From Kilt to Quilt

During 2023 (in July, in fact) I received some tartan kilt offcuts from a friend and decided to make a knee rug from them. And here is the result of a lot of trimming and sewing - not to mention how much tartan fabric frays!

This photo shows the reverse side of the quilt.

… and here it is thrown over our couch - it fits perfectly - both in size and colour.

Photo showing the kilt offcuts.

And so the tedious task of joining all these rectangles started...

Rachel's 21st Quilt

I wanted to make Rachel a quilt for her 21st but what to make - what design to choose? 

What to do on one side?As I had already decided to make a Temperature Quilt on the other side.

Her mother (my cousin) suggested that Rachel's favourite colours at the moment were black, grey and white with a splash of colour - and so that's what I did on the reverse - exactly that!

As mentioned, I had decided on a Temperature Quilt on one side - and so I set about doing the research on it. First, I had to find the daily maximum temperatures for each day of her birth year and then calculate how I would "display" them - I settled on a colour for collections of temperatures (in celsius). They being:

a)  10-11-12 = ice blue

b)  13-14-15 = light blue

c)  15-17-18 = medium blue

d)19-20-21 – darker blue

e)  22-23-24 = light green

f)  25-26-27 = medium green

g)  28-29-30 = darker green

h)  31-32-33 = yellow

i)   34-35-36 = light orange

j)  37-38-39 = darker orange

-->

k)40-41-42 = red

However, I needed another 9 rectangles to complete the set. Problem solved - I chose fabric with musical notes on them in a light shade of white/grey and I placed them at strategic points on the quilt - the birthdays of herself, her siblings and her parents, but because I still needed another 3 placements, I chose New Year's Day, ANZAC Day and Christmas Day coz on each of these days music is played - think about it! And so the quilt below has the 365 days of Rachel's birth year, plus these extras to complete it.

Reflections of Egypt Quilt

My husband and I spent several years living in Egypt and this quilt has been inspired by our time there. It is not going to be finished overnight - or even this month; and most likely not even this year but you are welcome to journey with me, as it unfolds...

These 12 crosses will form part of the border. They are each 4" square, on calico which is currently 7" square but will be cut down to a 6" square, closer to the time. The crosses are taken from photos we took as we travelled about the country.

This too, is a pattern taken from one of our photos and is one of 6 or 7 such scenes of Coptic Egypt that will eventually make up the quilt. It's a typical scene of Coptic Churches which are dotted throughout Egypt.

This is the 2nd embroidery piece that I've finished. The picture depicts an inner sanctuary of the Church compound.

And this is the 3rd piece finished thus far. It depicts a village built into the hillside away from the Nile, with crops growing along the banks of the river. For those who haven't been to rural Egypt, houses are built away from the fertile land and in many villages, each house is painted a different colour than its neighbour - which gives a happy look to an otherwise mono-tone landscape.

And that's it for now - I'm busy drawing the next picture from one of our photos but you'll have to wait and see what it is... However, I can tell you that if it works, it's some challenge I've set myself...

The next picture in thread will be one of the many market corners in Cairo but as one can see, it's only half finished - but I thought I'd upload it, so you can continue to journey with me, as I finish more of it.

I've been busy with other projects and so haven't done much hand stitching of late, but it'll still be there when next I pick up my needle and thread...

You will notice that none of the edges have been stitched or finished off - that's because I want to do them all the same and until I have more of them finished, I won't know what colour to use - see!!! - there's an answer for every occasion or in this case, for every question!

And finally, I've started planning for the quilt itself - here's a template I've made as an idea for the background patchwork.

Brad's Quilt

Like many quilters, I have a few quilt tops that I work on - to give a bit of variety to what I'm doing. Until, that is, I discover a home for one or other of them, and then I need to give them extra time. Sometimes I need to add a row or border or two depending on where the quilts are going, like in Brad's case - he's over 6' tall and so I needed to make sure it'll be long enough for him and stuff like that. Brad's quilt started its life as an exercise at my Textiles course - my criteria was to join 2 pieces of fabrics together on the curve and so one of the best blocks to use is the Drunken Path or Drunken Sailor - and then adapt the block to suit your vision. I chose oranges and blues because they are on opposite sides of the Colour Wheel and therefore go well together and the black sashings just make the colours stand out and say "look at me". We had just learnt about Colour Wheels in class and so I also wanted to put that into practice.

I used cotton/bamboo wadding in Brad's Quilt because I thought it would be a softer finish - he's 21 and I can see him using it on a cold night while watching a movie or something, lying on the floor with his quilt wrapped around him. Hopefully, it'll stand the test of a 21 year old guy!!!
But will it become a heritage quilt that he can pass on to his own kids or will it collapse under the weight of being used in the moment???
And click on the photo to have a closer look at the binding - I found this in one of our local quilting shops and thought it was a perfect match - what do you think?
Ah! I just had a look at what you can see - and it's a bit hard to tell - but I found a fabric in two-tone orange with uneven sized dots all over it, randomly placed. I love it!!!
Size: 71" x 95" (181cm x 242cm)

Kola Quilt

This quilt will be used as a raffle prize at our Church to raise money for a water project in Egypt, which our Church supports, called Project Kola - kola being an arabic word for water jug or water vessel... and also an HIV/Aids Project in Thailand, called Saiyarak (which means "living waters"). Proceeds will be equally divided between the 2 projects.
And since this photo was taken it's had a border sewn on and been quilted and bound - just waiting on me to make its label...

Stay tuned for a photo of the finished product...


And here it is - another box ticked!!! All done and dusted...
Click on it to get a closer look - we had this one professionally quilted - it's the first time I've had one of my quilts quilted this way - ever so pleased with the result - just makes a massive difference to the look of it!

... now we can start selling the raffle tickets...
Size: 68" x 68" (173cm x 173cm)