I Spy Crawl Quilts

I was recently contacted out of the blue by someone who bought one of my I Spy Crawl Quilts several years ago.

I started making these quilts when I lived in Darwin ten years ago, every time a friend or relative had a baby. They were inspired by the hard tile flours in Darwin and the number of soft little babies I knew at the time, including my daughter. Novelty fabrics were really popular then too and everyone was making "I Spy" quilts. When we first moved to Maleny, I started to make the quilts to sell in the local arts and crafts shop.

I designed a label which outlined all the positive features of the quilts and sewed them on the backs. I made the quilts using either a black or white sashing to stimulate the eyes of babies and because they both complemented all the colours in the fabrics.

That label has turned out to be one of my better business decisions, although I didn't know it at the time! I received so many repeat orders for the quilts then...and now a new generation of nieces and nephews have arrived and the orders have started up again. I wrote the label up in my design book at the time, so it was easy to go back to it and copy it out again. The original was dated 2004.

The latest quilts have evolved a bit from the originals:

The I Spy Charm Squares (you can get these from my eBay Store if you press that link)

are now 5 inches instead f 6 1/2 to make it easier to add Moda Charm packs to them if wanted,

(These are the latest two on the design wall.)

The sashings are 2 1/2 inches instead of 1 1/2 inches,

The wadding is 100% organic bamboo rather than thick polyester, and

The quilts are quilted in a crosshatch and tied with wool, rather than just tied.

They still have:

49 charm squares,

Multicoloured solid corner squares and wool ties,

Durable, funky cotton backings,

Bold stripey machine sewn double bindings, and

The same label.

The moral of this story?

Always label your quilts!

Happy sewing,

Ann ♥

p.s. Thank you Chelle, for the sweet photo of your little one on one of the original quilts.

Finished the 2010 Quilt Top

I have finished the 2010 (do you say two-thousand and ten or twenty ten?) quilt top! It is 13, 4 3/4 inch blocks x 13, 4 3/4 inch blocks, so 169 little liberated log cabins. I kept being able to scrape together just enough fabric scraps from the shop to make row by row.
You can see the back here:
Each block was pieced on a foundation of calico, muslin or left over quilt backing. I pressed the seam allowances open in the hope that it will make quilting it easier. I didn't find that the seams matched up quite so accurately as when I push and press the seams to the sides.

These were finally the only scraps left.
Definitely not enough to make two more rows of 14 blocks each!
So I stopped here.

Dusty found the leftovers a nice comforting spot to nestle during all our wet weather!

I took the quilt top into the shop to choose a really nice fabric for the back...but I didn't end up using one of these two Prints Charming ones. I 'm using a greenish Art Gallery fabric instead. And I'm up to my least favourite step in the process - basting. So it's all sitting over the back of a chair at home waiting.

The scraps left in the bin after piecing the original scraps into log cabin blocks:

I was almost considering using them in another quilt...
I know some of you might have done that!
Now I've got some new scraps from the ends of strips I cut to make my I Spy Packs and I plan to make something out of them too.
I'm very thankful that we've been spared the devastation of the floods, and my thoughts go out to all of you who have been affected,
♥ Ann

Quilts for Christmas

The quilts revealed!
Happy New year to you all and may 2010 be a wonderful, prosperous, fun and fulfilling year!

Our family spent the Christmas - New Year break in an amazing Queensland style house backing onto The Noosa River and only 5 minutes walk into Noosa Heads. It was lovely.
The quilts I gave for Christmas were very much appreciated and I had to take some nature shots of them on the jetty at our holiday house. The day I took these was a king tide and I only just managed to rescue the quilts from a wave rolling over the spot where the quilts were posed!
How more satisfied can a quilt maker be than when her teenage daughter loves the quilt she's received? I made this one for Amelia from 4 Moda Charm Packs, each from a different range. I used Verna, Rouenneries, Rural Jardin and Blush.
It was amazing how the serendipitous selection turned into this pretty, subtle little quilt. It's the perfect accessory for the sun and sea bleached beauty of my daughter, and the soft weathered boards below.

Even at 14 months, Eva was overjoyed with her "I Spy"/ "Very Hungry Caterpillar "quillow! She got comfortable on it and started pointing as soon as it was unwrapped.

Here she is just ruminating on all the different things she can see. Look at those little feet! She spent many moments quietly gazing and pointing in her cot, pre-sleep. It's such a simple quilt (I posted about a similar one just a few weeks ago) but the kids love it.
Looking forward to another year posting,

Ann.