Just Add Insects

The newest porch quilt to be added to a growing collection; they're all from Kim Shaefer's Calendar Quilts and measure in at the same size; 20.5" X 28.5". This one just needs bugs. I messed up when copying the shapes onto the fusible web and forgot to reverse the images, my version is a variation on the pattern as published. Oh, well; it's an original.

I finish all the raw edges so that these quilts will stand up to the elements and won't curl or fray over time. 

A lady bug, butterfly and a bumblebee are pre-fused and added to the flowers and background. 

I need to get this quilted up now; as small as these quilts are, that takes no time at all, binding takes longer.  I love the touch of whimsy that these porch quilts add to our outdoor space. I hang them on our side porch just outside the door that leads out of the sewing room. Mr. Goodneedle and I usually sit out there every evening enjoying the birds and other visitors in and beyond the developing perennial garden space; things that fly, crawl, hop, run or slither on by, we see them all.

Speaking of garden "visitors". My shoes were so caked with mud the other day after working in the garden that I left them outside in the sun to dry. The next day I scraped the dried mud and dirt off the bottoms of my shoes and banged them, repeatedly and HARD, against the brick wall to knock off any remaining dirt. I picked them up to carry them inside and felt a slight vibration inside one shoe. I pulled back the tongue of one shoe and out hopped this little friend. I know he had to have quite a headache after all that!😲

Life is Good!

Bubbly

It all started, as every quilt does, with a stack of fabric. This quilt was to be a special one for our five year old granddaughter's bed. She knows what she wants. The walls of her room are decorated with painted circles: red, turquoise, two shades of green, yellow and, of course, Lynnleigh's favorite color: orange. My daughter-in-law and I selected the fabrics and the background from swatches while standing in the room where the quilt will live. A flax linen was chosen for the background. I knew what Lynnleigh wanted: lots and lots of circles. Circles of every size. I wasn't certain how to execute this one but I spent much time thinking about it and then, suddenly one morning, I awakened with a plan! I had ordered the background fabric wide enough so that there were no seams. I backed the colored pieces with Misty Fuse and went to my trusty AccuQuilt cutter and began cranking the layers of prepared fabrics through.

I gridded off the background fabric with a thermal-ink pen and placed the circles in what appears to be a random-ish (I can't do true random placement, it's not in me!) design within an outline. 

I fused them in place, one at a time with a dry iron. The ironing fixed the circles to the background and eliminated the placement lines at the same time. I left a little additional length as I wasn't 100% sure how long this needed to be. I would take it to the actual bed for a trial before I trimmed anything!

The quilt lay-out before trimming. The quilt top got two-thumbs up from Lynnleigh after the try-out. (Actually, she wanted to keep it, immediately, right there on her bed. I had to convince her to let me bring it back home for finishing!)

The next step was the applique. I used a straight stitch around each raw-edge. The constant turning and manipulation of the quilt under the presser foot caused some of the circles to begin to lift and work themselves loose, I secured them with safety pins. (My pile of safety pins, removed as I went along, revealed that there are 74 circles on this quilt top!

The quilting began! I decided to use "Curls" a pantograph from Beany Girl Quilts. I loved the movement that this added.

Here it is, with the quilting all finished. I am excited to think about Lynnleigh's reaction to it being on her bed for real. It is backed with fabric from a sheet, white background with tiny gray elephants: her favorite animal! 😉 It is twin sized, measuring 56" X 80". 

Yesterday I prepared a pieced multi-color binding from the scraps; it is basted in position and ready for hand finishing. I showed this photo to a friend and she remarked that it will match my granddaughter's bubbly personality! The quilt was named, right then and there! Bubbly? 

Oh yes, the quilt and the girl!

Life is Good!