Way overdue is a fairy garden memory quilt Ive been working on.

I always take too long to find just the RIGHT inspiration.  But anyhow it has happened now.  I took this photograph of a tree that stands just outside my sewing room aka shed.  It really makes me think of a little garden house tucked away from the big world.

Rather than try to put everything into the one scene I am going to have a few small scenes around this large one.  One of those will be toadstools something like this.  This isnt my photo.

Commissioned tshirt quilt all but finished!!!!

Cant wait to post it away.

So what did I learn in making a tshirt quilt?  Well you CAN use tshirts really easily if you frame them with 100% cotton fabric.  Quilting them was made easier by having them joined in columns.  No quilting is required after the columns are joined... just as well... this quilt easily covers a queen size bed.  Sewing oversized frame borders and then bringing them through to the back when joining.... made it all so easy.  Hours heming the binding but that's ok.

I didnt make any money on this quilt but I have learned heaps and I really love the way the tshirt logos stand out.  I hope the customer loves it too. 

MEMORY QUILT - boy's quilt... animals animals everywhere

I received in the post some little man's t-shirts and grow suits and a flannelette wrap.  Luckily in my stash is plenty of animal fabrics... for front and matching for the back.... so I decided on a matching set.... too easy.

Unfortunately the animal repeats in my fabric were very close together... but I think Ive fussy cut them out nearly ok... didnt chop too much off.  And I put the larger animals in squares mixed in with squares from the baby clothes.  Lovely!  I was careful to collect the wonderful pictures from the t-shirts and even saved a couple of signature pics... there is a wonderful ant !

I didnt want to lose too much of the baby clothes so its piano keys around the centre piece.... broken up with solid colours that match those in the fabrics.

Ive been a bit disappointed in how people quilt quilts.... anyhow after much searching Ive decided to put together a line of animals and hand quilt them ..... this will quilt the fabric nicely and it wont be a boring "in the ditch" design but a meaningful quilting pattern.

Ive just made plastic stencils of the animals... I draw around them with a wash out marker... and away I go.  Animals hiden inside the animal mix of the quilt.

quilting and binding!  post out tomorrow?    fingers busy (instead of crossed LOL)

MEMORY QUILT - little girl's pretty dresses

When I received these dresses in the mail I instantly thought of pretty shops with beautiful awnings and flowers and colourful girls with parasols

But .....

So often - when I put pen to paper, to draw up the pattern, I get dissatisfied with the first thought.

And so this collection of pretty colours is working its way into an art quilt.  To one side is the lower part of a nice looking tree.... that accommodates a stylish resident in its base.  The pockets from one of the dresses are toadstool caps and a fairy sits on one.....  towards the centre of the picture a bent Dandelion stalk holds a fairy swing.

I bought from USA some gorgeous colourful fabric squares that are now the colour wash background of this piece.

It has taken ages.... and there is still much embroidery to complete.  But I think the customer will love it.

What happened to the shops?  Well I didnt think that they worked in with a child and growing up all that well.  I much prefer how the fairy picture works for girls of all ages.... and there is a kind of Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree connection.... as it is one of my favourite books and it has always fitted in beautifully with my fascination with trees.

So.. Ive given myself 3 days to finish it.  We will see!!!
M.

Im working on 3 commissioned quilts at the moment.  It is a lot easier to keep fresh when I can complete step 1, 2, 3 etc on each quilt.  It keeps them moving along and Im really excited now Ive found a good system.  I think I will be able to solve problems and keep working to a much quicker finish this way.

The top set of fabrics have many jungle animals on them and it a boys quilt.  The second photo is a stack of pretty dresses... this quilt is for a girl!!!  The third quilt Im not photographing but it is for a teen.

One of the boy's shirts has a round motif... so circles it is.  The girl's dresses are really pretty and there are plenty of flowers.... so a little house in a beautiful garden will fit beautifully with the colors which are really bright with lots of pink. 

I was never worried about making memory quilts.  For the most part, the customer hands you the inspiration.  They are giving you colors and designs that they love... so you cant go wrong there.  And so far there has always been an obvious shape or colorway that just kicks off the creative process.

How lucky am I to be able to start a little business doing something that is really challenging each time... plus it is really enjoyable.

RED & PINK QUILT

My first memory quilt stack of fabrics featured delightful Red Riding Hood, Christmas deer and trees, Babushka and a lovely piece that looked like some Dutch dolls with a lovely tree.  Cute pink ducks and some tiny bright animal print too.  The colors that stood out were green, red, pink and teal.

The frist challenge was to decide if the red/green Christmas fabric could work at all with the pinks, one of which was really kind of peach.  At first I thought I might do one side Christmas and one side pink / teal (bluish).  But eventually a color wheel program showed me how they could all work together.

Another challenge was the different sized motifs that featured on the fabrics.  Some were quite large, and the Red Riding Hood motifs were tiny ... and Ive loved the story since childhood so this was disappointing on more than one level.  What to do.  I had an odd number of Dutch people and too few Babushkas.

It all came together with the colur wheel and the epiphany... that Red Riding Hood could cope with a little of the Christmas red around her piece.  So as crazy as it sounds.... it was the red that saved the pink!

Beautifully simple white on white and red on red floral fabrics meant I could have a rich white and that the red used as a feature between the Babushka and on the sleigh gave these pieces interest and depth.

I hope the customer enjoys this quilt design.  It took me ages and ages to relax and read what it was telling me.  But once I saw it... it only took me two days to put together.  It took two dedicated days to machine quilt and two days to bind.

Mind you.... 4 kids call on me whenever they like for all kinds of things... no matter how hard I try to just sew.

Ive learned so much.  Keep it simple, dont over work it.  Know when to stop.  How to save the colour wheel program so I can get around challenging colour mixes.

Im thrilled to move on to the next 3 quilts but Im kind of sad I dont have red/pink with me any longer.

Have posted off my first memory quilt to hopefully a very happy customer.

Ive learned so much.  It is such a responsibility and such an inspiration to be handed fabrics that mean something to someone... with the goal of putting them into a pleasing quilt design.  Color was my stumbling block.  But then I found a color wheel application that not only tells you complimentary and accent colors but allows you to see how the clashing colors will look right up against each other.

I love the quilt I put together and Im sorry to part with it.

But the thrill and journey begins again now.... Ive 3 more to do.