I did get the slow weekend I hoped for. Saturday was blissful. It rained all day, and we had nothing to do, nowhere to go. I stitched...and stitched...and stitched...
Which is exactly what I wanted to do. Emma's simple quilt is finally done. Her eight year old version of a girl-ish room is starting to take shape. She is very happy.
This quilt, as you might remember, started from this photo. I fell in love with the look of the whole room...the color, the quiet, calm feel. I wanted a feel like that for Emma's room. Her room as it was started feeling a bit young and she was ready for a big change. (And I am always in the mood to redecorate.) I chose the Kaffe Fassett's mauve Guinea Flower from Cia's Palette because the shade (which, although called mauve, feels more lavender to me) seemed perfect and the pattern didn't seem either too overpowering or too pastel. It is pieced with a thrifted green cotton sheet ($1.99) and cream quilter's muslin.
The back is a solid lavender cotton. Simple, calm, soft, and sweet.
I hand quilted this time. Simple stripes stitched vertically across the length of the quilt. I drew a center line with a washable marker, then went out from there, stitching lines every 2" using masking tape as a guide. It was incredibly simple and very relaxing for me. It was stitched up in about a one week time span, sitting down every night for an hour or two while watching TV with Peter, plus maybe an afternoon or two when it was quiet.
I used the leftover green thrifted sheet fabric to bind with quilt, 2" strips fed through my binding tool. I hand finished the binding as I did on Ian's quilt. I just can't deny how beautiful a handsewn binding looks.
Her room is now painted a lovely shade of lavender (background). You know, six months ago I don't know if I could have called any shade of lavender lovely (and yes, we changed our minds from the original green walls idea). Emma can be very persuasive, and as Peter keeps reminding me, it is her room. I'm really liking it, I'm glad I listened. I have other plans for finishing up this space. Her bed is painted white right now (quilt is draped over it above), it will be painted in a soft shade of green, similar to that same inspiration photo. I am going to make new curtains out of thrifted floral sheets. I think the bedside organizer out of the Amy Butler book would be useful, so I set aside some fabric for that. Cork boards, painted then hung up on the wall in front of her desk, maybe some hooks. Still thinking about how to tackle that beanbag project too. I've been keeping an eye out for a used one I can make a new cover for.
I used a leftover piece of Amy Butler fabric and made a pillowcase. I like the girly way it clashes with the quilt. I envision this room as having several patterns. This room is far from done. It's hard to imagine bringing all those toys back in, so I have made a deal with Emma that if she gets rid of some (actually, quite a bit), she can have a refurbished Ipod shuffle (so maybe I can have mine back).
But, today, I am resting on my laurels for a while. All our beds now have handmade quilts on them. I have wanted to say this for a long time. Call me crazy, but I did.
