Quilt for Charles - Who else?

 I wanted to make a quilt for my grandson, Charles. Charles William Caffail-Morris. He's a remarkable boy; son of remarkable mothers. He needed, of course, a remarkable quilt. 

As part of my research, I called to find out his favorite colors. "Bright". OK. I can do bright. He's a boy after my own heart. Here's the quilt I made for Charles. 

I IE

Even the back side is bright -- many brightly colored polka dots scattered over a field of black.

My quilting pattern was intended to echo the little rockets in the decorative stitching that runs up the purple sashes. I think the whole thing looks like it's ready to take off. All it needs is a captain.
Charles?

Quilts for Africa

My quilting guild adopted a project of creating quilts for a fledgling maternity hospital in Africa. I made this quilt for the project.

We were instructed to quilt "intensely" -- quilt lines close together. This would, hopefully, help the quilt last through many washings at the stream where the women pound their laundry with rocks. It was a pretty amazing experience to stitch a quilt knowing it would go to Africa, welcome a new baby into the world, be cleaned with rocks in a stream, and be received with open arms and gratitude. Could the woman receiving this quilt possibly be more grateful than I was for the opportunity to put it together for her and her baby? Not likely. I loved having the chance to do this quilt.

Children's Quilt Project - EBHQ

 I need practice working with triangles, sewing on the bias, and matching the points. So I picked up a kit for this quilt top at the November meeting of my quilting guild: East Bay Heritage Quilters. It's part of the guild's children's quilt project. 

One tip I'd heard from guild members was to pair up the triangles, lay them out right sides together, then press before sewing. It helped minimize stretching along the long bias seam.

Matching the points and corners was pretty easy -- pin first, sew slowly, then rip out and re-sew any that didn't match.

I turned this top in at my favorite quilt shop which put me in exactly the right place to pick up fabric to make a quilt for Charles.