Last summer I showed Mom the Quilter's Cache website and she was really taken with the Kaleidoscope quilt. Since I had installed EQ5 onto her computer from my previous visit, I created the basic quilt and showed her how to change the colors. She spent hours coloring and recoloring!
Finally we go to JoAnn's and that's where I'm really struck with the differents in our sewing styles. When I see fabric I'm like "ooh! Pretty! I like that and that and that!" And when scrappy is a favorite, it doesn't matter so much if they match or not. But Mom is like "ok, I like this fabric... let's see what I can match it with..." and she'll play musical bolts in the store. There's NOTHING wrong with that, I just don't have the patience for it. :P I'm like "well... if this doesn't turn out how I imagined, I'll just go back and try something else!" For Mom, her favorite part is picking the fabric colors.
The quilt colors did turn out very complimentary in her quilt and it makes me almost like red. ;) We took turns paperpiecing the blocks together. I wanted to make sure she got to try each part of the process so she could learn and understand. Teamwork really does make things so much easier! I would be sewing the pieces together, she would cut and trim and iron and then I would pin on the next piece. Easily cut the piecing time in half.
The borders are a little wonky... and I'm afraid that's all my fault. I know that you're supposed to measure in three spots and average it for borders... but let me make a huge confession: I never do that. I've just learned how to hold the pieces so-and-so and they still end up looking pretty square and no waviness. Well, I kinda forgot to explain to my mom that taking the papers off before putting the borders on can cause a lot of stretching. Ahh... live and learn! :)
I frantically sewed the layers together the night before I had to leave. That morning I showed Mom how to put binding on - you can see they're not sewn down in the picture. I did hear from my dad that night that Mom had already sewn half of the binding - and of course it's completed and used around the house now. :) (I think it's about 40" square).
I'm looking forward to seeing Mom again in July - I'm planning to teach her and my sister how to dye fabric. That'll be fun - you can never really control the color results. Even if you dye two of the same type of fabric with the exact same portion of dyes... they'll still come out looking unique. Will we make another quilt? I don't know, but I'm sure we'll have fun! :)
Leah
6 comments:
Your mom did a great job, I love her colors! I remember those days of having to match everything, sometimes I still get in that rut.
I wish I had the talent to match fabrics like that. That is why I like to make scrappy quilts, because I am just no good at matching!!
I LOVE your mom's quilt! It is wonderful! And I love the colors! I love looking at fabric - that is my downfall - I buy too much!
Sounds like you had a fun time stitching with your mom! And shooping for fabric also!
I usually buy whatever fabric I see that I like and eventually I will use it for something. It usually ends up in something I had never planned on using it for, but then i have it when I need it! :)
Beautiful!!!! Great job! My compliments :))))
What fun for you and your Mom to sew together - you guys made a great quilt together.
Border hint - you want the border to equal the center. I lay my border down the center of the quilt, put pins at top and bottom to mark it, fold it in 1/2 between the pins and put a center pin. Then, I match the end pins to the end of the quilt and the center pin to the center and ease as necessary. Viola! NO MEASURING! Got to love that. But, honestly, I don't see a wave to those borders - they look great to me.
Cheers!
Evelyn
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