Ah, how nice to end the first week of the year with a quilt finish. May I present . . . Bluebirds for Bethany:
Bethany (fourth of my six granddaughters in birth order) is a wife and mother of three little boys age five and under. The boys received quilts made by their great granny (me) when they were babies. I wanted Bethany to have her very own quilt, one that reflects her gentle personality, and I wanted it to be unabashedly feminine. Why? Because she is surrounded by menfolk! Even the family dog is male.
This quilt fits Bethany to a T. I already knew she loved the color scheme and fabrics because she commented on a smaller version I made last year as a baby quilt. I had more than enough pieces left over to construct another quilt. It was meant to be.
On the back of Bethany’s quilt I added a strip of half-square triangles and a very special label:
Here’s a close-up of the label:
I am so delighted with how this quilt turned out. I asked longarm quilter Karlee Sandell of SewInspired2Day to quilt it using the time-honored Baptist Fan motif. It’s a motif one sees frequently on quilts made as far back as the mid-19th century. Those quilts, of course, were quilted by hand. Today’s longarm quilters use digitized versions to great effect.
Notice how the curves of the fans soften the sharp angles of the pineapple blocks? That was one of my reasons for choosing the motif. Karlee did a beautiful quilting job, as usual, with an extraordinarily fast turnaround. (Thank you, Karlee!)
I chose a bright rose fabric for the binding, cutting it on the bias to show the crosshatch design to better advantage:
Stitching the binding to the back of the quilt by hand was hampered to some degree by a certain calico cat who thinks a quilt draped across a lap is a fort to burrow under:
I tried to schedule my binding sessions around Coco’s catnaps. As you can see, I wasn’t always successful.
Once the quilt was bound and labeled it went into the washer and dryer to give it that old-fashioned crinkly look and feel:
Now all I need to do is tie this quilt up with grosgrain ribbon and deliver it!
Finished size (after quilting, trimming, binding, and laundering): 57″ x 58″
Block design: from Karin Hellaby’s book Pineapple Plus
Focus fabric on front: Birdies by Pam Kitty Morning for Lakehouse Dry Goods
Background fabric: Kimberbell Basic White 8210 (white dots on white)
Other fabrics (from my stash): various blenders in blue, aqua, pink, and green
Focus fabric on back: bicycle toss by Gail Cadden for Timeless Treasures, #Gail-C 2794
Oh, Bethany, you VERY lucky girl! I think the bluebird fabric as well as overall color palette of this quilt is so pleasing. And, if that isn’t wonderful enough, the bicycle fabric on the back makes this quilt as reversible as it can be! As for Coco, well, she is certainly not camera shy!
I couldn’t agree more, Diane!!! I simply cannot get over how gorgeous, and generous, and absolutely “me”, and that it’s *mine*!! I’ve never had a quilt made just for me before, and I absolutely LOVE it!!!!! And such a sweet, personal thing to pass on to my daughter as a family heirloom, if/when I have a girl, HaHA!!
Thank you SO MUCH, Dawn!! The beauty and love in every stitch is truly a delight!!! ❤❤❤
You are so welcome, Bethany! I am thrilled that you love it!!
This is such a wonderful quilt! Love everything about it. The Baptist Fan was a great choice.
Peg
You are a sweet Grandma, Dawn…..
Hello Mrs. Dawn, I came across your Star Dahlia post and do want to get the pattern for this block. The quilt from your niece is beautiful and I would like to tackle this project. Did the book suggested and ordered come with this pattern? Thank you and I love your projects.
Hello, Priscilla. I did buy the book “Dahlia Quilts and Projects” by Cheryl Benner and Rachel T Pellman that was published in 1995. Unfortunately, I did not find the directions and hand-drawn illustrations easy to follow. I still want to make this block, though, and at some point will try again. I may try a different approach: making a LeMoyne Star block first and appliqueing the petals and center circle on later. I found a free tutorial online for a similar version posted in 2000 by a quilter named Marcia Hohn on a site called Quilter’s Cache (quilterscache.com). She makes an Ohio Star block using all Half Square Triangles (HSTs) and adds applique petals and center circle later. Here are the links to the two-page tutorial: http://www.quilterscache.com/A/AmishDahliaBlock.html http://www.quilterscache.com/A/AmishDahliaBlock_Page2.html. If you can’t open these links, let me know and I will send them to you in via email. Good luck! Please keep me posted on your progress and I will do the same when I am ready to tackle this again.
Thank you so much, Dawn. I will look into the links you sent and see what I can do. I am not very experienced in quilting, but will keep you posted. Please keep me updated too. Blessings!