Quilt Deliveries

Wednesday was a fun day - three quilts to deliver and lots of catching up with friends and family.

The first two went to a former co-worker, Dannee Neal, who is just nuts about anything Disney.  She has been craving a Mickey Mouse quilt for several years but I just couldn't find the right fabric for her.  This year, things finally came together and the right fabric showed up at a local store - after looking all over the country and the web.

I made two quilts for her - a Minnie Mouse quilt and a Mickey Mouse quilt. 

She had asked for a denim backing on the Mickey Mouse quilt and I used the denim as sashing on the front side.  I like the way the denim frames the blocks and it really wasn't too heavy compared to the other fabrics.  Although I've seen an exhibit of The Quilts of Gee's Bend quilts that included denim in many of the quilts, I wasn't sure about using it as a backing...particularly with a longarm doing the quilting.  It worked like a dream and was great to work with.  The most difficult part was hand sewing the binding on the back.  My fingers are still tender!

For Minnie's quilt, I found a pink Minkee fabric that I thought would be perfect for the backing - and it was!  She loved it.  The Minnie quilt is all flannel so it's quite a cuddly quilt.

With the leftover fabric, I made pillowcases.  After hearing how her daughter likes purple, I think the purple pillowcase with Minnie trim will end up being her daughter's pillowcase.  I'd bet her two sons will glom onto the Mickey pillowcases.  And that leaves a Minnie pillowcase for Dannee!  The only one without a pillowcase is her husband.  Sorry about that - ran out of fabric!

The third quilt I delivered was a 2009 Christmas present for my grandson.  I'm actually getting better at delivering Christmas quilts in a reasonable time frame, believe it or not.  Jeanie (my stepdaughter) got her Christmas quilt for two Christmasses in a row!  I gave it to her partially completed in 2008; fully quilted in 2009 and with the binding completed in July, 2010.  So for Michael to get his 2009 Christmas quilt in July 2010 is actually not too bad.  It's my all time favorite pattern, Double Irish Chain, and Michael's favorite color, green.  What a happy result!

I had a delightful lunch with him and got caught up on what's been happening in his life.  He's getting ready to move to Cincinnati and is excited about the move.  He's also been studying to take the GRE, something I know he'll pass with flying colors.  And then on to grad school at some point in the near future.  My only regret is that I forgot to take a picture of him with his quilt.  Of course, it may be that opening his Christmas present outside in 90 degree heat may have something to do with my forgetting I had the camera with me.  Bad on me!  But it was still a delightful afternoon with Michael.

Cheers!
Margaret