Blogger’s Quilt Festival

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Welcome to my entry in the blogger’s quilt festival! Those of us who can’t get to Houston can blog about a favorite quilt instead! Then we all go visit each other’s quilts – too much fun – click on the badge abouve for more info!

One of the focuses of this festival is the story behind the quilt, so I thought I’d show you folks the last pair of bed sized quilts I made – 5 years ago! We had just moved across the country, from Newark, OH to Redlands, CA. In fact, I created a little diary about our journey to share with friends and family, and posted it here, feel free to take a look!

The boys new bedroom was the 1st room I decorated – I wanted them to feel excitement about the new home, so we talked about how to decorate it while driving cross country. The idea we hit on was to make it feel like the southwest, since we had a short but fun visit at the Grand Canyon during our cross country trek. Each boy bought a poster of the Grand Canyon and a dream catcher to hang while we were there, and I painted the walls, and made some stencils with Kokopelli and other primitive Native American type figures:

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Although I had sworn off making large quilts, because the free motion quilting I do on them takes so long and is hard to manipulate with my Bernina (lovely though she is), I really wanted to make the perfect quilts for those beds! It was quilte a struggle to design, as I’ve never worked with these types of motifs, but I got it designed, with a row for each boys name. I was lucky enough to have a couple of yards of PFD fabric with little Kokopelli’s on it, which I dyed, along with some other earthy Southwest colors…and here’s the result:

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The boys have used them every night for 5 years and they’re still going strong!Thanks for stopping by!

30 Responses

  1. Oh my…what a wonderful Mommy. I’m not a big western/south western fan…but your heart is showing through in these two and your boys are blessed!

  2. What a great mom you are to include the boys in designing their room and then to create magnificent quilts.

  3. Love the room and love the quilts. Hard to believe they were made that long ago. They look brand new. Thanks for sharing.

  4. What wonderful wonderful quilts- The colors are so southwestern and soothing. I have not tried making a row quilt but I think they would be a fun quilt to make. I am sure that your boys love them.
    You created a beautiful room for them.
    Thanks for sharing and enjoy the show..
    Regards,
    Anna

  5. Wow! How fun! I love the colors and am about to paint my two kids’ room myself, which I have never done and am a bit intimidated! I love them, you must be proud!! Thanks for sharing!

    Alia in sunny Muscat, Oman

  6. Hey those quilts are so fine I bet they look good even when they are mussed up and especially when they have the guys snuggled down under them. I want to look at more of your blog now…really like what I have already seen.

  7. Beautiful quilts! I’m from Santa Fe so I’m very familiar. You did an incredible job and for them to still look so good in five years! Not in my house! 🙂