I made this quilt earlier in the year as a charity baby quilt for W.I.C./Women Infants & Children. Some quilting friends of mine all made baby quilts to donate to this organization. We all spent a volunteer day at a local church and worked about eight hours at it. Some of the ladies actually finished their quilts the same day. I was not among those who finished that day. Sadly, my little quilt was turned in quite a bit later than most.
I have been loving some of the quilts I've been seeing that are done on a white background. There is one in particular that always makes me stop and stare (and mentally drool a little). It is featured in an add for a New York quilt and yarn shop called Purl Soho, I believe. They've had a series of ads in the knitting magazines that feature a lot of bold color palettes. The quilt I'm referring to has a very modern, bold look. I think it is reds and oranges on a white background sort of done in a bargello style. That is how I remember it, but I cannot find the ad for the life of me right now. It often happens that I'll have a memory of something, but when I see it again, it is not what I remembered at all.
That may just be the nature of inspiration. I will try to remember that instead of feeling like a crazy person when I finally do find that ad and see that it is 95% different from the picture I have in my head right now.
This quilt was an attempt to work with a little brighter color scheme on a stark, white background. I realize it's a teensy bit risky to use white for a baby quilt, but hopefully it will see some use and enjoyment from the recipient even if it ends up a poster child for Oxy Clean. I sent it out in the world hoping it puts a smile on some mother's face who maybe would not have had a new baby quilt by other means.
I sketched this out on grid paper I downloaded from the internet. I didn't get too technical at all. It was just a rough estimation of where I was heading with it.
I quilted this little charity quilt with my embroidery machine using two designs that came programmed on the machine. It was a good way for me to get it finished, and I thought it didn't turn out too badly. I have found a website that has really great looking continuous line, embroidery designs for quilting. As I recall, they were only a dollar each, but I have never gotten around to purchasing one and trying it out. It is definitely on my mental to-do list though.
It is a bit of work to keep hooping and moving and hooping the quilt for each medallion, but I don't think it is any more or less tedious than stitch-in-the-ditch quilting would be.
Today is a cold and damp October day in Wisconsin. I hope some little tyke is cuddled up in it's soft quilty goodness and feeling the love and care I put into this little quilt.
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