Flower Power and Friends United
Long time visitors of this blog might recall that I mentioned about my knitterly colleagues. There is Terry, the turbo-hands, who churned out something like a dozen Ruffled Scarves from Scarf Style and at least half a dozen Clapotis in the Winter of 04/05. Then there is 'Shrek' who helped me grab a bag of All Seasons Cotton when he visited the mecca of Rowan yarns, Liberty, a couple of years back. He's an occasional knitter himself and made this scarf for his girlfriend who is also my colleague and good friend. And the couple are also the photographers behind some of my FO photos like the Ab Fab, Spring Bag and Ribbed Wrap Top.
Two months ago, Shrek and his Princess Fiona finally tied the knot and set up their own home. I decided to get my act together and finish the Floral Quilt as a TV lapghan for them. I haven't posted about the completed quilt as I'd wanted to give it to them first which I did just before Christmas. See the extra pair of feet there? CY wanted to be included in the photo too and wouldn't budge despite my yelling.
The quilt back is made up of different blue floral fabrics and a main pale-blue-pin-dots-on-white fabric. The batting is polar fleece bought locally at Kam Wah, the notions store at Jordan. And I bound the quilt using the 'quick' method as laid out in the Modern Quilt book with the aid of a bias tape maker. This is the second time I used it, I practised this binding technique on another blanket earlier on (see below).
The Purl Bee has a step-by-step tutorial on how to do the binding.
When I look at this quilt, it brings back many fond memories; how I began sewing it, how the fabrics came together. It didn't start with a grand plan with all the fabrics bought, laid out and cut. There was no design wall to speak of. The quilt evolved over many months, with experimenting, sewing a bit and then ripping a little bit more. Some of the fabrics were impulse purchases on ebay, and some received from my pals like Joy and Eva and from friends living in different parts of the world. I'm happy that it is now completed and in the home of my good friends who appreciate craft work.
Herebelow is the blanket that I practised the binding on. It is just a piece of cashmere blend fabric I picked from a bin in Shamshuipo and I bound it using an Amy Butler fabric. It is now permanently in the car as it is just the right size for covering up the kids when they doze off on the road trips.
