Quilt Progress

I've been talking about quilting alot, and browsing quilting blogs and websites, getting involved in some charity sewing for the Pillowcase Challenge and Quilts for Kids. And I have been sewing, actually sewing quite a bit. Soon, very soon, I'll have some finished items to show on the blog. Today, however, I am posting a couple photos of the doll bed quilts that I made for Jenna and Allyson. They are roughly the size of a big placemat, and I did a rather amateurish "stitch in the ditch" quilting job on them that made them look even more like place mats to me, bright lively placemats as they might be. But I may have found a new sewing outlet in doll bed quilting.



Last week I learned a new quilting term; "PIG" translates roughly to "Project in a Grocery (Bag)". This is not to be confused with a "UFO", or un-finished object. It made perfect sense to me because the quilt top below became my very first PIG. I found a really neat quilt pattern online, but was disappointed that the directions made a very small quilt. My idea; make Two and put them together. It could just be me, but it didn't work very well. Although I still find the quilt design attractive. My final solution was to match up the three long sections I ended up with. Hack off any extra non matching places. I will use the same color blue to add a narrow framing border that I am sure will look just awful in places where it will be double. I also found and interesting fabric for the wide border. Here it is so far, pre-borders. One of many wonderful free quilt designs available online.
http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/american_heritage/

When I find some backing that doesn't set me back too much I'll send it off to Tomi. Because in the past, especially with my early quilts, it has been Tomi who makes them into something I felt happy with. As I always say, I make the quilt, but Tomi makes it special. I've added the link to her studio on my blog list of websites. She is especially talented at her craft.

And here was a prize winner at January's Road To California quilt show. Not sure if, given the time and patience this must have taken, I would try it.