Graduation Quilt for a Baseball Playing Chef

Here is another graduation quilt - this one delivered VERY late! As with the Sunset Quilt made for my sister Nicki, I was given a set of colors to work with prior to beginning this quilt. My nephew Ian requested only bright colors. I asked if it would be okay to use fabrics in which the main colors were the reds, yellows and oranges and he said, "No, I only like the bright colors. I loved the border fabric I used on this one, wild mustangs on a black background.

Personally, I lean towards the cool colors; so this was quite a challenge for me. As you can see, it turned out quite nicely. In addition to using the warm colors that Ian loves, I looked for fabrics that reflected his interests. He used to be very involved in baseball. Prior to a bad accident that nearly blinded him in one eye, he had plans to play professional ball. He is quite the musician, specializing in drums. And - as I was finishing up the quilt, he had gone to chef school. I also included some nature fabrics, to reflect the sensitivity to beauty that I see in him.


Once again, I had fun with the back side of the quilt. You can also see, in this photo, the construction method I use for my projects. I never quilt the whole thing at once, as I find this very uncomfortable. I quilt sections, and then use binding strips to put them together, folding over the binding on the back side of the quilt and tacking it down. I use this same method to attach my borders.

In this closeup of the backside of the quilt you can see two of the great baseball fabrics I found and the stippling I used to do the quilting. Also apparent is the binding strip between the border and the body of the quilt.

Bargello Heart Quilt

This quilt was a present for my oldest son Walt and his then girlfriend Cindy. I told them it was a premarital quilt, as it was a wedding quilt in anticipation of the event. Cindy is on the left, I'm in the center, and of course that is Walt on the right.

I used several new techniques on this quilt. First of all, it was my first bargello quilt. I must say that the construction was a bit daunting! However, I am VERY pleased with the final product.

This was also the first time that I followed the design itself for the quilting process.... and EACH round of the heart was quilted. This resulted in a shrinkage of about 4" in the width of the quilt, so the borders had to be larger than originally planned.

This is the back side of the same quilt. For the past few years, I have been unable to resist using prints on the back side of all my quilts, and especially enjoy either co-ordinating them with the front side, or creating a "surprise".

Walt and Cindy are very fond of Egyptian themes, and were planning on having a honeymoon in Hawaii... so I combined Egyptian and Hawaiian prints on the back side. If someone didn't know why I used that combo, they would probably wonder about my taste in fabrics. But then again, maybe they will anyway!

Cindy is on the left, and that is me on the right... with VERY short hair. My sister Peg had been going through chemo and when she started losing her hair she decided to just shave her head. Though I didn't shave mine down to the skin, I did use the clippers and cut it down to about 1/4 inch. It was a "sympathy" haircut, so she wouldn't feel so self conscious. It was kind of nice really! VERY easy. Nice and cool.

Voila! Walt, his son Jacob, and Cindy ... cuddled under their new bargello heart quilt. Walter is an actor and a playwright. Cindy is an actress, seamstress, and costume designer. Jacob is up and coming!

My granddaughter Alyssa Marie was an infant at the time this quilt was presented to Walt and Cindy. Here she is wearing her shamrock outfit, made especially for St. Patrick's Day by yours truly, of course! She is about 3 months old.

We just couldn't resist taking a pic of her lying on Uncle Walt and Aunt Cindy's new quilt when we realized the center of the heart looked like wings!

Now here is . . . the rest of the story:

Walt called me from Hawaii, while on his honeymoon. He was quite distressed. They had been scuba diving that afternoon.

While in the ocean, he had felt something bump against his leg and panicked - thinking it was a shark. He looked down to see his billfold floating to the bottom of the ocean floor. He had been so excited about going scuba diving that he had forgotten to take it out of his swimsuit. Every time I think about this incident the picture it conjures up in my mind makes me chuckle.

Fortunately, the authorities allowed Walt to get on the plane to come home, even though he didn't have his driver's license. I think he and Cindy just went to the police station and made a statement that the billfold had been lost. Needless to say, this was prior to 9/11.

About 2 months later, Walt got a package in the mail from Hawaii. His billfold was inside, complete with all the cash that had been in it and his credit cards. There had been some wedding checks as well; but they were of course no good. He was amazed that the money was undamaged. and of course pleased that someone had found and returned it.