Quilt kits 1-5

Since there were leftovers from the fabric pieces we ordered, I offered to put together quilt 'kits' for people so they could sew their own quilts. (I like the designing better than the sewing, so this was pretty fun!)

I ended up making 10 of them. Each had to contain the fabric the individual had chosen for the Sub Rosa quilt; beyond that, I either matched colors in that "focus" fabric, or took suggestions on what else they'd like to see in their kit.

Here are the first five. (Click on the photos to see larger versions; mouse over for identification of the focus fabric.)

Where now?

What next? Now that Becca and I are done with the quilt and scrapbook for Jessica (and I can name names now because she's received them), we'll be returning to our star quilt - or, quilts, actually. We made enough extra stars that we'll be able to make two quilts - one for the Stillbirth Society, and one for another charity.

Becca's sending me her stars in the mail, and the plan is to mix them up with my stars and find the combinations that look best together. Then I'll send one group of them back to her, keep the other half here, and we can work on our two quilts simultaneously.

Doesn't it all sound refreshingly simple?

That's a wrap

Click for the full size version

Tip for machine quilters

As I may or may not have mentioned, the quilting machine doesn't really come with instructions on how to use it. (In fact, both the marketing brochure and the women on the "instructional" video set it up a little incorrectly. Nice.)

Apparently the place to go to get tips from people who have actually used the machine is the Yahoo group on the Grand Quilter. We've already learned a few ways we can do things better next time around.

Unframed

After more equipment issues than I care to enumerate, the quilting on the Sub Rosa quilt is finally done. We took the quilt off of the frame tonight and it looks nice - which means (oh joy!) I don't have to pick out 27 rows of quilting. Whew!

We took some photos tonight right after we got it off the frame, but I'd rather wait and show you a shot after the excess batting and backing are gone and the borders are squared up.

In the meantime, these are some in-progress photos from this last week, for your viewing pleasure.





And here is the backing (which I snapped while lying on my back on the floor looking up at the quilt in the frame. Yes, I spent a lot of time under the quilting frame for various reasons. Good thing I am fairly flexible.)



I should mention, also, that the scrapbook (with letters, photos, and fabric swatches) was essentially finished this last week, so we are definitely making progress here!