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Friday, November 11, 2011

Gorgeous Yellow and Gray Quilt from Molly Flanders


I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Molly Flanders!  Oh my goodness is she talented!  It's the same way I feel about Jennifer Aniston, if we were to meet in real life I'm confident we'd be best friends :)  Check out her Lark Quilt that she's currently hand quilting.  Close your mouth.  And her Stashbuster Quilt?  Do you see those tiny yo-yo's?  Okay so before you spend forever on her blog admiring all the goodness, check out this amazing quilt she made for a friends new baby.

If you recall, over the past couple of months I have had several super secret projects I have been working on.  One of which, is completed and received {just in time} for someone very special.

This project was inspired by a mini-quilt from Purlbee.

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purlbee
The design is courthouse steps....a log cabin variation.  I was already familiar with this arrangement.....this one I made several years ago and is in my family room....


    But the new quilt was destined for Lora and her new baby.  Lora was one of my very first students at Sew To Speak....
We love Lora...seriously....everyone at the shoppe LOVES Lora!!!  So Lora expecting her first baby was definitely something to celebrate :)

Because they were keeping the gender a mystery until the big day...I knew I had to do something gender neutral.  But we all spied on Lora as she selected fabric for her nursery so we knew her colors and even the fabric she was choosing....aren't we sneaky???

  
I knew yellow had to be a central color and then I simply added several off white fabrics....mainly because I wanted to incorporate this lovely Nani Iro {Colorful Pocho} print.

My center rectangle is 1 1/2" X 2 1/2" and the logs {or steps}  are 1 1/2 inches wide....

In the Purl mini-quilt, I really loved the very thin strip of dark.  I placed these strips randomly in each of my courthouse blocks....

  
I had to hand quilt this one....Lora knows how much I love hand quilting with perle cotton.  And as cheesy as it sounds, when I hand quilt it gives me time to ponder the quilt and the special person that will be receiving this quilt.  Almost as if every stitch is laid with love and blessings for the recipient.

  
  
I used dark grey perle cotton....stitching randomly around the steps on each block....

  
The quilt was bound with the same sweet red gingham as the center.....


And then an embroidered label for the new baby....

    

End of story??? No!  I am pleased to announce that Lora had a beautiful baby boy about one week ago!  Congratulations Lora and tons of love to baby Harrison :)



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20 comments:

Susan said...

I love Mary's work too! And she is a great girl too!

Anonymous said...

Lovely hand quilting on this and congrats to Lora!! Very sweet quilt for a sweet baby boy!

Teje Karjalainen said...

Congratulations to the baby boy!Oooh that quilt is just amazing! I love the pattern, colours and the quilting is perfect!
xxx Teje

trish said...

I love *everything* Mary does! :o)
A great big congratulations to Lora as she is welcoming her baby boy into the world. :o) Such precious times.

Mary Menzer said...

Very lovely quilt. I love the soft color combos with just a splash of bright red.

randi--i have to say said...

mary is a talented gal, for sure! i love her mini quilt project!

Kelsey said...

beautiful! love the red and the hand stitching :) And congrats to Lora!

Live a Colorful Life said...

such a sweet quilt and story. Thanks for featuring Mary. And congrats to Lora on her new baby.

Selfsewn said...

Not only is Mary greatly talented she is the loveliest person I know!!

Rachaeldaisy said...

Mary is as lovely and sunny as this quilt and constantly amazes us and makes us smile with her beautiful quilts and sweet sewing things.

Vicki {Quilting Lodge} said...

What a wonderful quilt. I love the hand quilting. That's something I've never tried but this quilt makes me want to give it a try.

Vicki @ Quilting Lodge

MariQuilts said...

Beautiful quilt...so sunny and fresh.

Kristine said...

That's a beautiful quilt. Lora is a very lucky new mum to receive that.

Jules said...

i adore this quilt! thanks for sharing.

Kristie said...

so pretty! Love the touch of red.

Kathy said...

A beautiful, beautiful quilt :)

Mary said...

Thank you so much! And thank you Heather and Megan for allowing me to tell my Quilt Story!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I'm another that loves everything that Mary does and enjoys her blog so much! Thanks for bringing her to Quilt Story too.

**nicke... said...

mary is my fave. i am getting excited for my turn on quiltstory! ;)

Nancy said...

The yellow and grey/tan courthouse steps is gorgeous! Lucky baby. I like hand quilting for the same reason you do -- it gives me time to ponder the quilt and the recipient.