quilt for bro, quilt for Ducky!

I'm almost done with the rag quilt I've been making for my brother. My intention was to have it completed by the time he came to visit, so he could take it home to CO with him. Well, that didn't really happen. Last week I thought I was done, but after it went through the washer and dryer twice it came apart at a few of the seams. YIKES! I was having problems with the bobbin tension on my trusty ol' machine while I was sewing the quilt... guess the problems were bigger than I realized! So now I need to muster up some patience and patch the holes. It was a fun project and I learned that I definitely will not attempt to make a queen or full size rag quilt again any time soon. After 15 hours I stopped keeping track of how long the process took. A fun process... except for this damn hole-patching that I need to get on!

The cats were helpful, of course!

















Completed it looks (and feels) cozy...














Ack! Loose seams = holy mess.
















On a brighter note, my friend Darling Delilahh (craft goddess) gave me some amazing things last week during our crafty girl dinner date... A vintage hinged picnic/craft basket full of fun cross-stitch kits, crochet yarn and misc. craft stuffs! She remembered I'd been wanting a basket and came across this one recently and put it aside for me. As if that wasn't amazing enough on its own, she gifted me with a vintage baby quilt for Ducky... 18 years ago she bought the 1940's completed quilt top and started on a quilt for the child she was expecting. She made the bottom in a coordinating cotton muslin, placed the batting between, traced an amazing heart quilt pattern on the light squares and began quilting away! A few weeks ago she was cleaning out a closet and discovered this partially completed quilt, realizing that the design on the soft pink squares were dressed up duckies and decided to give it to me to complete. Her husband looked at her like she was nuts, he remembered her slaving away at that thing years ago and never finishing it. Now she was going to dump it off on someone else? Of course Darling Delilahh knows me well enough to know that I'd appreciate all the history of the duckie quilt: vintage, updated, worked on with love by her hands and passed on with grace to an aspiring quilter and mom-to-be.

It's a beautiful quilt.
















Look at the fancy boyducks and girlducks!

















Of course, I definitely need to work on it. There are a few stains, some strange holes in the original top and lots of finishing work. But I get to practice hand-quilting! :)