I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Friday, January 6, 2012

A New Quilt

What a fun way to begin the New Year, and to welcome the lovely quiet months of winter! A new quilt to make---for a new baby! Such joy...


Ah if only...my sewing machine hadn't died the other day. I'm pretty upset about that, I just paid half its admittedly meagre value to repair the darn thing! But break down and die it did. Off to the sewing machine doctor,  again.
Anyway, back to the quilt...
for a new baby girl.
You may recall these funny random blocks I made awhile ago.


I decided they could be a perfect modern quilt for a baby beach baby, redundancy intended.



I know I am supposed to make the baby things "new'' colors..., oh so chic! What is it again? mole grey, monkey brown, fog, sage, mud, dirt? I'm sorry! I just couldn't....

But I thought this was modern. In its way?



To tie everything together I chose these batiks for the outermost "logs", to unify the  blocks...


And these are for the baby's name blocks. I always piece the new baby's name into the border, if it is being made for someone specific....[need high contrast, hence the pastels.]



And then! borders, maybe---yellow rubber ducky prints, in both pink and blue. Who could resist!


But THEN!--- in my stash I also had a batch of traditional baby girl pinks mixed in with reds and some aquas. Most are toiles with seashore motifs, etc...but dainty. Old-fashioned. I pondered, I dithered. I put the girly stuff back and cut another couple blue seashore strippy blocks. But every time I opened my fabric closet the pink and red and turquoise called to me. So one day during the hols I sat down and cut a few light/ dark pinwheel blocks. Like this....



I figured I'd make both tops and then decide which suited the new parents and their little one the best...



I can always sell the second one on etsy, right?
Too bad my sewing machine  is dead...

Another fun January challenge: a doll quilt quilt-along with Lori at Humble Quilts. A dear little prim and shabby quilt for us to make with Lori's directions. You can see more details and ongoing instructions here


I love, love. love these colors! (Could this not be, if clean? and enlarged somewhat, an adorable baby quilt? Is that absurd to even contemplate? Maybe for my grandma-someday hope chest?)
I had fun gathering fabrics to  ''audition" even if I can't sew yet. This is the only time I've ever made a quilt according to someone else's plans---it's so fun! (My daddy taught me always to design my own stuff....)


Maybe it's all good---the broken sewing machine, I mean---I still have to undo the Christmas tree and decorations. Seems like that all was eons ago, doesn't it?

What are you guys up to? Not cleaning ,I hope!

Tomorrow or the next day we'll make soup, okay?

love


    lizzy


            gone to the beach



sanderlings...they come HERE for the winter!
To them it is warm
compared to their far arctic nesting grounds...
always so busy, chasing the waves