Popsicle Toes

What do you give a friend who has everything? I suppose I need to explain a little here. This friend does not live excessively, but she has been able to streamline what comes into her house and what is taking up precious space. Organizing and purging are as innate to her as breathing. After 7 babies you become somewhat of an expert. Shall I rephrase the question? What do you give a friend that is well equipped with toys, crayons, clothes, books. . .? Why not another quilt? Although this friend is also a quilter, admittedly, she does not have the time, energy, or space to create right now. I thought these cheery colors would brighten up her day.

I found this pattern on Moda Fabrics called "Mind the Gap". I love the illusion of the strips overlapping each other. Cutting the strips was a bit tedious, but putting it all together went quite smoothly. I debated over several days how I was going to quilt this one. I like the crisp lines in the pattern, but I thought that if I quilted vertical or horizontal lines, they would somehow get lost or look off. I decided to quilt horizontal stripes with free form quilting in between. In the end, I am very happy with how it turned out.

I'm not sure if using a white background fabric was wise in a houseful of sticky fingers. Oh well, the colors pop and that's what I like.

Popsicle Toes quilt

Popsicle Toes backing

Rubber gloves

Why haven't any other quilters told me about the wonders of rubber gloves?

When I quilt, typically my forearms and shoulders get all tense and sore from directing the fabric. One evening I got thinking, if rubber gloves are useful for putting on my compression stockings, would they not also be useful for quilting. Voila! Rubber gloves have opened up my world of quilting. Who knew? They provide great traction and are oh so stylish. I casually mentioned the idea to a colleague and she told me that some company actually makes gloves for quilting. Crazy, right? Anyway, I feel like an enlightened quilter now. In fact, I was so inspired that I finished 2 quilts in one week.

This quilt is my first attempt at a "modern quilt" design. I'm not quite sure what that means exactly, but it seems to be a move away from the traditional block quilting and patterns. I have noticed the increased use of negative space, solids instead of prints, asymmetry, and random piecing of fabrics. What I love about modern quilting is having the freedom to piece together fabric for the backing. I think it creates a new dimension for a quilt. Quilting all the "straight" lines as opposed to my typical free motion quilting was challenging, however the rubber gloves made the job a whole lot easier. Next task is to find a suitable recipient for this quilt.

Posted from Paris

Posted from Paris quilt backing