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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The First of Many Exciting Things to Come for 2016

2016 has started with a lot of excitement for my family and I.  We just welcomed a little girl into our family! A few weeks ago, I started a quilt for our Eliza in the same style as I did for our son (which you can see in process here and finished here).  I'm using the same organic cotton jersey from Alabama Chanin and using the same double-layer jersey reverse applique with backstitch outline Alabama Chanin technique.   

For Zay's, I used our backyard as inspiration incorporating backyard animals and plants for the motifs and chose fairly bold color combinations.  For our Eliza's quilt, I am actually using the colors that I had leftover from the fabric packs I had purchased from Alabama Chanin for Zay's quilt.  They are a mix of pale pink, magenta, beige, buttercream, lemon chiffon yellow, soft gray and a mint green.  I've also chosen to do the backstitching with variegated Valdani pearl cotton thread.  I thought the variegated thread was a nice difference and also gave a bit more of a feminine touch or detail to it with the soft color transitions.  I liked the contrast between the two quilts with Zay's using much bolder colors and Eliza's using more pastels. 

For the motifs on Eliza's quilt, I am drawing inspiration from the Victorian language of flowers and flowers that have a personal meaning to me or her.  I've included carnations and snow drops as they are the birth flowers for January.  Dogwood blossoms as they are the state flower for North Carolina and one of my favorite signs of spring.  Many of the flowers were chosen for their meanings from the Victorian language of flowers.  Some of the ones I have included are:
Carnations for "beauty, health and energy"
Chamomile for "energy in adversity"
Clematis for "mental beauty and art"
Crocous for "youthful gladness"
Forget-me-not for "true love"
Hibiscus for "delicate beauty"
 Honeysuckle for "bonds of love" and "devoted affection"
Jasmine for "you are cheerful and graceful"
Oak leaves for "bravery"
Strawberry blossoms for "perfect goodness"

As you can see below, I have a lot more squares to finish and I have not figured out the final arrangement or piecing layout either.  Basically, I have a good bit to go on this one.  The technique goes rather quickly though and it is a project that I can pick up and set down easily.  Also, I have not washed any of these pieces so the trimmed edges have not yet curled which will help open some of the areas like the stems and leaflets revealing more of the back color. Since I took these photos, I have finished 3-4 more blocks as I took this with me to the hospital!



2 comments:

  1. Welcome to Eliza, she will love her quilt and take it to college with her - can you even imagine that!

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  2. Congratulations on the new addition to your family Katherine!

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