Laundry Day Smile and answering a reader question

Let'st start with a reader question. Jackie D asked me how much floral fabric I started with in my quilt Mom's Flower Bed quilt. I send an email response to every comment so if you don't hear from me you are a no reply blogger and I have no way to contact you unless you send me your email address.

Jackie, you are a no reply blogger so I'll answer your question in today's post. For this quilt I determined the amount of floral fabric to purchase by measuring the distance between the floral repeats along the selvage edge of the fabric. I needed six diamonds per block so I needed six full repeats of the print along the selvage. If the repeat is every 12 inches then I would need 72" or 2 yards (6 x 12=72) but I would buy a little more just in case and also to have some leftovers for other projects!  All of the pieces were cut quickly from strips of fabric. You can read how I did it here.

Sunday is laundry day for me and my Mom. I was at her house in the late afternoon and saw that her bed had been stripped and the clean sheets and pillowcases were in the laundry basket so being a good daughter I made her bed for her! It feels nice to do something nice for someone and not say anything about it. I figured it would be a pleasant surprise for her when she went to make the bed later in the evening. The next day she asked if it was I that made the bed and she thanked me but......she had just stripped the bed and was going to wash everything! She was surprised but not in the way I thought she would be! I was surprised too!

I periodically like to refold quilts (I fold them on the bias to minimize stress on the fabric and to prevent permanent creases) and I pulled a quilt that hasn't been aired and refolded for a long time. I thought I would share that quilt with you. I made this quilt more than twenty years ago. I hand embroidered, hand appliqued and hand quilted. I do look the love and feel of hand quilting and wish that it wasn't so hard on my fingers! This quilt is not heavily quilted but what there is is good quality!

I saw a picture of an old depression era quilt in a magazine. The quilt was made of of blocks that had kittens in baskets and I thought it was absolutely charming. I drafted a pattern and was off to the races. It is an old-timey kind of quilt! This is my quilt Kittens in Baskets.

I had scraps of old fabrics I had collected and used many of them to make the baskets in which the kittens sat. I also used some modern reproduction fabrics that fit with the theme. The original quilt had black embroidered details on the kittens so I did the same with two strands of black embroidery floss.

And what is on the back of the quilt? A reproduction fabric....naughty little kittens playing with balls of yarn!

Speaking of naughty kittens, here's mine in his basket. Gump is partial to the works of the Group of Seven hence the little print hanging on the wall in his "apartment"!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my Kittens in Baskets quilt and my kitten in his basket!

Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H