Friday 26 October 2012

Blogger quilt festival.... a family quilt

Amy is once again hosting the quilt festival. It's great fun and a golden opportunity to see new quilts and visit new blogs. I've been working on a quilt for the festival but then life happened and I didn't finish it in time.

So instead I want to show you another recent finish. It's not a grand quilt in any way, but a real scrap project made from leftovers from other projects and some pretty fugly fabrics I had in my stash.  Despite that it has quickly become the favourite quilt in our house.

In august I had no inspiration and felt a bit overwhelmed of life in general. I had bought loads of lovely fabric over the summer and felt completely indecisive about what to use them for. So I randomly started cutting 5" squares from my scraps... starting off with the reds and then moving to the blues... and with no real plan in mind. A giant pile of HST's later I finally decided on the layout. The background is super thick fleece and the batting is cotton. Thus it's a heavy, but also very warm quilt.. Everything except the batting is made from scraps and leftovers from other projects.

The quilt was immediately put to good use in our living room - even before I managed to get any pictures of it. At 2x2 metres the kids fast calculated that it fits one adult AND two kids perfectly. They've been snuggling up under it with me or their dad EVERY night since I finished it.


Scrappy warm/cool quilt

DSC_0146

Today however I decided to get a picture in daylight for the quilt festival and asked the kids to help me. My kids are pretty tall for their age. It's great being tall - both in basketball and when I need helpers to hold up quilts. But sometimes, just sometimes a simple photo shoot goes ga-ga... Like today. Granted, it was quite windy and cold so there was limited desire to help me.

It started off fine but then....Ups...  My youngest boots and legs are showing as the quilt lifts from the ground.
Kids are holding up quilt

Two seconds later he goes: "It's cold... More pictures, really? Enough already."
How much longer?


"I'm being annoying and I know it. Are you sure we're not done yet?"
Are we done now?

"Well, if you insist on taking more pictures we'll hold the quilt like this instead. It's much warmer anyway"
Best way to hold a quilt

At this point I started thinking of the consequences of dirty boots and two goofy kids. And I finally gave up taking any pictures and sent the kids back inside again.

So no pretty, stylish pictures for this round of the festival... Just a big warm quilt and some goofy children. But then... Isn't that exactly what a family quilt is all about?

Thanks for stopping by :)

Quilt Stats:
Size: 80"x80"
Fabric: Scraps and fugly fabric, cotton batting and super thick fleece backing (also made from various scraps)
Special Techniques: None really except if you count no planning as a technique
Quilted by: Me.
Best Category : Scrap quilt, Throw quilt
Number: 31


38 comments:

  1. Hi Cille - you already know I think your quilt is lovely, so I just wanted to say I think your pics are great! Personally, I make quilts to be used, and it is nice to see yours being appreciated by your kids already. Good luck for the festival - I will be frantically stitching binding tonight so I have something finished to post about.

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  2. Quilts and families just go together. And I love your binding choice - a bit different and not so predictable, but looks great (and will stand up to a bit of family loving without showing dirt).

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  3. Cille, the finished quilt turned out wonderfully!

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  4. It's lovely. If they use it, it' s a success : )

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  5. Awesome use of "fugly" scraps, the quilt is anything but! It's beautiful.

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  6. It is fantastic, Cille! I would love to snuggle under that! Funny how it really has fresh, cool feeling and also warm, Christmas feeling! Perfect for all the year! x Teje

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  7. It is so beautiful! And its so nice that it is so well loved already!

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  8. That is what family quilts are all about! Love it - I have one similar to yours.

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  9. gorgeous quilt and a fun photo session to remember :)

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  10. Boy, pretty cute result after starting so randomly! It looks great and what a fun photoshoot!

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  11. I'm liking the "no planning" technique you used here. It turned out awesome! Sounds like you seriously made a winning quilt for your family. :)

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  12. It's amazing how good fugly scraps can look when placed in a great design. It really is a beautiful quilt.

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  13. It's a great quilt and I love the family pictures - yes indeed it is definately what it is all about! Thanks for sharing.

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  14. Not only a gorgeous quilt but I truly love the candid photos. Pretty shots are nice but these are the most precious.

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  15. OMG that close up one of your son and quilt is just fantastic! Great quilt too!

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  16. Lovely quilt, and a glimpse into my future. lol

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  17. It's so gorgeous, hard to believe it's a scrap quilt! Love all of the photos too. :o) xo

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  18. I think the last picture is the best one! Great smiles.
    It's a lovely quilt!

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  19. Great quilt!

    Margaret
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

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  20. I love it, especially since it just came together without a plan, that's how I seem to quilt. The colors are perfect and the fact that the family loves it makes it extra special.

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  21. Great quilt! I love scrappy quilts. Fun pictures with the boys.

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  22. Love how your quilt turned out!! And no way... there's no fuglies in there! LOL They were just perfect for THIS quilt! :D

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  23. Triangles and red an aqua - wonderful combination, wonderful quilt !

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  24. It's really gorgeous Cille. And yes you are exactly, that's precisely what family quilts are for :)

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  25. Looks great - love the color combo and your blog is great too!

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  26. Love your use of colour, layout and fugly. It's made an awesome quilt!

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  27. The value and color play in this quilt is amazing! Lovely finish. :)

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  28. I'm so jealous of this quilt! It is so fantastic. My kids would fight over it if it lived in my home. And your boys are darling! They look like they're having fun even though they say their not :-)

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  29. Nice quilt! I just love how scraps can make something so beautiful and snuggling under a quilt with your kids is the best!

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  30. It's gorgeous, I really like the contrasting blues and oranges it looks great. And how lovely to be snuggled up with the kids in it every night - perfect comfort!

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  31. What a wonderful scrap quilt and a great one to snuggle up in.

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  32. Making quilts the family loves is what it's all about, and you've made a real winner here, in pattern, colors, and love!

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  33. Aww, what a great photo shoot and pretty quilt.

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  34. the quilt is gorgeous and so is your home and boys!

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  35. Love the colors and that you were able to put your scraps to good use.

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  36. Wonderful and i love the pictures. Reality is great. And the extra weight of the quilt will be needed in your cold danish winters! Love denmark. Able to visit a few times when our family was stationed in frankfurt back in late 80's. hubby's family was from there on his mom's side and his dad was rescued and then transported out of there in ww2 when his plane crashed. So we love denmark on many levels. Thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt and have a great day

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