Kisses, At Last

"Little Boy Kisses" by Lisa Boyer, 2008

I finally finished my "Kisses" quilt. Remember that little boy quilt I needed to go with that little girl quilt? I'm so prepared now!



The fabrics in this one make me so happy. There are a lot of Piece O' Cake fabrics in here, I think. I don't really follow the designers, but I seem to end up with lots of Piece O' Cake's wonderful fabrics on my shelf. What isn't Piece O' Cake in this quilt is stash fabric and vintage, including an old apron. I LOVE string quilts. They're so exciting.







I rely heavily on my imaginary Grandma when I made scrap quilts. My imaginary Grandma quilted in the 1930's during the Great Depression, so she had to make do with what she had. I consult her a lot: "What Would Imaginary Quilt Grandma Do?" She tells me to use up what I already have, don't be too fussy, but don't be lazy either. She cringes when I hand quilt with a length of quilting thread that's longer than 18 inches, for instance (lazy!). She hates when I throw any kind of scrap away, no matter how small (wasteful!). But she loves it when I'm inventive--and of course, she's my biggest fan, no matter what I make.



I used two different fabrics for borders in this quilt. This is because I couldn't decide between them, so I used them both. My imaginary Grandma said it would be okay.


In a planned quilt, I often use the same strategy. If I can't decide between two or three fabrics that are similar and read only slightly differently, I alternate and use them all in the same position in the quilt. I think it gives the quilt more dimension and makes it more interesting. Besides, it saves me having to make a decision. I like that.




Here's the viney berry border I like to doodle:
I make berries when I don't leave myself enough room to make a leaf. Berries are just a little swirl ball. If I have a wide border, I make bigger swirl balls and call them rosettes.
See? You don't have to be an artist, you just have to be inventive with the skills you have. I can't make a rosette, but I can make a swirl ball.


Here's how I make my vine:

I put the quilt in my regular sewing machine and make one irregular wavy line around the whole quilt. This is my "vine" skeleton.
When I get back to the start of the vine "circle", I start up one side making leaves and berries.
I quilt leaves and berries/rosettes all around the quilt on one side of the vine. (This quilt has been rotated--I feed the quilt toward me and over my left shoulder while I quilt. The rest of the quilt is rolled up to the left of my machine.) When I get to the beginning of the vine circle again, I repeat on the other side of the vine, all around the quilt. It doesn't take very long at all, and the leaves can be big, small, short, long...nature is like that, so you can be too. Every leaf does not have to be perfect and uniform. At least, that's what Imaginary Quilt Grandma says.

That was going to be all for today, but I can't stand it when my posts are only one set of colors! So here is (yet another) box bag I made this week as a gift. I tell you, there is something addictive about zippers. They make me feel like a real seamstress.
Zipperific, eh? Oh yeah, and this:

Sweet dreams, kitty.