Community Quilts from Karin

I was planning on leaving the sashing totally unquilted, thinking it would pop out, but all that really did was leave too much open space and I didn’t want the batting to bunch up, so I put some arcs in it. Then, that didn’t look like it was interesting enough so I decided to add some circles to each arc. I have been told, that if you don’t like the way something looks, just keep throwing threads at it and it will get better and better. That is a true statement, and this is… a perfect example of it.

I used a tan thread in the blocks themselves, but then I switched to a variegated blue and green and used my hand-drawn water motif in the wide borders all the way around the edge.

For the backing, I used an outdoorsy woodland-themed sheet and white thread in the bobbin.  This quilt finished up at 42 by 50 inches.

This next one is just a little guy but cute as can possibly be.

He finished up at 32 inches squared, and he is made up of all kinds of kitty cats, doing what kitty cats do.

The alternating squares reminded me of balls of yarn being batted about, so I used that for my quilting inspiration and just did a loose meander, using variegated brown thread on top.

The backing was with the flimsy and is very colorful with assorted kitty cats, hearts, and houses.

Here we have another example of taking assorted, unrelated scraps and making something cohesive out of them.

Several of the front prints were florals with a few butterflies thrown in for good measure, and that inspired my quilting motif of leaves and loops. The center section quilted up so quickly leaving me lots of time and space to practice feathers in the wide border around all four sides. This quilt finished up at 44 by 56 inches.

Elephants on Parade!

I have had this panel in the cupboard for a while now and I have spent quite a bit of time deliberating on how to quilt it and what to use for a backing.

Well, in that box of sheets that Elizabeth sent me was this multicolored stripe. It’s the same colors as printed on the elephants of the panel! How in the world did she know that I needed that? Now, I just had to decide how to quilt it.

I wanted the elephants to stand out, so an all-over, edge-to-edge design was ruled out. I wondered if my tracing and traveling skills were up to the job, and I decided that they would never get better until or unless I practiced them. So, I figured out which elephants I was going to outline, and which motifs on the elephants I was going to accentuate, pulled up my big girl panties, put the needle down, and pressed GO! I traced around the outside of each elephant and their ear and I picked out the largest flowers on their bodies to highlight and using a very light tan did a tight stipple in between each elephant. I was very careful in my stipple path and I was able to move from one elephant to the next seamlessly and without straight lines. I would call that a success :-).

In the outer border of blue, I just put some alternating swirls, reminding me of elephants parading, with each elephant using its trunk to hold the tail of the one in front of it. The Bob & thread was a creamy white and shows only the texture, not even the stitches.

And now, the biggest quilt brings our parade to a close. This is another one that has been hiding in the cupboard for close to a year, or maybe more. I believe it came from our mutual benefactor and friend, Annie, from Vashon Island, Washington. It is spectacularly and accurately pieced, with some absolutely gorgeous blue, brown, and cream batiks. Batiks have long been my favorite fabrics to work with, both in piecing and in quilting. Oh, and in petting too. They feel so good and drape so nicely.