Athens time

Tuesday 2 June 2009

My first quilt.

My very first quilt, was made in the quilting group I attended at that time. It was an ongoing workshop, making one block each week, then finishing it at home, led by one very talented lady who is a member of the group. Unfortunately, before it was finished, I stopped coming to the group because, at that time, we had just received our puppy in the home and with him needing to be housetrained etc, al spare time was taken up... (it would take two years before I went back to quilting !! - with one thing and another.. not just the dog!).

Rafael was very active from the beginning, here he is "helping" sail the boat in his very own lifejacket at the tender age of 9 weeks..


At the time, being so young, he was still on the lead when aboard and on deck, lest he fall overboard, but he learnt surprisingly quickly how to balance and it is now safe for him to be off lead. But I digress... (funny how that happens when talking about puppies...). Back to the quilt.

I had made all the blocks but not put them together. So I went and got some fabric, made an amazing find of a 100% cotton french designer sheet, and set about to put it all together. Don't you just love the dot pattern on the sheet (that I used for a border and backing ) ? sort of retro and psychedelic all at once and fitting so well with the blocks. It took me a long time to put it all together. And even longer to quilt it ! (First quilting... massive stitches.. still can't do the little uns...), but it was finally finish last December 2008.

8 comments:

Evelyn said...

It's beautiful! Good for you for finishing it up. Love the hand quilting!

Rafael's Mum said...

Thanks Evelyn ! It was a long job.. the pattern between the blocks I drew myself, then didn't know how to transfer it and ended up cutting out little bits on an A4 sheet printing paper, which is not the easiest thing to keep still and straight when you are trying to draw through it ! But am happy I got it done in the end.

Lorraine said...

Congratulations ... love the colours of your first quilt !
Looks idyllic on that boat of yours .
Thanks for looking over my blog & leaving a message .

liz @ longview builders said...

I really like the quilt. I bet it feels great to get it done! Love all the blues in there, my favorite color. Look forward to seeing what you do with the Old Red Barn quilt too.

black bear cabin said...

its beautiful!!! i love the colors, and the backing fabric worked out perfectly :) ive always been a fan of sampler quilts!

MooBear Designs said...

This is my kinda quilt... well done!!

xo Steph

Dana said...

Nice!!!!!!!!

Lauranie said...

It is so pretty! Something about blues...And I agree, good for you! I bet you felt so proud when you finished the last stitch and sat back to observe what a magnificant quilt you made!! Rafael is so cute in his little life vest! :D