April projects

I finished off the crib quilt in time for my visiting niece to take with her when she travels to Ontario in time for the baby's arrival (it is for her brother & sister-in-law). Because the last few crib quilts I have made have ended up on walls instead of on babies, I added a sleeve to the back so it can be hung. I think I may need to go back to some traditional quilting styles in order for my quilts to be used to wrap up the intended recipients!!
     The original inspiration:

The final product:

I also completed a cushion cover depicting the canals of Amsterdam. I am traveling to Europe soon and this will be a gift for my sister-in-law; in the lower right quadrant there is a small canal off the Amstel River ... she lives on the corner of the Amstel and Achtergracht Canal.

     I found an old map, enlarged it and traced it onto the fabric. I backed the fabric with fusible interfacing before following / sewing the lines the first time; the 2nd time around, I added batting and a backing. Originally I was going to add the main streets as well, but when I had enlarged the original coloured map to a black and white copy, a lot of the colours were the same value and did not photocopy well .... with all the starts and stops following the canal routes with the sewing machine, I figured this was a good place to finish up!  I lightly penciled in the word "Amsterdam" and followed that with the sewing machine needle as well.

Another baby quilt

     Lots of little things are being worked on but not quite completed. The UFO pile seems to be growing. However, babies don't wait and if you have agreed to make a baby quilt for someone, you really have to get it done before the due date (which I think is about a month away).

     My nephew's wife has painted a wall mural behind the baby's crib (I have yet to find out if I will have another grand-niece or grand-nephew).

     The crib quilt has been made with 6 shades of orange to represent a sunset and several grey, grey-blue, and blue pieces of fabric for the mountains. The centre is a mid-blue for water which allows a "reflection" and repeat of the mountains and sunset.  The fabric was all cut free hand and pinned in place as I went along ... today I 'fastened' them in place with little bits of fusible webbing  (Unique hem fuser comes in a 19 mm wide roll and is great for tacking things down)

     I haven't decided if I will add the trees or not. And if I do, whether I will thread paint them on, make them of fabric and quilt them, or make separate thread trees and then applique them ... I like the last idea the best (using a technique from Laurie Swim's class last September) but I don't think I have enough time to do that for the number of trees I would probably need (going on a holiday soon). If I decide to thread-paint them I had better do that asap before I add the backing.
     So the quilt, batting and backing are sitting on the cutting table waiting for a decision ... tomorrow??