. The quilt is beautiful.

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  22. This is GORGEOUS!! Sound like mom gave "birth" to the quilt! After all that pain and hard work, I'm sure she just couldn't give it up and loves it! Great story ... thanks for sharing!

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  23. That is just gorgeous! I love the bright colors and those little flowers on the border are so pretty! You can tell your mom from me, 'perfection achieved!' That is just beautiful!

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  24. It's a fabulous quilt, well done to your mom. It can be a problem buying online, I have had a couple of items arrive and the colors are completely different to what i was expecting.

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  25. Its a very nice looking quilt - bright, yes - but better than any lamp.

    Your pictures do it justice.

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Your comments brighten my day. :-)