Hawaiian-Themed Quilts for Julie's Grandsons

Last April my good friend Julie sent her daughter Samantha and teenage grandsons Hudson and Raine on a fabulous cruise to Hawaii.  It was the trip of a lifetime for the three of them and they all had an absolute ball.  Julie loves to give the boys special presents at Christmas, and I suggested that we look at my remaining stash of Hawaiian fabrics (purchased on Maui) and see if there was anything she liked - with the idea of doing a quilt for each of the boys.

Here are the ones I showed her:

(click the picture above to see a larger image)

The blue boats/pineapples/sea turtles one immediately grabbed her.  Hudson, as it turns out, has developed a fascination for sea turtles, so the fabric at the bottom of the photo above has been earmarked for him.  And, as luck would have it, the boy's mum says Raine is interested in musical instruments and surfboards - so the print in the upper right will be his.

Both boys are growing like weeds and Hudson in particular has really sprouted in the last year or so.  At 15 years of age, he's already 6'1" - and his brother (13 yrs) appears to be following suit.  The quilts will have to be good-sized ones.

No worries!  My longarm frame is only 8' wide, but even with that, I can make quilts wide enough for good-sized "throws", and length is not an issue at all.

I pulled out my quilting software and got to work - came up with this design for Hudson's quilt:

60" x 86" - this will be the largest quilt I've done on the long-arm,
and will be big enough for Hudson to tuck it under his feet and still be able
to pull it up to his chin.

I'm planning to use solids coordinating with the colours in the print.  That will ensure that the effect of the print is maximized, and will also keep the cost down.

And, to avoid any "sibling jealousy" - I'm using exactly the same design and dimensions for Raine's quilt - just changing the colours to pull out the snappy colours in the surf-board print.

So we're off and running.  I've got the main fabrics and the design, just need to get the coordinating solids.

Still in the "No-Sew" Zone

Well, the surgeon unwrapped my finger, pronounced it "healing well" and promptly re-wrapped it.  The new bandage is much smaller than the first one, but I still can't get a thimble on that finger, so I can't quite finish anything (I always hand-sew binding on a quilt).

But he told me I can remove the bandage they day after tomorrow... so yay!  I should be able to get some things done and ready to show next week.

Stay tuned!  

:-)

How very inconvenient

I've been bothered by a fairly painful cyst on my right middle finger for several years, and finally decided to have it removed.  The surgery was last Monday - and so now my thimble-finger is wrapped up in dressing so that it's 3 times normal size.  The word "awkward" doesn't even quite cover it.

I'm limping along with my projects now - so nothing to report just yet.  Everything I do takes 5 times longer than usual - even typing this post.

Bandages come off in 2 weeks - so stay tuned...

Quilt 67: Mystic Purple Garden - DONE!

I discovered "Fabric.com" last year and have ordered quite a bit of fabric from them.  It's a teeny bit risky to order quilt fabric online, but as I'm starting to recognize certain manufacturers and "name brands", it's a little easier.  The panel below is from "Timeless Treasures" - and the photo, well it just doesn't do it justice:

 
The rich blue, purple, green jewel tones are jaw-dropping - and the accents in metallic gold really make it pop.

The problem with this, though, is the border running above and below the main panel.  It's, well, just awkward.  And the large expanse of metallic gold looks like trouble waiting to happen.  I test washed it in cold water and it came out fine, But I have to think that over time (and multiple washings), it's going to flake off.  The tiny bits of filigree inside the design won't look bad if the gold does fade out, but these big spaces.. hm...

And then there's just the problem of how to handle a border which appears only at the top and bottom, not on the sides.

 So I chopped it off.  In the photo below you can see that I've left just under 1/4" of it on the panel.  Using 1/4" seams, the gold won't show on the front, and I won't have to worry about stitching over the flowers and leaves around the edges of the panel.

Now to think about what kind of design to employ.  I bought a coordinating print to go with the panel.  Although I don't want to slap on a series of plain borders, I feel there shouldn't be too much "pattern" in the top, as the fabrics themselves deserve the limelight.

So, using my quilt software, here's what I came up with:

And here's the top completed and ready to "sandwich" and quilt!

On the longarm...

Auditioning the thread.  I opted to use a variegated thread on this one.  The thread shows up well against the solids, but fades into the background on the print - just what I'm wanting!

And here it is - off the longam and edges trimmed up, ready for the binding:

Here's the backing - you can see the variegated thread on this side, and the colours switching back and forth make an interesting pattern.

And here's the finished quilt!   51" x 62" -

51" x 62" - quilted on the longarm ("Blustery Breeze" groovy board) - 100% cotton batting

This one goes to my old gradeschool pal Julie-Anne in America.