Bat Mitzvah Quilt

My eldest daughter and eldest niece were born before I started quilting. As a result, neither one of them got baby quilts from me. So when they neared their respective Bat Mitzvah dates, it was important to me to make them quilts, and to make them special.   

I posted about my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah quilt here:  http://quiltjourneysofmidnightglory.blogspot.com/2011/02/milestones.html and now this post is for my niece’s quilt.
My niece is wonderful, smart, creative person. She’s also driven, and ambitious. She is increasingly busy with many activities and so I wanted her quilt to reflect many different things. I wanted it to be a comfortable, soothing quilt, and a quilt of plurality. I wanted it to be unusual, but still use traditional elements. Finally, I wanted it to have flair but not be too busy. If that’s not enough, I also wanted it to be to her liking at 13, 15, 18, and beyond.
It took me a long time to come up with a pattern design, and the design, I admit, changed a few times during the sewing process. I decided in a strippy quilt, with a twist. Here it is (pictured on my bed):

 

And a close up:

The pattern is sometimes called a Roman Stripe variation, though I didn’t know it at the time. It was just scrappy triangles, sewn together to make squares. The colors I chose were mostly fairly calm colors, but the occasional red keeps them, I think, from being too pale.  Also, the blue sashing is meant to help make all the strippiness into a cohesive design.

I decided to add another twist to it by laying the squares out on point. This adds movement without adding color.

Laying it with the white border was a new thing for me. At first the plan was for an entirely white border, but I thought it made the whole thing look, off, somehow, so I added the blue strip to the border.

When I finished the top I started considering the reverse. I wanted the back to be different in tone and color so my niece could have 2 quilts, and could change the look of her bedroom around easily. I also wanted to make it a bit more traditional in colors for when she didn’t feel like “flair”.  The colors are complimentary here, as are the patterns on each fabric.

And a close up:

The pattern here is a simple one: 4 patch and square alternating. A traditional pattern, again sewn on point.

When I gave it to her, my niece told me she can’t decide which side she likes best. Perfect! This made me so glad I made it reversible. Just a couple of weeks ago she told me it’s still on her bed, which again made me glad.

Next up, a post about the third Bat Mitzvah quilt I've made to date. This third one is quite different, and presented its own set of wonders.