Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways. You could think you were starting something afresh, when actually what you were doing was carrying on as before.
~Rachel Joyce
Quilting
Since this is the third baby quilt with a four letter word, it must mean a new series has begun. The Coins will make words suitable for babies... even if they are FLWs {four-letter-words.} I wrote down several then used an online Scrabble dictionary to find others. {There were amazingly few appropriate ones in the that dictionary.} Now ideas come day and night.
My DIL highlighted the ones she thought her friends would prefer and I've {sort of} prioritized them. Of course sometimes a word will pop to the top of the list depending on who the quilt is for.
This is HOPE as a top...
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| HOPE baby quilt top |
and again when it's finished.
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| HOPE baby quilt |
The border is supposed to make it a bit larger and set off the words better. Not sure if this version succeeds with the second task. With solids running low, two were combined to frame the center. {It does look better in person.}
The quilting is a spiral.... again. I enjoy this {now} easy design although sewing and watching the circling sometimes makes me dizzy. I'm also using up all the thread that's been hanging around for years. There's no selvedge on thread so no way to know how old they are. This time I used two partial spools of pink.
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| Detail of letter P, spiral quilting, and binding of HOPE baby quilt |
The back contains a reef print. Is is sea fern? I'm not sure, but the colors are quiet and the fabric was on sale. To make it wide enough I inserted an ombre remnant from my sister and, since that remnant wasn't wide enough either, I added a small scrap of pink in the center.
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| Back of HOPE baby quilt |
The background solids each use about a fat quarter. I purchased them for this quilt since there is none in my stash {Hallelujah!} It's obvious I'm out of those soft pastels of the previous two quilts because the prints are mid-range values. Some more fabric, both solid and printed, will be required soon if I keep up this series. I see shopping in my future.
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| HOPE baby quilt, folded |
As soon as the last thread was buried and the quilt washed and dried, it was off to my DIL's house for a friend of theirs.
Quilt Specifics
Size: 45" x 45"
Design: String quilt
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Premium Natural Cotton
Thread: Aurifil and Metler cotton thread in pink
Quilting: Spiral with walking foot
Approximate yardage: 5.5 yds
Reading
Stories like Becky Chambers' are creating a new genre - Hopepunk {like Steampunk.} Her first was intriguing and engaging; each subsequent novel has been better as her talents strengthen. Although most consider her a science fiction author, A Psalm for the Wild-Built has no aliens, weapons, or space travel at all. Instead, Becky's populated a world with humans who realize they are destroying it. As their robots gain sentience, they {the robots} put down their tools and head into the wilderness never to be seen again. Two hundred years later a tea monk encounters a robot who asks him, "What do people need?"
This is an insightful and thoughtful book as the two characters begin to learn from the other. Hopefully it is the start of a long series, too.