brynn's quilt

In my post last week I mentioned I was going to bind and label the Christmas gift quilts.  Guess what?  I did that yesterday.

But it's done and now I can share one of them - the one I'm fairly confident won't be seen before it is gifted today...Brynn's quilt.

It all started out MONTHS ago, in February, when Canuck Quilter announced she would be hosting a mystery quilt along.  (The mystery is no longer available, but you can buy the pattern - knowing what it is - in her shop here.)

I went out shopping for girly colors, planning to give this to the great niece I inherited when my nephew got married last December.  I just needed two colors that contrasted, but Brynn is a girly girl (she's just 2, but still), so I wanted to honor that.

I really like the lighter fabric and would have liked to use purple, but wasn't able to find anything I really liked at the store and wasn't going to drive all over to multiple stores for something I wasn't even sure I'd like!  (I have issues with mystery quilts, but was willing to take a risk for a bloggy friend here.)

The clues seemed to dribble out, but since I'd opted for the smallest size option, I didn't have many units to complete each week.

Unlike some quilters, I wasn't trying to figure out how these went together until the very end.  Perhaps my trimming monster was keeping me occupied elsewhere?

But then the instructions for construction arrived and all was well!

The block construction is done in a manner that allows nesting of seams and that was super nice not to have to go re-iron and flip seams to make things go together better.

Then the top went together quickly, though I had waited to cut my border fabrics until later, so that did set me back a little...

I also remember the borders taking a little more head-scratching than I'm used to, but you'll see they aren't just regular plain borders either.  Once I stepped back, though, I'm pretty sure I got them right here...

Back to the store for a back.  Why I didn't purchase one at the time is beyond me, but whatever.

This doesn't exactly match the pink of the front, but it's okay.  It was honestly the best of my choices and I do like it.

Lots of procrastination and a new job later, I put it on the longarm just a few weeks ago.

Done as the third in a marathon of quilting, it went fairly quickly compared to the other two, larger, quilts done that day.  But it was a relief to finally get this last one off the machine and go sit down for a little while!

I had made the binding when I was working on the top - a trick someone taught me along the way and it is rather nice when I've had a quilt sitting around for a while to not have to go find fabric that may have gotten used up otherwise that I now need - and so I got that sewn on the following day.

It sat a bit...and then I sewed the binding down yesterday.  And made a label and sewed that on too!

And then took advantage of the sunshine to do an outdoor photo shoot - complete with shadows from my naked trees!

(well, that looks fabulously blurry for no apparent reason...it looks fine on my phone...oh well, the one of just the top above looks nearly the same (minus binding) and it's in focus and I just quilted swirls, so nothing to worry over)

Quilt stats:

Pattern: Half and Half

Designer: Canuck Quilter

Size: 36"x48"

Pieced and quilted by me!

Today is Christmas for this side of the family, so she'll get her quilt in just a few short hours.  I'm pretty sure it won't be the highlight of her holiday, but if she snuggles under it tonight, I'll be happy enough.

I'll also be giving away the Ho Ho Ho quilt and I cannot wait.  I expect at least one of the boys (her brothers) to laugh so hard they give themselves hiccups.  It's a family problem.

This week has also been a good one for reading - two finished books to share!

Written by a Turkish author and set in Turkey (originally published in Turkish), this is the story of three people struggling with their lives.  A young girl is raped by  her uncle and, according to their very rural customs, she is sentenced to death for her behavior.  A young man, a soldier just returned home from active duty, who is also her cousin (son of the offending uncle) is tasked with taking her "to Istanbul" to perform an honor killing that will rid her family of their shame.  He does indeed take her to Istanbul and I don't think I'm spoiling much by saying he doesn't kill her, but the story doesn't take that turn in the direction I expected.

The third character is a middle-aged professor who seems to be going through a mid-life crisis, as he abandons his plush life, rents/buys a sailboat and runs away from his life.

As you may have guessed, their paths eventually intersect and, again, things do not go as I might have expected, but it keeps the story interesting.  It's not always (or often) a happy story, but it feels honest and I liked that.

The book ends without that final wrap-up ending some give you, but since that's how life goes, it felt right.

I said last week that it was one I'm not sure how it ended up in my stash, but as with the others, I'm glad it did.  I learned about a culture that I didn't even know existed in Turkey and am maybe a better person for it?

On to book two - a lighter and quicker read:

Don't go getting all bent out of shape - this isn't a naughty book in the least.  I mean, there is the one chapter where he goes to a nudist colony, but by the time you get to that chapter (each chapter is a short story), you realize this guy is out for humor and not so keen on actual facts.

Each story is based on his life, though he takes to embellishing them so much that you aren't sure where the real stops and the imagination begins.  Since some ideas are repeated in future stories, you do get a sense that some of these things (like he has a sister) are real, but you also instinctively know that some are not.

It was entertaining and I even giggled out loud a few times at things.  A quick read and I enjoyed it.

Time to go get mentally prepared for the holiday crazy happening later today!  (Thank goodness I wrapped all the presents yesterday - no sense doing it early as the Goblin will unwrap them all in no time...)

Happy quilting!

Katie