Thursday, December 26, 2019

Four for Covered in Love


Happy Boxing Day, quilty friends! We're having gorgeous weather along the Florida panhandle. That has allowed me to finally, FINALLY take some photos to share with you. I've had a stack of finished quilts waiting for their glamour shots before I could mail them off to Kat for Covered in Love.

This first one is made entirely of other people's orphan blocks. The colors in the scraps are really bright and saturated! Like wiggly kindergartners, they needed just a little bit of help to calm down and play nicely together, so I sashed them with a tonal brick red and gray cornerstones. I also trimmed them all to a consistent size so they could be sewn in this even grid. The overall effect is interesting and cheerful without being chaotic, I think. 


Kat sent me quite a bit of donated fabric in larger chunks, great for piecing into backings. I used all the jungle animals here, plus a few extra orphan blocks. The binding was premade by a CiL contributor, too, a nice time saver for me.


This next one came to me as finished flying geese, already sewn together into loooooooooooooooong strips. Included was a note from Gail H. who had sent it to Kat: "These pieces were given to me by LaVonne Bevens in 2000. Someone had given them to her, she said." So those geese flew from "someone" to LaVonne to Gail to Kat to me. I'm at least the fifth quilter to handle them, so it was definitely time to let these geese fly home! The note also included some photos of possible layout ideas, and this one struck my fancy. The mustard yellow fabric was also a donation. I quilted wishbones all along that yellow, using yellow thread, so it's completely invisible. Good thing I find wishbones to be rather pleasant and meditative because I doubt anyone else will even notice them.


The backing is pieced from fat quarters that were part of the same fabric line as the mustard. They are reproduction prints with Americana motifs, and super nice quality cotton. This quilt is so soft!


This one is my favorite of the bunch. Look at that sweet birdie panel! SO cute! Kat sent this to me, and I'm not sure if it was donated to her or from her personal stash (edited to add: Kat says it was donated.) I know the jelly roll strips that I used to make the 16 patches and binding were her own fabric. They were lying next to the panel in my studio and I had one of those "Aha!" moments. They look made for each other, don't they?


I love the modern, stylized design of these birds and the pretty autumn colors. The deep, rich, chocolate brown borders were also part of the Americana fabric line donation. Aaaaaaand now I want some dark chocolate.


The backing is pieced from a combination of my own yardage and donated pieces. The birdhouses at the top are a chunk I've had for ages that never went with any of my other fabrics, but it works thematically and chromatically here. Every fabric has a destiny!


All the darker pieces of the argyle came from a donated fat quarter bundle, and I added the black polka dot sashing and cream background. I've loved argyle since I was in high school, so it was really fun to stitch up! I think my Mom will approve of this one, too. I wish I had taken more close up photos of the fabrics; they have really pretty metallic accents. Maybe Kat will do that when the quilt arrives in Texas.


The back is a big chunk of a funky donated mod olive green print, with the leftover squares from the argyles. I left this photo uncropped so we can all enjoy the shadow of my hand on the camera. Apparently I hold my fingers out JUST SO to take pictures, because every single one of these photos have that same shadow!

Three quilts got boxed up today (how appropriate!) and are winging their way to Kat. I would have sent more, but to paraphrase Donald Rumsfield, you to go the post office with the boxes you have. And there are more quilts that finally were photographed today that are ready to feature in my Giving Orphans a Home series, so stay tuned!

23 comments:

  1. So glad you are enjoying your creative spurt with all this orphan material !!!! These are fabulous quilts - well done! Kathleen

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  2. Fabulous quilts... you got a lot done..... I love the effect of the flying geese in that layout - hadn't seen that before.... they are all lovely and such interesting backs too.....
    Hugz

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  3. I love how different these all are — and they're all cool in their own ways!

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  4. Yaaay! These look beautiful! The geese came to me from Gail H., and the bird panel was donated as well but I'm not positive from who. Probably Sandra. I love what you have done with them all!

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  5. Three more great quilts! It’s always so fun to see what you do with the donated fabrics, blocks and assorted bits. That’s hilarious about your hand on the camera. Hope you two had a great Christmas!

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  6. Um, I meant FOUR quilts, not three. I can count. Honest...

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  7. The sashing was definitely a good idea, I love lots of colour in quilts but because there were so many blocks the quilt could have been overpowering without the sashing. I love the setting of the flying geese quilt, very different and the bird panel quilt is so cute, the panels do stand out so very well with the 16 patch blocks surrounding. Every quilt here will be loved by the recipient.

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  8. Wonderful work. Such a great feeling when you find the right fabric for the quilt you're making on hand, especially when you've had it for ages unsure where to use it. Lucky recipients once again.

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  9. Fantastic finishes. I enjoy seeing what you do with donated fabrics. Wishing you all the best in the new year.

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  10. They are all impressive. I did download that free pattern. It looks amazingly simple to make and looks so complex. You really did make something beautiful out of those random blocks. That brick with grey cornerstones really did the trick. The story about those flying geese was really cool. I am glad they kept flying around until someone found a plan for them. I really feel like that quilt must be special because those pieces have endured for so long. I am sure that the person who receives it will have a special appreciation for it.

    Enjoy your holidays!

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  11. Which quilt stayed home with you?!?! Personally, I would have wanted to keep that Orphan Block Quilt. Love, love, LOVE that one!!! I'm looking forward to another edition of Giving Orphans a Home, too.

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  12. You’ve performed your quilty magic once again! Enjoy the panhandle! Happy New Year!

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  13. I agree sometimes strings need to be corralled and calmed, the sashing is a great idea for it. My favorite is the flying geese, great way to use them. You are just so creative with all of the quilts!

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  14. I'm still wondering where you stash all the fabric that you wind up using. Even finding room for the donated blocks un til you can piece them togther would be a challenge. Happy New Year.
    Pat

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  15. You do amazing work using other people's leftovers and orphans. I especially love that Flying Geese quilt - so nice that those geese now have a home and it's a finished quilt and it'll be love by someone.
    Love your sunny photos, to. Where in the FL Panhandle are you?

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  16. You do such a good job pulling orphan blocks together into a finished quilt. So many great makes now off for good causes. Love that bird panel. By any chance do you know the source? I also really like the Preppy quilt. Might need to make one of those myself. Wishing you the best in 2020.

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  17. What great quilts and wonderful that the weather is beautiful!

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  18. You really do amazing things with other people's unfinished work, Louise! I love the 16 patch blocks with the bird panel, and the flying geese finish is just great, too. Thanks for all the inspiration! I have many things to finish in the year ahead!

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  19. A great bunch of tops from orphans. Your favorite is my favorite too. I like the contrast between bright ans subtle colors as well as the panel prints. And I love checkerboard borders.

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  20. All those quilts are fantastic. Doesn't it feel good to give so many orphans a new home? I love what you've done with each & every one. So happy to know that Kat has a good group of donators for CiL.

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  21. I love the Flying Geese quilt. It's amazing how many hands the geese passed through before you turned them into something wonderful.

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  22. My favorite is that Argyle quilt, but all of them finished out nicely. You do such a great job using up those bits and pieces to make the final quilt look completely planned from the start.

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  23. I can't pick a favourite. I love that the geese finally flew into a finished quilt. The 16-patch blocks around the bird panel are a perfect match. Finally, who doesn't love a pretty argyle pattern? So much inspiration in one post!

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