My First Reversible Quilt

My first reversible quilt, and one I’d forgotten was reversible, was a joint project for my niece.
When she was born the two eldest girls in the family were old enough to participate in sewing, and young enough to need my help. And so we made a quilt together; I would make one side and they would make the other. We went to the fabric store together and talked about color and design. I showed them a simple pattern that I thought would work well for them, the Fence Rail pattern. The girls liked that pattern; it’s colorful and easy, which was just right for them at the age of 9. The girls picked out the colors they wanted, and together we set to cutting, and sewing this:

The reverse side was mine. I wanted something simple so as not to overwhelm the baby’s eyes, and to be lighter in color, to offset the richness of the side the girls had made. I chose this:

It is an alternating 4 patch, which is super-easy to make-and the colors are sort of primary, but a bit lighter than usual.
A close up:

We gave the quilt to my niece (well, to her mother) and I neglected to take a picture. A few weeks ago my sister-in-law found it and gave it back so I could photograph it and post about it here.
My first reversible quilt.

Blast from the Past

Up until a few years ago, I didn’t think to take pictures of quilts I made. Up to that point I had only made quilts for family members, and figured I’d always have some sort of access to my creations.

Well.

In the years since then my quilts have gone overseas, been given to friends, colleagues, and sold to strangers. I realized I missed having physical reminders of them, and their stories and so, somewhere in there, I started photographing all of them before they left my house. 

In the past year or so I’ve started trying to recall, or at least get photos of the quilts that have left me. Those quilts that live in other people’s houses, and which I do not get to see.  Tonight, my sister-in-law brought me two quilts I’d made her daughters, my nieces, and what a pleasure it was to see them. She also brought me a bag of clothes I’d made for my daughters when they were little, and which had been passed on to their younger cousins, and now back to me. It was great to see them, and show my daughters, and remember, and locate, pieces of the same fabrics I’d since used in quilt projects.

But back to the quilts.

Immediately upon returning home, I took pictures of the two quilts my sis-in-law gave me. She only gave me two, though she has three kids because the first one was born before I started quilting. Here is a picture of the quilt I made for her second daughter:

And a close up:

The pattern is called “Bow Tie” and it's one I had actually used it once before, for my younger daughter’s “big girl bed”, though this one has smaller bow ties.  The border was a fun fabric I found in a teacher supply store (not a place I would expect to find fabrics…):

As my niece was a fall baby, I chose a cute flannel fabric for the backing, thinking it be warmer and cuddlier for her:

I truly enjoyed revisiting with this quilt. As an artist, it’s good to see it held up its shape, and colors, with the use it got. It was also good to see an earlier project (I made it nearly 11 years ago). As an auntie, it’s good to know it was used and loved. As a person, it was fun to enjoy the play of colors and patterns.

The other quilt has its own story, and will go in the next post.