Levi's Trip Around the World

    Earlier this summer, my nephew and his wife welcomed a new baby boy.  As I was planning his quilt, I was inspired by this quilt, a stunning granny square quilt, by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.  I am still trying to work only from my existing stash, and thought that some "around the world" quilt blocks might work to get the same type of vibe.  Several years ago, I had made a scrappy quilt using this block, and decided try the block again, with a more traditional layout.  I decided on a red, black and yellow color scheme with white - I love the black Alexander Henry fabric, and had never had a project to use it in.   

     I went with 6 strips (each 2 1/2 inches wide)

     I then sewed the strips together in the same order, then ironed the seams, and made the tube to create the strips by undoing the seam in a different spot each strip to create the diagonal pattern.

Oops - had to redo this one ! 

     The finished blocks had the black as the center row.  

 

     I had to decide on a layout.  I tried it with a red center (with Chester's assistance) 

I decided to go with the white center. 

I caught the error on the bottom right corner before it was too late!  That was the redo, above! 

    I had considered many quilting options, but, used the backing as inspiration, and went with a double bubble overall pattern.  I used Aurifil white, and am getting more accustomed to my Tiara II.  

Chester is very helpful in the quilting process 

     Here is the backing fabric, with a close up of the quilting pattern. 

    

     I had started the quilt before the baby arrived, and before our trip to Scotland (see my previous post about that wonderful adventure!).  Once I returned, Levi was here!  I decided to personalize the white center block.  I printed out samples of the name with various fonts, and settled on one. 

 

     I cut out the letters, and carefully traced with a mark-be-gone pen. (which disappeared beautifully!)

Thank goodness he has a four letter name! 

 

     I then sewed around the letters, and tried to do a dense quilting to allow the name to pop out. 

  

     I used a bright yellow batik from my stash for the binding.

The quilt finished at a generous 48 by 48 inches.

     A close up of the finished center block.  Subtle. 

     The stitching shows up more on the back, but isn't that visible when looking at the back as a whole.

The wind was quite strong on Lake Erie for the quilt wrangler! 

    Welcome to the world, baby Levi!  It is hard to believe that the summer is winding down.  I have a long list of quilts to get underway!

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Take care,

Gretchen    

A Scottish Adventure!

     This has been a summer of change.   This post celebrates the finish of a career, not a quilt!   I retired from my full time job at the end of June.  In mid July, my husband, son, daughter and I traveled to Scotland, and walked from coast to coast along the John Muir Way.  We also were able to spend extra time in Glasgow and in Edinburgh, and had a wonderful time.  We walked in the rain, and walked in the sun.  We walked on tow paths, along canals, in farm fields, in forests, in woods, along cliffs, and on the beach.  We saw little towns, and bigger cities.   We climbed to the top Arthur's Seat;  we climbed to the edge of the Roman empire.  We met wonderful locals, said hello to many little dogs, sheep, cows, horses and ponies. We saw modern architectural wonders and ancient castles.  We saw formal gardens and roadside wildflowers.  We visited distilleries and breweries.  We ate and drank well, and were so fortunate to be able to spend all this time together as a family.  And, of course, I stopped whenever there was a quilt store!   Enjoy these photos; I'll have some finished quilts to post soon.