For the preschool auction this year, I decided to make and donate a quilt.
It was on my New Year’s Crafty Resolutions goal list, so why not do one now? Truth be told, this quilt has been in the works for longer than I would like to admit. So the deadline is just what I needed to push this over the finish line.
This quilt is whimsical and for a child, but it could go at least from the nursery to grade school.
The front is supposed to have some relation to the rule of thirds. With the oranges on the side being smaller for more “interest”.
The back is less saturated color. And plays with scale. The orange spots are HUGE, and the wood pecker on wood is quite small.
I quilted around the rectangles on the sides, and in the middle I picked up the “wood”. I quilted straight lines where the birch trees run on the back.
And I did spirals in the circles on the front side, which look like wood “rings” in a slice of wood on the back.
Lastly, there was still some space by the circles, so I quilted around the orange flowers in the middle panel
There are things I would change. But I am not going to pick the quilt apart. Just drive by and wave, don’t stop and get too close.
I laid the quilt back out on the floor, and taped it down. (We live in a house that is the size of a large row boat, so there is one room that is big enough to have a quilt laid out. That is the living room. I waited for a time when everyone was gone, I pushed the furniture back, rolled the carpet back, (cleaned more than I thought was possible) taped the back down, and made my sandwich.) Then I basted and basted. I decided to baste by hand. I think I could get a tighter fit if I used spray. But I read “don’t do it on a floor you care about”, “do it outside” and “wear a mask”. One lady said “I let my husband to this part ever since we found out I was pregnant.” Hmmmm ominous warnings. I think the rolling back the carpet and moving the furniture part was enough of an impact on the house, I didn’t think I actually needed to add “spray” into the mix. But I really do want a tighter fit next time.
Overall though, I am tickled with how this came out and I am excited to see how it does at auction.
Any guesses? (To give you some perspective, the auction is expected to bring in 400 people and there is almost $100K of merchandise being offered.)
This afternoon, I’ll show you the other auction item I made…
© 2005 – 2013 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
This is really lovely, Susi. I was surprised that you had some things you would change because I love it the way it is. I especially like the orange and the circular tree rings!
It’s GORGEOUS!!! I absolutley love it!
Love the contrasting colors and patterns and quilting patterns. Beautiful!
I think your quilt is wonderful. I love all the colors. Sandi
Susi! As the lucky recipient of your GORGEOUS quilt, I love reading about your construction and visioning process above. When Kevin and I gave it to Lazlo on Sunday we told him Teacher Susi made it for him. Later in the day we found him sitting with it on his bedroom floor admiring all the detail. He told us he “loved it” and when we asked why he said “because Teacher Susi made it for me!”
We will cherish you work of art.