I often claim to have a Quilting "Hobby" in attempts to hide my obsession with fabric and color.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Star Cabin and Teachers Gift

Well, school is over, and the insanity has taken on a new high. It's amazing how the kids being home has left me with very little time to quilt, think, sleep....so sadly, I haven't been very productive. But I have managed to finish a quilt, make my end of year teacher's gift, and decide that before creating any more quilts, I AM going to back and quilt a few tops.

So here is the Star Cabin. Made with all batiks, I decided to start with the center fabric and base my others around it. It is a dark navy back with these lovely gold/orange/yellow sunflowers. From there I decided to do blues and oranges, with matching bars, so it is a total of 7 prints per block.
In keeping with the scrappy feel and the desire to clean out some stash fabric, I used the remainders of the orange prints from the front and a blue batik for the backing. I tried to take several pictures of the machine quilting, but nothing showed well. I used an Orange cotton thread on the front, and a varigated blue thread in the bobbin. What a nightmare that was. I realize now that mixing colors is not for the anal retentive OCD quilter....it shows every imperfection, every tension issue; trust me when you do a double batik quilt, tension is you #1 companion.



 Whining aside, I bound this lap quilt with the left over fabric I used for the stars. So in all, it was a fun quilt to make, a bear to quilt, and a colorful new addition.



On another note, this is the bag I made Becca's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Waldo. It was a pattern I found online for an Art Tote, and I modified it just a bit to be a toddler friendly go-tote. Pockets for drinks, tissues, sunscreen, toys. We filled it with a few fun summer toys and a book. Lots of fun!







Finally, I won't be blogging much this summer. Between all the kid activities, mini trips, and other obligations, I will consider it a good summer if I get even two more quilts done before the school year starts again and I start attacking my client christmas list.







But check in, you never know what lack of sleep might cause me to post.....