Mama Quilt #6: Abby

When I found out the Terps had a bun in the oven, immediately ideas began to swirl around in my brain for Abby's mama quilt.

Abby and I met freshman year of college (even though she attended SPU and I was up north in Bellingham) and I can't rightly say we "hit it off." Don't get me wrong - we liked each other alright (er - at least I think Abby liked me then...) but neither of us knew how long the other would be in the picture, so I'd say we started out more acquaintances rather than friends, per se.

But as the years ticked by, it became more and more apparent neither of us was going anywhere. Then she went and married Dustin soon after graduation and sealed the deal (so to speak - heh). Once we were both B'ham residents, we set about the work of actually getting to know each other.

While some might say Abby can be a tough nut to crack - it's never been that way for me. During those first few weeks after she moved to Bellingham, when she invited me over to make several different types of cheesecake for the purpose of simply taste-tasting, I knew this friendship was for real. Abby is kind-hearted, fiercely loyal, straight-forward, thoughtful, awkward, hilarious, and - generally speaking - always right. It's been my honor to get to know her over the years; she's one of my most dearly-loved friends.

So, for Abby's mama quilt, I decided almost instantly it would have to be strictly black and white with some kind of predictable pattern (to demonstrate her extremely logical, steadfast mind) contrasted with an unexpected burst of wild color outside the pattern to demonstrate those spontaneous moments of unfettered jubilation she sometimes lets sneak out.

Here's the final result - I so hope she likes it. :)
























PS - There is another, totally different, bright pink flower on the back side as well. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of that side, so you'll just have to imagine it for now.

Mama Quilt #5: Kristen Mauss

My most recently completed mama quilt was, I think, the most difficult. Going in, I didn't anticipate this fact at all. Kristen is one of my oldest friends; in fact, she was my very first friend at Western. We lived on the same floor, five doors away. After my first college class ever, I headed back to my room and along the way I came across her open door. I popped my head in, we chatted for a bit, and I decided I liked her. Since college is all about turning over a new leaf, I promptly said, "Would you like to be friends?" No sense in beating around the bush right? She laughed and agreed and we've been friends ever since.

If I had to describe Kristen Mauss as a literary character, without doubt or hesitation, I would tell you she is Jane Bennett, the elder sister of Miss Elizabeth Bennett from Pride & Prejudice. She is kind and gentle and hands-down the easiest person in the world to be with. I've never heard her speak ill of another person (just like Jane) and she is rarely, if ever, frustrated to the point of exasperation (quite unlike myself). She is a friend in any and all circumstances (not to mention with just about everyone) and no matter how long it has been since you've spent time with Kristen, you can always pick up just where you left off. There is simply no better quality of friend.

But the trouble was, how to express all these lovely qualities in a quilt? That was a stumper. Such a stumper, in fact, that I started an entire quilt, got almost the whole top done, then dumped it and decided to start over. It simply wasn't right. It was a beautiful light turquoise-y pool-ish color, and I liked that, but the design and other fabrics were all wrong, wrong, wrong. So, I stuck with pool as the main color (mostly because Kristen told me she really liked that color and wanted it to be said color) but instead of pairing it with soft, subtle colors to compliment the pool, I decided to juxtapose it with several bold, funky, and interesting fabrics. Thus the companion fabrics don't all necessarily go together, but they DO create an interesting contrast to and pairing with the pool.

In this quilt, Kristen is the pool fabric; the backbone of the quilt and the foundation of the design. She meets each and every person (fabric) exactly as they are and creates a complimentary palette. She draws out what is beautiful in each fabric and together they make a fabulous design. The pattern is steadfast and consistent, but the effect is surprising and delightful as it draws your eye from block to block, throughout the whole quilt. It's trendy and bright, yet patient and warm.

I'm not as confident that the final result feels as Kristen and I thought Holly's quilt felt Holly...but I'm pretty sure I still got it right (and Andi told me she felt it was very Kristen, so I'm going to go with that). My only real hope is that Kristen loves it and knows just how much I love her.

I don't always name my quilts, but if I had to give this one a title, I'd call it "The Jane Bennett" in honor of Kristen.

Mama Quilt #4: Holly Bedient

Note: I'm actually quite behind on my mama quilt posts, but better late than never, eh?

Mrs. Holly Bedient was the inspiration and recipient of my fourth mama quilt project. I was particularly excited to tackle Holly's quilt because she is so gregarious and bold I knew I had a real opportunity to be creative in my attempt to express her personality visually.

Generally speaking, Holly is pretty clear about what she does and doesn't like. She's a passionate and expressive person. (If you don't believe me, just ask her how she feels about Best Buy...) So for my purposes, this simplified things considerably. Hands down her favorite color is green and pairing it with brown was simply a no-brainer. That was an easy place to start. Then, as I sat and brainstormed about how I wanted to express the essence Holly, I thought about how I admired her gumption. She is simply not intimidated to try something new, to tackle a project (especially if it involves manly tools) or to wield some competitive challenge. I love that! She inspires me to try new things and to be unconcerned with failure. Just go for it!

Therefore, I felt like I had permission to break the rules and try something new. This translated into the pattern for the quilt. Originally I had chosen a diagonal stripe pattern, but as I was laying out the blocks, it felt all wrong to me. It wasn't brave; it was too orderly and safe. I nearly chucked the whole thing, but instead I rearranged the pieces until I had come up with a completely new design. I was quite satisfied (tickled even!) with the final product as it extended beyond the normal boundaries of the pattern and extended into the quilts boarder. Talk about a rule breaker!

My last comment speaks to the feeling of the quilt. I chose the fabrics for the quilt based simply on if they felt Holly enough to me. This exasperated my mother to no end. I walked up and down the aisles and aisles of fabric trying to hone in on what "felt Holly" to me. I initially found a couple right off the bat, but as my mom tried to help me find companion fabrics, I continuously rejected them saying, "Yeah...I guess that goes with the others, but it just doesn't feel right to me." My poor mom. But she hung in there with me and eventually I found what I was looking for and that satisfied my Holly vibe. The only trouble was, most of them were centerpiece fabrics - something you could build a whole quilt around. When you put them all together...it was a little chaotic. This troubled me at first, but I decided it simply couldn't be helped. These fabrics were all Holly and I was just going to have to find a way to get them all to compromise.

In the end, I think the design I came up with does a perfect job of bringing all the Holly-ness into an accurate picture of Holly. It's bright, it's bold, and yes, it's a little chaotic. But the chaos is reigned in and contained into something absolutely beautiful. And to me, that perfectly describes Holly: controlled chaos. I don't think you could successfully pull together this quilt with another combination of fabrics; it's one of a kind, just like my girl. ;)

So for your exclusive viewing pleasure, I give you Controlled Chaos, as inspired by Holly Bedient.


P.S. - In case you're wondering, Holly successfully delivered an adorable baby boy, William (Will) Bedient. Seriously, so cute. He's even got dimples. Way to go Mrs. B!

Mama Quilt Installment #3 (kind of)

(I know, I know - a blog about my cat's poop? Things really have sunk to a new low. I'll try and work on it....)

So in the mean time, this isn't exactly a Mama Quilt posting, but it is a quilt for a mama I know, so I figured it still warrents its very own post. My very dear college friend Cory has been having babies at a rate much faster than I can keep up with (in terms of quilts mostly...although in terms of babies too, now that I think about it), so even though she's due with baby #4 this September, the following quilt is actually for Baby #3 (who, believe it or not, has a name: Ally Capri.)

I intended to make this quilt way back when Ally was still in utero, but alas, that was when I had a full-time job, a social life, and precious little free time (quite unlike now). So even though Ally is already over a year old, I'm just now delivering the quilt - oh well. Life happens, right?

In any case, the inspiration for this quilt was not derived from the mama or my relationship with her (thus NOT a mama quilt), but rather from a snazzy color scheme Cory had mentioned she really liked. It never would have occured to me to put hot pink with a kind of sage-y green, but it so intruiged me I thought: Why not? So I gave it a shot and I think the final product is actually quite eye-catching.


The pattern for the quilt is called a Log Cabin and I've arranged the blocks so that the final result yields diagonal stripes. Given the contrast in colors, it seemed apropos. (Each block actually consists of half pink logs and half green logs. Then, depending on how you arrange the blocks, you get one of SEVERAL different designs. It's an old, old pattern, but a great one in my opinion.) I didn't think to take a picture of the back, but it's completely hot pink and made out of a snuggly flannel.

So while perhaps my color and design choices weren't quite as meaningful this time around - I really had a lot of fun making this one. It was funky and bold and it came together really fast. I'm sure it's no less appreciated and I hope it gets well used in it's new home. (And Cory, thanks for the inspiration!!)

A Mama Quilt for Kristi

As I mentioned previously, there are soon to be several new babies in my future. This weekend I again traveled north to shower my good friend Kristi with gifts for the anticipated bundle o' joy.

As with Diana, I endeavored to make a mama quilt for the occasion. This time though, I didn't need to employ the sneaky spy skills of my friends to discover Kristi's tastes as she had already told me she was gung-ho for pink and brown. Seeing as that color combination is very "in" at the moment, it was more than enough to go on for me. In no time I had chosen my fabrics and stumbled upon the perfect pattern. Like Kristi it was organized and well put together (but not at all boring), and when combined with the feminine, bright, and trendy fabrics, the overall result felt perfectly representative of Kristi to me.

I finished it with a bit of extra hand-quilting (I just couldn't resist all those big, blank spaces) and was quite happy with the final result. When I was finally able to give the quilt to Kristi this weekend (I've had it done forever) I was touched to see she was a little emotional. I guess I must've gotten it right!

Click to enlarge the image and check out the hand-quilting!

Babies, babies, and still yet, more babies

There comes a time in everyone's life wherein it feels as though everyone they know is pregnant. Right now is that time in my life. (At my last count, it was 8 buns in their respective ovens.)

So last weekend I headed up north for the first of many baby showers in my near future to celebrate with my good friend Diana on the eminent arrival of her baby girl. I figured since I have so much time on my hands these days, I'd make her a quilt for the occasion.

My first thought was that it would be a baby quilt - something for the new little one's room, something to add to all the other baby paraphernalia. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted it to be a gift for Diana. Something that she would use and enjoy; something that she got warmth and comfort from. Because really - let's be honest here - that baby doesn't give one rip about it. Thus, I decided I would be making her a mama quilt. A quilt that would appeal to Diana, that she could use to snuggle her newborn in, and that reflected Diana to me.

So in order to accomplish this feat, I employed the help of both my good friend and Diana's, Ms. Kristen Mauss. She was able to sneakily find out not only what colors Diana was into, but managed a fabric sample to boot! (I know, talk about an A+ on the reconnaissance.) With that kind of intel, the project came together in a little over a week. So without further ado, the final product:


So, do you like it?

(The main red fabric I used is a Heather Bailey fabric called Red Peonies from the Pop Collection and can be found here.)