Hip to be a Square Quilting Podcast

Today we’ll start with a quilt I did just to see if I could do it:This is silk dupioni, which came in an assortment of colors I had to have, with no real project in mind, and then my friend Laurie went and got married so poof! Instant reason to make a quilt out of it. Here’s a close up view:

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of the material, so it’s more of a lap quilt rather than than a bed-sized quilt, which just means she’s got to snuggle with her new hubby a wee bit closer.

But not too close, because next thing you know, you’re popping out kids and writing blogs with the phrase “farts and craps” and words like “pantsfreesia”.

And next, something I did for Bloomer that she finally, after four months, used properly.

That’s a pacifier, tied to the stuffed kitty with a ribbon. Clever, no?

And now, here is Boxer’s contribution to the Farts and Craps section of the blog:

I know. I, too, was totally struck speechless by its… beauty? artistic composition? unique ability to succintly capture the feelings of an entire generation of Daycare 90210 followers?

I believe I will let his art speak for itself.

Although I could swear I heard it saying: “Put me out of my misery… take me to the trash…”

Since I like to think that being at home means I can “do” stuff, like clean, sew, or do dishes or laundry (with or without Boxer’s help), I’ve made two quilts for a good friend of mine that’s having twins boys in a couple weeks. Below is one of them.

The other one looks the same, only with different black and white squares. Each of the quilts has a shamrock square, as he is Irish, and when I scanned his ultrasound photos for him, I put leprechaun hats on his fetuses. I must stretch the joke as far as it can possibly go before snapping in my face.

On the back I put the label with my name and date and an different Irish blessing on each quilt.

Here’s a close-up of one section:

Here’s something I didn’t tell him about those fleece hearts on the quilts. Sure, it’s soft and fuzzy and can stimulate the sense of touch as well as the visual acuity from the contrasting black and white, but it’s also covering a boo-boo.

Two of the squares I used were a batik print, and I guess the dyeing process weakened the fabric in certain places because once I got the quilt top assembled and started quilting it, I noticed that there were holes in the fabric. Which sucks because I didn’t want to take the whole thing apart just to replace that one square. And oddly enough, it was one square on each quilt, essentially in the same place in relation to the shamrock square.

So as a creative solution, I made a big old heart-shaped fuzzy fleece patch and stuck it over the offending holes, creating a warm and fuzzy symbol of love and all that stuff.

Insert your own pithy comment about making lemons out of lemonade.