christmas 2007 retrospective: the making
i'm going to have to separate this retrospective out into a few different categories so i don't overwhelm myself and skip it altogether. for those of you chanting "skip it, skip it!" hoping i'll move on to the more exciting grounds of brooklyn home life usually documented here, my apologies. i've got to get this down before it all becomes a distant blur and i start making things up.
i decided 10 days before christmas that i was going to make quilts for the siblings we were giving to this year (we've got a rotating list of who we give to avoid being overwhelmed, which is helpful because even giving to two out of thefamilies seemed to do a fair amount of overwhelming on me). so i set to work cutting and planning while chip was a champion running to purl several times to pick up materials i was short on. miraculously the quilts were complete and out the door in time to arrive in san francisco and provo the day before christmas.
quilt for bobby and megan:
i cannot see bright yellow and lime green without thinking of bobby and megan's wedding. so i threw a little turquoise and some orange print in there and finally made a coin quilt. i love a mostly-white quilt and i wonder if i'll ever venture away from it's simple nature. this quilt is enormous- about 80"x 90". amazingly, all the fabric used was already in my home at the time of project conception, which i love. the back is the softest vintage sheet pieced with some turquoise and the binding is from my third purchasing trip to purl a year and a half ago. a little scary how specific my purchasing memories are. if i thought about it for a few minutes, i could probably tell you what i was wearing on that day too. i'm hoping the very tall bobby and megan get some good cozying and fort-making use out of this.
quilt for emily and scott:
wow. these pictures are not great. in my frenzy to finish and get the boxes out the door i saved photographing until early morning before the sun rose. not my best idea. but hopefully you get the idea. it's a cool quilt, totally simple and inspired by a scarf i made for mim several christmases ago. the random plethora of quilting sucked up several spools of thread, but the "technique" of no-technique-required makes it kind of fun. no stressing about the lines being strait or even. just quilt away until it looks good. having never worked on any quilt bigger than crib sized, wrangling the 60" by 70" (roughly) beast through the machine over and over was laughable, but successful. the tiny wrinkly puckers created in between some of the quilting lines after washing and drying are my favorite part. (first picture taken pre-washing). off-white cotton for the front, high-quality unbleached muslin for the back, orange, turquoise, lime green, yellow thread for the quilting and dark brown cotton for the binding.
hat for baby veronica:
this aviator cap has been sitting, complete, in my home for over three months. i got pregnant and mostly miserable and never got to finishing the second part of the new baby's gift. i'm a really great aunt that way. so, i finally wrapped it up and sent it along with christmas, completely unphotographed, with the second half promised for january. welcome to the world veronica. thank you, emily, for the picture of the babe sporting her new cap- on top of the quilt no less!
home-made applesauce and granola. both really simple and really yummy.
the rest of christmas was bought from mostly local brooklyn shops (with the exception of a few more gifts to the girls' grandparents that are currently "in the works," yes, i am that person too. shamelessly giving away gifts in march that say "merry christmas!" on the card), which was fun in a completely different way.
next up: christmas 2007 retrospective: the build-up.
Saturday, January 5, 2008 at 12:07PM
Reader Comments (7)
i am just in utter amazement that you made those quilts and had them shipped within a week. they are beautiful. love the baby hat. you always pick out really great fabrics for your projects.
Kate, you are amazing, I love the quilts. Love love love them. And the applesauce granola combo, might have to steal that one next year, and I love the simple jar top and ribbon. As usual you inspire me!
oh, and don't skip a thing! I want to hear/see it all...
I also love the quilts. I dream of making one someday, although I am sure they won't compare to yours. And the applesauce and granola was tasty. I could eat that granola on top of everything and be very happy!
I love the quilting on the second quilt. What a great idea! Those quilts are gorgeous.
I love the quilting on the second quilt. What a great idea! Those quilts are gorgeous.
You are my inspiration. We decided to have a home made Christmas next year. Everyone in our little immediate family can ONLY give gifts that are home made. I think I'll be spending a lot of time this year stealing all of your wonderful ideas. They look great! I'm very jealous of your talent.