Quilting is in my Blood

I recently finished a quilt for my friend, Jeanne, whom I have known for 50 years. We met in 6th Grade at Pioneer Elementary School in Sacramento, California. I was the maid of honor in her wedding when we were both 18, and since shortly after she got married, we’ve  lived in different states but have kept our friendship going despite the geographical distance.

I’ve been wanting to make the simple yet striking Diamonds in the Rough quilt for awhile (dimensions 52.5” x 64.5”). Also for the past two or three years, I’ve been thinking about making a quilt for my friend, Jeanne, who is a neonatal nurse practitioner who now trains other neonatal nurses. During this recent COVID-19 pandemic, she has been a “one woman sweat shop” making fabric masks for friends and colleagues. Jeanne gives so much to others, and she deserves something special for being the wonderful woman/mother/wife/friend that she is. So I decided to make a Diamonds in the Rough quilt for Jeanne using a favorite fabric collection, Alison Glass’ Handcrafted, that I’ve been saving for just the right project. The colors in this collection go with the harvest colors in Jeanne’s home. The name of this quilt is 50 Years of Friendship. Jeanne received this quilt last week and sent me this text along with a photo of it with her kitty, Cilla:

I received the most beautiful quilt from my dear friend Mary!💕 I love it!!! Celebrating 50 years of friendship … how thoughtful are you! Thank you, thank you!! I have it in my favorite comfy chair with my loyal study buddy of 15 years …

I’m submitting this quilt to the Hands2Help 2020 Caregivers Quilt Initiative. My friend, Jeanne, is a caregiver in every aspect of her life, and I am so happy to give back just a smidgeon of what she gives to others. Here’s a photo of Jeanne holding her grandson taken back in October that gives a wonderful visual depiction of how much she cares for others.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Hands2Help Progress Linkup.

I am happy to share some pics I took today at our local state park of the quilt I made to celebrate my great nephew, Hayden’s high school graduation. Hayden and his family have enjoyed camping his entire life, so most of the fabrics I chose have a camping theme, though I did include some fabrics that reflect some of his other interests including bicycling, fishing, and cowboy hats and boots. This is the second time I have had Melissa of Sew Shabby Quilting use her camping quilting pattern on a quilt. (If you’re curious, see my original Camping Quilt). I used Amy Ellis’ Soiree pattern which was well written and easy to sew. The dark blue background is Kona Windsor and the accent triangles are Kona Cadet. I pieced the back of the quilt using one of the wonderful National Parks panels with a border around the panel of tiny camping signs. I’ve never used brown grunge fabric before, but I think it complements the National Parks panel. I threw in a little dark green fabric because I didn’t have enough brown grunge. I had hoped to hand deliver this quilt to Hayden in California next weekend, but that trip has postponed, so I will be sending it off to him on Monday.

I am linking up to Sarah Goer’s Show Me Something Blue linkup.

My May 2020 One Monthly Goal is to make a bright and happy quilt top that will become a quilt for my bed which I hope to have finished in time for me to enjoy this summer. It will definitely be a comfort quilt as 2020 has been an exceedingly challenging year thus far for us all, and it will feature some of my very favorite fabrics including the background fabric which is Avant Garde Bauhaus Dissection by Katarina Roccella and some gorgeous saturated prints by Alison Glass and Guicy Guice, along with many other bright prints in my stash. I first saw the Blithe quilt in this blog post by M-R Charbonneau@Quilt Matters. I had some Bauhaus Dissection fabric in my stash but not nearly enough to use as the background fabric for a quilt, but last October I was thrilled to find six yards at  Lark Cottons, and I will definitely use a lot of this wonderful low volume fabric in my version of the Blithe Quilt. I’m planning to make the quilt wider, so it fits on my full-size bed. I think the final dimensions will be about 72.5 x 72.5. Below are 8 half-square triangles that will be used in this quilt:

Linking up to Elm Street Quilts: May 2020 OMG.

When I read Sarah Goer’s post at the beginning of this month, Show Me Something Improv, I did not have anything improv to share because generally I tend to gravitate toward more structured designs. But I thought it might be fun to play with my Alison Glass Kaleidoscope scraps and create an improv table runner for the shelf next to my bed. Initially I wanted it to be a two-sided runner that would feature a turquoise-blue-lime color scheme on one side (that would go with my Tranquility quilt) and a riot of bright colors on the other side (that will go with a future quilt project), but I wasn’t able to get it basted well, and the quilting puckered, so I ripped it out after only having quilted two lines. I decided to focus on the squares that go with my Tranquility quilt, cut another piece of Kaleidoscope Raven fabric as backing, did a much better job basting it, and ended up being super happy with the quilting, which mimics the piecing.

The two squares on either end were sewn in the more traditional improv manner (which is somewhat of an oxymoron!), and I made a simple paper-pieced pattern for the center square.

Thanks, Sarah, for the inspiration to get out of my comfort zone. Be sure to check out all the cool improv projects at the Show Me Something Improv Linkup.