Second Shirt Quilt Finish

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts.

~A. A. Milne

Quilting

The second shirt quit is also finished and gifted.  Quilting is fairly minimal - stitch in the ditch with a few parallel lines extending from the solid patches. I hope the quilt will be a soft, puffy comforter for its new family.  

Somehow I had a remnant juvenile winter fabric with rows forest animals in hats. Just enough for the back, the blues blend with the front and hopefully please the children receiving this quilt. Hooray. 

The binding is more shirt fabrics. Easy and done. 

Quilt Specifics

Size: 48” x 60”

Quilt Design: Unnamed

Batting: Hobbs 80/20 

Thread: Blue cotton Superior Masterpiece 

Quilting: Straight line walking foot

Approximate yardage: 7 yds

I’ve been visiting family in Colorado where we’ve seen deer, elk, and sheep as well as birds including Stellar jays, hawks, swans, and ducks. Sparrows, finches, and magpies appear outside my window daily feasting on the remaining flower head seeds. It’s a joy to watch the final stage of autumn, one of my favorite seasons. A few bright gold trees shine in acres of spruce and bare-limbed deciduous trees.

Reading:

Nana, a stray adopted by Saturo, lives with him until the young man suddenly decides he can no longer take care of him. They take a road trip to visit three old friends as Saturo hopes to find him the perfect new home. Told mainly from the cat’s perspective, the true reason behind the trip is slowly revealed with flashbacks from the friends. Themes of love and home make this book bittersweet. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Blue Melon Patch Top Complete

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

~G. Donald Gale

Quilting

Because I knew this quilt would be counter-paned and have a light outside border, I cut all those pieces first. They are the largest; the others can be cut from the remains. I rarely use one fabric for all the background. Although I calculated what was needed several times, I still got it wrong. That entailed a second trip in the rain to my LQS {which is now 30 miles away} to get more before it sold out. Again I calculated how much was needed. Fortunately I added another yard "for good measure". Only 24" left. I guess I needed that good measure. ;)

The Melon Patch block looked good 

 

but the first layout was less than inspiring.

That seems odd since the carpet and the counter pane blocks are very similar shades. Once those were added, the quilt looked much better. Now it’s ready to quilt.

Grandson1's choice of a very simple, quiet quilt means this quilt looks old-fashioned (or is that classical?) to me. I'm still pondering how to handle the borders. Fortunately I won't get to that for a couple of weeks... or more. 

Reading

The Goodbye Cat is a collection of seven short stories by Japanese author Hiro Arikawa. I especially enjoyed the second tale about a manga artist whose adoption of a kitten teaches him to parent his own newborn.  Phillip Gabriel is a masterful translator. Imminently readable. 

Enjoy the day, Ann