Thursday 7 October 2010

I have heard the mermaids...

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I finally finished the baby quilt I was working on for my new niece.  Baby Sophia was born 16th September and though this gift has been a little later than planned it should be with her today.  She was a water baby, delivered in a birthing pool which makes mermaids bubbles and fishes even more appropriate!  For a first time mummy that is quite a feat, well done to Gemma her lovely mummy.  When I started this project I didn't even know if she was going to be a boy or a girl so I was taking a bit of a gamble with this quilt.  Once she arrived, she inspired the quilting that followed.  This quilt started with a pattern by Deb of Make do and Mend Quilts (she sells v. nice quilt kits too) in Sewhip magazine and evolved.  I like to do things that way, a bit of structure with the freedom to go off at a tangent.  I used my pieced circles tutorial  but the tiniest circles within circles had to go in by hand not machine.


Initially I was going to hand quilt this with lots of circles and I did do some in blue, rust and cream.  I loved their soft running stitches look but it was too much of a strain and I opted for some machine circles as well.  Then a line T S Elliot's poem ,The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock came to me- "I have heard the mermaid's singing, each to each..".  You can read it here it has to be one of my favourite poems.   British actor and comedian Robert Webb reads a bit here and expresses many people's connection with it.  It is a legacy poem, one to pass on and share.

 Free motions coral and seaweed shapes link the words and I also wrote Sophia's name and birthdate in the central circles too






Free motion letters do require a little care spelling wise, nearly wrote memaids then suddenly realised!



Sorry for so many pics but I won't get to see it very often and I want to remember what I've done!

 Binding was pieced using scraps I won a while ago in a Handmade by Alissa giveaway.  I have a love hate relationship with quilt making.  I love piecing, designing, tweaking but I hate the quilting process itself, yet it is worth it.  Nothing beats the satisfaction of a quilt finished.

I do love a folded quilt, it looks inviting and ready to snuggle.  For Sophia x
sib blog

17 comments:

  1. Wow Kerry that free motion quilted writing is excellent.

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  2. Hi Kerry, this is really beautifull! love the combination of the fabric and the poem.
    What a lot of work, and such a Lovely result!

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  3. I love it! I am glad you showed some close-ups of the quilted writing and your pieced circles. It is such a wonderful way to use this fabric and to celebrate Sophia!

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  4. Kerry, you did a smash up job!!! it is an awesome quilt and I love the theme, the colors the circles and the free motion quilting. That quilt will be around forever!

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  5. I absolutely love everything about this quilt -- combo of free-motion and hand quilting, circular designs for water, the free-motion words (amazing!),circles on circles, the pieced binding, and those are just a few of the things I like. The feeling it all gives me is wonderful! This is one of a kind, you should be proud. Your niece will cherish it for a lifetime!

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  6. Beautiful!! I love how you quilted those words... You should be really proud!

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  7. thank you all! Severien, there is 'no reply' on your profile so I can't email you, but yes I am very proud!

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  8. I am in total awe, what a wonderful quilt, truly a thing to treasure. I do love the mermaid fabric too, just gorgeous.

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  9. Oh my goodness- that quilting is amazing! It totally makes the quilt! The fabric alone is superb, but the quilting- OH MY!! Stunning job!

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  10. In a word: gorgeous! I wish I had your mad free motion quilting skills.

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  11. wow! that is one beautiful quilt. your niece is a very lucky girl. i love how you quilted words in, i've not actually seen that done before with a machine. bravo!

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  12. Wow, just scrolling through your blog and saw these additional pics. Amazing quilting work with the words. Just love it.

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  13. thank you Annie, it was a lucky design that came together just when I needed it too!

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  14. Just stunning. This is an awesome idea to make circles of this fabric! I need to swap a bit more of Mendocino before I start! Thanks for sharing your circle technique.

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