...So Eight Years Later...a Finish

I started this quilt about 8 years ago. The first two grandsons were toddlers and I thought it would be great to have a fun quilt we could spread out for picnics or on the floor to play. I got it pieced pretty quickly but then I lost interest, got busy, moved on to other projects. I pulled it out a couple of years ago along with some other long time tops that needed quilting and finally now it is done.

 I chose all these fruit prints and seed packet prints. I thought it was so summery. I loved the bright colors and decited to surround it with black. Not sure why, but it does make it pop.

I think this is where I got stuck. I couldn't figure out a backing or how to quilt it, so I quit. But last week I decided it was time to just get it done! So there was one two yard piece of fabric in my stash that I could not figure out how to use:

V and I did some tie dye a few years ago and I dyed a piece of Kona white. I loved how it turned out, but never knew quite what to do with it. Until now. It looks amazing. The pictures don't really show how vibrant the colors are. It is such a happy fun fabric.

 Have you ever wondered what tie dyed fabric looks like as a binding? So cool, right?

       Now I'm not sure which side of this I like best. It's like having two quilts in one.

I was going to give this to one of the grand kids, but I think I'm going to hang onto it for awhile. And for now, it is on the back of granddaddy's chair and it looks quite at home there. See you soon.

Christmas Trees and Tie Dye

I've been quilting away here this week pretty steadily. I have finished one quilt that just needs binding and am quilting another before I bind them both. Meanwhile, I spent a little time piecing and doing some tie dye with my sweet Grandson, V. Let's start with that.

 Here is a t-shirt for baby B. We watched the video that came with the tie dye kit and I let V pick the ways in which we would tie each of the shirts.

 He wanted a swirl for his shirt and even though I doubted my ability to do this one, with his encouragement, I did just fine.

                                        We did the dots and spots for his mom's t-shirt...

 ...and a scrunchy line down one side of mine. We were almost done when he said we needed to make something for grandaddy. So I found a pair of white socks to use up the last of the dye.

The other reason I wanted to tie dye was to make this:

It is two yards of Kona white, or rather it was Kona white. Now I need to decide what to make with it. It is almost too cool to cut up.  Any suggestions?

Now, about those Christmas trees. Christa, at Christa Quilts is having a Modern Christmas Tees Quilt Along.  And this is my interpretaion of her pattern:

I cut the trees from a Robert Kaufman print from the classic quilts line. I thought they would make very cool modern trees.  I struggled a bit with the background. I knew I wanted it to be pink, but I auditioned a couple and wasn't satisfied. I tried green...nope...red...nope. Had to be pink. But I didn't have a lot of any one pink. So the solution was to make it patchwork. I used one pink around the trees for each row and am now filling in the rest with patchwork.  I have a love/hate relationship with this little quilt top. Some days I hate it and I walk away. The next time I see it, I love it again. Well that's it for today. See you soon.