Why we make quilts

There are lots of reasons why we make quilts. New baby, anniversary, birthday or we like the pattern or we like the fabric. I'm sure you all have your own reasons for making a quilt. BUT what if you could make a quilt for the designer of a fabric collection? And wouldn't it be cool if the designer had some input into the quilt design? And wouldn't it be great if it's a surprise?

That's what happened when I was still working at Northcott. Melanie is one of the design team and she created a collection called Barbershop. The design team usually works on collections that are conceptualized by the design director. This was Melanie's FIRST collection that she created completely on her own and for which she was credited as the designer. I was asked to design a free pattern for the collection. I wanted it to be a collaborative effort with Melanie so I asked her if she had any thoughts on how she saw the collection being used. And this is the result.

Barbershop Duet

Here's the link to the free pattern. The quilt is 57 by 73". Perfect size for a lap quilt.

There are a few directional prints in there and I have a story to tell you about directional prints in general - that's up for later this week. I think I'm becoming addicted to writing on my blog. I catch myself many times a day thinking about what the topic for the next day(s) will be. It's hard to imagine that there are bloggers that struggle for topics - they just seem to keep coming for me - even after thousands of posts!

Anyway, back to Melanie's collection. I rarely give quilts away so getting one from me is a big deal. While I put my little label into the binding, I also did a couple of other things to "document" the quilt.

The provenance (history) of this quilt

Here's a closeup of the label so you can see what I wrote. There is a LABEL and I added my little tag.

Quilt label

 AND I took the selvage of one of the prints with Melanie's name on it and inserted it into the binding. The other side of that selvage has the collection name on it.

The selvage inserted into the binding

Even though I no longer work with Melanie, I still wanted to make her the quilt. She had no clue that I was making her the quilt. I was able to get the fabric and the quilt was delivered yesterday.

I got a call from Melanie and she was THRILLED to get the quilt. That makes me very happy. That's why I don't give quilts out that often - I need to know that they will be appreciated and loved!

I'll be giving you an update on my Monday sewing tomorrow. I'm madly sewing paper pieced blocks trying to get that magazine quilt done that's urgent. I made great progress on the blocks this morning so all is good there. I've got my plans all set out for the next couple of days - it's going to be heads-down all week. Especially since I have a couple of sewing days scheduled as well as a couple of classes and a couple of meetings.

I see that my two Row by Row cohorts BOTH sent me the link to the list of shops in Ontario/Quebec that are participating. Well - I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a road trip with them!  There has to be a plan (which Laura is excellent as creating) and a driver (which Ronda has handled well well in the past) which leaves me. What's my role? I'm just the entertainment!  Well, I do see a road trip somewhere but since my plans are still up in the air for the summer - I'm not sure what will transpire!

On that note, I'm going to sneak in a bit of paperwork before I head off to the gym and then downstairs for the remainder of the day!

Have a super day!!!!


Ciao!!!