GIFTS OF LOVE

Here are pictures of quilts I made for members of my family this past Christmas.   Looking back at all these pictures,  I realize how busy I was, quilting like there was no tomorrow!  And ALL of these quilts are made of scraps!  But it was worth it!   You will notice there are no pictures of my three children, Josee, Lyne and Philippe.... They did not receive a quilt for Xmas because they already have lots!    ... and it was just not their turn!  LOL

This is my 9-year-old (almost ten) granddaughter Roxane who likes to doodle hearts on paper in her spare time.   I thought this would be the perfect quilt for her.   I used the "quilt as you go" technique, and it is of my own design and it is twin size.

This is my 9-year-old grandson Samuel, with his double size quilt.   i had made him a twin size, puzzle themed quilt, but his parents upgraded him to a double bed in September, so I made him this star quilt instead.

My seven-year-old grandson (Roxane's brother) is proudly holding his fish themed quilt.   The applique pattern was taken from a colorig book and the rest of the design is mine.  He lives about 30 minutes from the beach and he loves the water, so it was just what he needed to keep warm in the winter:   a quilt to remind him of summer days to come.

Vincent , my other seven-year-old grandson and Samuel's brother is holding his Xmas gift which I call Stars in the Night.   He proudly put it on top of his bed and is using it as a bedspread.  I hung this quilt in a quilt show last spring and had many compliments on it.

Genevieve, my four-year-old granddaughter, is proudly holding up her first grown-up quilt:  Granddaughter's Garden.  She is the youngest of my five grandchildren, although we received good news this Xmas:  my son and his wife are expecting their first child next August.   My sixth!

The next three pictures are of the quilts I gave the grownups:   all scrappy and all twin size.   They are that size because i don't like to make lap size quilts.   I think grownups need a larger quilt to cuddle up in front of the TV.

My son-in-law Eric, Josee's husband with his scrappy plaid quilt.  It was made with a "quilt as you go" method.

My other son-in-law Frederic, who, according to my daughter Lyne, watches TV every night wrapped in his new scrappy plaid quilt!

And last but not least, my daughter-in-law Chantale, the future mother of number 6 grandchild.   Rumor has it that my son is not allowed to touch the quilt:   It is hers and hers alone!  LOL

WELL BEHAVED WOMEN RARELY MAKE QUILTS

Interested in scrap quilts?

A lot of quilters think scrap quilts are too busy or are not organized... a scrappy quilt can be organized!   This quilt for instance,  which I made for my granddaughter, is strictly made of bright fabric.   You will also notice that if the background square is busy, the flower applique is more tone on tone and vice versa.   Note also that the wavy edge softens the black inner border and binding.   The quilt was especially  made for a 4-year-old.   She loves it by the way!

This one is of my own design.  I was watching a Montreal Canadians hockey game last winter and the coach had this tie that caught my attention.   It looked like layered bricks made with squares instead of rectangles.   I thought wow, wouldn't that look great in a quilt.   And then I thought it would look good scrappy but in order to use up as many scraps as possible, the squares will be made up of nine patches.  I sat down and proceeded to draft  the design idea, (missed the rest of the darn hockey game  and in the next few weeks I made this quilt.

Now I just love this one!  I saw the picture of a similar quilt on the internet and decided I could make this quilt in fall colors.   Autumn is my favorite fabric color.  So last May, two of  my girfriends,  Rejeanne and Pauline, and I got together in Rejeanne's garage and we quilted for two days straight.   It was almost like a retreat... I started sewing this quilt all made out of scrappy fall colored 2 1/2" strips and was really inspired to finish it.   (It is queen size)  But then I had to take a break from quilting because I had carpal tunnel surgery and also, my Mom was in the hopital for 6 months during that time.   (She passed away on July 15th).   When I started to quilt again, this was the quilt I worked on until it was done.   I quilted it on my HQ16.

This one is just a good old-fashioned string quilt.   I sewed on a piece of newspaper with scrap strips in assorted widths and colors and then squared up rectangles and sewed them together.   I thought it would use up a lot of scraps from my scrap baskets... I know this will sound crazy but I think the scrap pile did not shrink... in fact I think the scraps multiplied!   I will probably give this quilt to my son for his camping trips.

This is a beautiful quilt isn't it?   Well, I must admit it is not mine.  It is my sister Suzanne's  but I quilted it!  She used fabric from her scrap stash  and it turned out just beautiful.