Dresden Done!

Looks good against the purple wall, doesn't it?

This one was a long time in coming.  P of  The Way I Sew It sent the center Dresden to me in early 2010.  I'd finished the piecing before moving from Nevada in November of 2010.  I got it sandwiched in 2012.  And FINALLY finished quilting it a couple of weeks ago. It measures 23" X 23".  Only 4 years.

My intention was to bind it in black.  But being determined to utilize something from the stash I've been dragging around from place to place - and adding to along the way - black was not an option.  Hence the zebra stripe.  I'm quite pleased with the effect.

The Dresden itself is quilted with stitch in the ditch to make it pop.  The center has an organic spiral (read as imperfect). The black background is stippled.

I've discovered I really do not like stippling. My brain does not do random.  I have to make myself be random.  And if I'm concentrating on making no pattern is that really random?  (There's your philosophical question for the day.)

The wall hanging resides above my computer - the one I use for blogging and gaming.  :)

So for the first time in years....,

I'm linking up on Sarah's blog, Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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.