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Tagsmixtape’s quilt
When you’re trying to pick a name for your unborn child, it’s always recommended to suggest a few “out-there” options. Throw people off the scent of your actual top name choices, you know? But did our friends realize that “Mixtape” was going to stick? It did, so this quilt, designed especially for the baby, has been named in its honor.
This quilt was directly inspired by two quilts by friends of mine. Nova put together this starry quilt with different sizes of star, and it opened my eyes to not insisting that all your motifs be the same size in a quilt. Then my friend Diana worked up this Drunkard’s Path quilt (in truth, I made a few of those quarter-circles, as this was her choice in our quilting bee). I combined the two ideas into a quilt with a scattering of circles in different sizes.
I learned a lot about my sewing skills in making this quilt, let me tell you. Getting the quarter circles to come together and create an actual circle required some careful cutting, and in fact working the smallest circles into true circles was a frustrating exercise. I have several rejected “squashed” circles now (I had to redo them, which nearly killed me).
My friends aren’t finding out the sex of the baby, and I think this quilt is fun and gender-neutral. The assortment of fabrics were collected over the years, and the background is Kona in Ash. The backing is a solid piece of gray flannel to be soft against baby’s skin. I pieced the binding out of fabrics that are in the quilt.
I gave the quilt to Jodi, the mom-to-be, at a surprise baby shower that Cynthia, Elizabeth, and I planned (more on that in a separate post). I’m thrilled I was able to capture the moment she read the label, which, while not executed in the most spectacular way, is a special part of the quilt for us. Jodi’s husband, my boyfriend, Jodi, and I all recently read the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and a greeting from Midworld, which is said often in the seven books, seemed to me to be a perfect sentiment on a gift to a new baby: Long days and pleasant nights. I wrote it using a Sharpie (ultra-thin tip!) on a piece of Kona because I did not have time to embroider it, and anyway my embroidery skills aren’t so hot.
The quilting gave me trouble—not what you see here, but what I wanted to do but couldn’t accomplish. Free-motion quilting? Not my bag yet. I need a lot lot lot more practice (I’ve already watched all the videos). So I went with square spirals, and I like the contrast between circles and squares just fine.
I can’t wait to meet little Mixtape, and I hope he or she loves this quilt! Oh and because everyone needs to appreciate the amazing fluke that is my favorite part of the quilt, check out how that mitered corner pulled the circle together in the yellow and purple fabric. Couldn’t have planned that if I’d tried.
16 Responses to mixtape’s quilt
having seen this in person, i can attest to how utterly gorgeous and fantastic this quilt is. you did an amazing job!!!
i expect an even more amazing one for my future possible baby. ;-)
It’s wonderful. Love the scattering of circles in different sizes! Lucky baby Mixtape.
thank you SO much!! it is absolutely gorgeous and already has pride of place on the side of the crib. you are too good to me. xoxo
This is the perfect quilt, in my mind. Great mix of color, a great pattern that showcases the prints of the fabric, and an awesome choice for quilting. It’s beautiful. Bravo.
it’s fantastic. i love that you caught those photos of jodi seeing it for the first time! i adore the colors, of course, and the neat-yet-scattered aspect of the varying circles. :)
Okay first of all, this quilt is AWESOME. It’s such a beautiful design! I have a flannel-backed quilt that my mom made for me (for my 21st birthday I believe) and it’s just about the most comforting thing in the world.
And unrelated to the quilt – would I like the Dark Tower books? I’ve been curious about them for what seems like forever, and I do generally LOVE Stephen King as a writer and literary figure more generally.
This is fabulous! I love love love lots of colors and patterns on a linen-y colored background!
It came out fantastic. The quote from The Dark Tower is just so perfect too.
It is so fantastic! As if the handmade quilt wasn’t personalized enough, you went and added that charming blue circle with a lovely sentiment, which, of course, is awesome. I think it will be a treasured quilt.
What a beautiful quilt! The colors are so cheerful, and your attention to detail is admirable! It is, indeed, a treasure.
this is AWESOME!
i’m at the tail end of finishing up the quilting on a new blanket for my friend’s baby arlo – due in january. this scale is so much fun and (very different from arlo’s) the vibrant color palette! the flannel backing will only get better with love/age, too!
so pretty!
I always do the sharpie label. can’t be bothered with anything else at that point, I’m usually in such a rush to be done!
Fantastic! Such a lovely gift.
Really amazing work, Erin. And LOVE the name of it!
it’s gorgeous!
Wow beyond wow. That label – it put a smile on my heart…..