The Purple Monster

So over a year or more ago my step-mother-in-law and I were on a trip to Georgia to visit my brother-in-laws family and we went to some local quilt shops. She had recently asked if I would make her a quilt for her bed and I had agreed. She got her first glimpse of batiks and she fell in love. This started us grabbing bits and pieces of purples as we came across them.

She liked a variety of designs and shades. She wasn't particular about the pattern so I chose one from the first Turning Twenty book that was published. It took fat quarters, assembled a block, chopped it up, and resewed it to give it a mixed up look. 

Now in all honesty I am not a fan of batiks and I don't love purple enough to make an entire quilt of it. Isn't it amazing what we will do for our in-laws?? lol

Once I had it all arranged I made sure that I pieced it all before our move so that nothing would get misplaced.

Old House

New house

I added on thin and thick borders and mitered the corners. The finished top size was 85 inches by 85 inches. Lovely and big. 

My lovely MIL wanted the backing to be jersey. I bought a purple king size jersey sheet set. I kept the flat sheet for the back of the quilt. I used some light interfacing to try and take some of the stretch out of it. I did the best I could-lol It was no easy job! I used Pellon Soft & Warm as the batting and used my island to baste the quilt. 

I got some dappled purple for the binding and away I went.

That's the finished project. It is hard to tell but I diamond quilted the inside. Stitched in the ditch around the thin border and then continuous line quilted the thick border. I couldn't wash it as it was too big for my washer. My MIL did when she got it and threw it right on her bed. I think she likes it!!

And now I hope it's a VERY long time before I have to make another purple quilt!!

Take care and happy sewing!!
~Kim

A little bit of show and tale!

So in the past couple of weeks I have finished 3 quilts. I figured now is a good time to share them since they have been received (well all but one but the receiver knows about it!!) And then I started getting the pictures off my phone and realized that I made a 4th one last fall and never blogged about it. Maybe this should be multiple blogs but I think I can manage with one post. 

The first is the one from last fall. Hubby's cousin was expecting her first child and she wanted a custom quilt. They live in TX and are big Longhorns fans. She wanted something western but not cute-sy and she liked the colors blue and green. After sketching I came up with an idea and went for it. 

 I did the math and made it strip by strip. And pieced it together.....

Good thing Texas isn't too curvy!!

I used Pellon Batting and a fun fleece backing. 

I'm not sure why I didn't take a better picture of it but in the middle of the state, I quilted the Longhorn sign and then quilted around it until it became wavy lines. The rest was quilted on the diagonal.

I think that he enjoyed it!!

The next quilt was also a custom order. She wanted pink and grey in chevrons and dots and loved sock monkeys. Plus a name on it.

Some sketching....

And then whipping it up!

 The name is appliqued on and the monkey is a combination of applique and hand sewing. This was the basis for the monkey. I didn't use a real bow because I wanted it to be baby-safe!

Here's the finished product.

I used Pellon batting as usual and quilted the chevrons with vertical lines and quilted diagonals with the dots. I did a simple echo around her name and the monkey. Baby is due soon and I can't wait to see pics of her on it!

This next one was a quickie for my cousins baby shower. I hadn't planned on making it but I found this super cute Minky (yes I said that word) panel of the Cat in the Hat and coordinating backing so I had to throw this together!!

 I have heard of stories from others about sewing with Minky and I will never do it again! I don't care how soft it is!!! It made such a mess that I trimmed it outside. And then, with a layer of Pellon batting, it was so thick that I had to cut it down in order to bind it. Such a pain in so many ways.

 I quilted it in Aurifil black and a matching shade of blue. I outlined the cat and then sewed wavy lines between the lines of text. So stinking cute and a day project but Minky is BAD!!! lol

I have decided that this post is getting a little long so I will stop here and continue on with the Purple Monster of a Quilt in the next post!!!

Stay warm and keep on creating!!

~K