More Square Drama for a NICU Cuddle Quilt

 Good Monday morning!  

More Square Drama E2E on a 39 x 42 Baby Quilt

I quilted a new E2E design yesterday on a 39" x 42" outreach top that was pieced by a fellow member of the Charlotte Quilters Guild.  Kind of fun, don't you think?  The digital design is called More Square Drama from Wasatch Quilting and it's dense but not thready because there's no backstitching.  I see marshmallows, or melting ice cubes, or roses, or Flintstone wheels, or fried eggs...  

I love quilting designs that can be chameleons like that, evoking something different each time depending on the fabrics in the quilt top.  This design has a lot of movement and the rows nestle together nicely so it's not glaringly obvious where one row ends and the next begins.

So many different quilting patterns would have worked with this quilt top, anything from flowers to stars to bubbles...  I decided on the More Square Drama pattern because it echoes the multicolor "tumbling squares" print in the quilt top, but it also has an organic quality that appeals to me, similar to free motion quilting.  I think that helps to preserve the sense that this quilt was handmade with love rather than mass-produced, and that felt appropriate for a quilt that will be donated to our local hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  

I used Glide thread in color 50473 Peach.  I'm currently crushing on pastel quilting threads.  They blend into prints just as nicely as neutral shades like beige or gray, without creating a harsh contrast against pale fabrics like the white inner border on this quilt.  You might have expected Peach thread to look weird against the purple backing fabric, but instead you barely notice the thread on the backing at all -- just swirly starry night texture.  I think that little hint of color is what helps the thread to disappear and let the fabrics have center stage.

Glide Thread in Peach Blends Nicely With All the Fabrics

The quilt is still soft and snuggly, even with all that quilting.  My guild's Outreach Committee provides the batting for these quilts and it's a little stiffer than what I normally use for my own quilts or for clients' quilts, so I try to keep that in mind when I'm selecting a quilting design as well.  I wouldn't want to "quilt it to death" and end up with a cuddle quilt that feels like cardboard!

My Husband, the Early Morning Quilt Model

Do you see those big brown slippers and grayish-blue fingers in the photo above?  Those belong to a grouchy but sweet, not-yet-fully-caffeinated husband who was bustled out of the house at 7 AM to hold up this quilt in the frosty cold, while the morning light was just right for taking quilt photos.  Some quilters take beautiful photos of quilts bathed in sunlight indoors, just draped off the front of their long arm frames, but alas -- I wasn't thinking of that when I came up with my floor plan for the studio.  I would have to do some major rearranging in order to make that work.  In the meantime, my big, blond quilt model will be standing on the front steps in his slippers, mumbling from behind the quilt about "Are you done yet?" and "I really want to eat my eggs before they get cold."  Bless his heart.

PSST!!  I'd Love to Quilt for YOU!

By the way, if you or any of your quilty friends has a quilt top or two that needs quilting, I'd be delighted to quilt for you!  My turnaround for edge-to-edge quilting is currently running about 2 weeks, and you can click here to find out how to book your quilt with me.

Tuesday's To-Do List

Can you believe this is the LAST week of 2020?!  What will I do with it?  There are a variety of contenders for my attention this week.  Considering all of the work that went into orchestrating Christmas as well as my son's December 26th birthday, it didn't feel like my "vacation" even started until yesterday.  I probably won't be tackling anything major this week, but I would like to accomplish at least a few of the following:

• Quilt two more NICU donation quilts
• Find backing for a larger Pediatric cuddle quilt
• Quilt my own Disappearing 9-Patch Christmas throw quilt, before I get sick of looking at Christmas fabric(!)
• Piece another block (or two) for Anders' sampler quilt
• Think about which WIP (Works In Progress) quilts I want to focus on finishing in January, and decide which new projects I might want to begin

After the first of the year I have a couple of King and Queen size client quilts coming my way as well as a vintage quilt repair/resurrection.  So this week, I'll be taking it easy.  If I get two or three of those list items crossed off, I'll call it a win. 

I'm linking today's post up with the following linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

WEDNESDAY

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter