Monday 4 May 2015

sewing pretty














et viola Poppy has a new quilt!
finished size 70cms x 75cms


Well I have to say, making doll quilts has never really appealed to me! But this weekend, my little 4yr old grand daughter, aka partner-in-crime in the sewing room, insisted! "We need a quilt for Poppy, Granny!" {Poppy is the old doll in pic #2} So forget "the FAL list", enjoy the moment, and together we sorted a few fabrics - and yes, you all know how that went don't you! Anyway, I cut out some hexis, got the 'olive' approval, and later on-after she went home-got busy making this little quilt.

I really did enjoy sewing with this pretty mix of fabrics too! And it got me thinking...
There's some lovely inspiration around, I especially enjoy catching up with Meredith's 'show & tell' here. Week by week we get progress pics on some beautiful, pretty projects, and most are of the slow & steady kind.They are "under construction" - a term I came across here at sew mama sew! {which is an interesting read in itself!}
Of course there a lots of lovely books too, like Jen Kingwell's book "quilt lovely" and "Feathering the Nest" with vintage inspired quilts by Brigitte Giblin. Brigitte's book is written in English & French and is full of beautiful images of old quilts, real labour of love type of quilts! And as she says, she doesn't set out to copy them but rather, makes her own in a simpler form that still captures the feeling of the old.

I followed one of Brigitte's patterns for this little quilt, the instructions were for a proper sized quilt of course, not dolly sized! I did the 'pillow case' style of layering & flipping things, hand stitched the opening closed {not too sure how to explain that!}, and then did some straight line machine quilting. It didn't take too long!
But in contrast, it certainly takes time to make all those other pretty heirloom quilts. And right now I'm thinking maybe I should be exploring this 'sewing pretty' a bit further, maybe on something a bit bigger!

                                     Linking into "Sew Cute Tuesday" here for the first time


5 comments:

Julie said...

It's special time spend choosing fabrics with your grand-daughter and then making her a quilt for her doll. She'll remember that time too. I remember choosing fabric from my Nan's dressmaking stash and waking up the next morning to a new dress.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Yes very special times! I must have mellowed since my children grew up, I don’t even mind all the mess Olive makes pulling out fabrics, etc. She is coming over today, so I’ll give her the finished little quilt then. And so great to have those memories of your Nan. Linda

Quilting Stories said...

Very pretty doll quilt!

Raewyn said...

So glad you grabbed the moment Linda. Who knows what wonderful joy of creativity you are soaking your gd in! The quilt turned out so pretty!

France Nadeau ❅ inspiration imagination creation said...

The little quilt is pretty, indeed, and your grand-daughter must be so happy! And proud of her grand-mother. That will be a cherished treasure.