Batiks etc.

I saved a copy of this graphic that the Fat Quarter Shop did for its Batik Club, because I loved the colors so much. And remember that batik that I posted the other day? Somebody asked in the comments about what I was going to do with it, and I'm still not completely sure, but it'd go perfect with these kinds of colors, don't you think? So I think I may have a color scheme for another quilt. Not a pattern, yet, but a color scheme. (If you've been paying attention to all these projects I've been talking about the last month or two, you may have noticed that this is not unusual for me. The colors often come before the pattern.)

Batik Storm at Sea

Mom - Batik Storm at Sea, originally uploaded by Mellicious.

Another one of Mom's quilts that I brought home - it goes well with the big batik quilt that I have on the bed, and it's a beautiful piece in its own right, isn't it? You can see my husband's hands holding it up, it's not big at all. Mom kept it on a chest in her bedroom, and it's laying across my couch at the moment.

I need to find out who's running the guild quilt show next year - somebody had suggested that they have an exhibit of my mother's quilts, and if they're interested in doing it, I need to make sure the ones we might want for that stay together, or at least stay where we can get to them! (On the other hand, there's no shortage of her quilts to choose from.)

Batik double star block

batik double star # 2, originally uploaded by Mellicious.

This is one of the blocks that I made for the Friendship Bee, which led to my mom making the quilt two entries down (here). I like this block a lot. I can't remember ever having seen the quilt it would up in, and I'd like to.

The Double Stars story

Mom - batik double stars, originally uploaded by Mellicious.

I brought this quilt home last weekend and I have it on my bed. It's really beautiful - I'll have to get Rob to help me get a decent picture of it.

There was sort of a whole saga behind the making of this. When I was still going to Friendship Bee, maybe 4 years ago, a couple of people requested a block like this*, so I made at least two of them for that. Then after she looked at the ones I was making, Mama got intrigued with the block, and she started making her own. I'm pretty sure she made every one of these blocks herself, she didn't have the bee do it or anything. Then when she got them all done, she started putting them together (without any sashing) and she hated it. It really did look bad - I agreed with her - I think it would be ok with a coordinated color scheme but these randomly-colored blocks just didn't work. But we stumbled across this setting in a book, I think, and it worked great, don't you think? Now mind, I think she had the quilt top completely assembled with no sashing, and she took every bit of it apart and put it back together again. But I think it was worth it.

*I've probably explained this before, but the Friendship Bee does an exchange deal where you make a block for somebody every month, and when it's your turn, you get to specify what block, what colors, etc. So in return for your monthly block, each year you get a set of 12 blocks back in a pattern of your choice. I used two years' worth of Friendship Bee mojo to get the majority of the blocks for my Faceted Amethysts quilt, and Mom's Blue Oregon Trail was done the same way. I finally quit because making the block every month was too much for somebody who quilts one day a week - I mean, I got them done, but it was taking up a large amount of my quilting time every month, and after two years I got tired of that. It was a very good experience, though.