Friday, January 31, 2014

A's abstract II

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

What a week it's been! Extreme cold, kids home from school and tax deadlines made for a crappy week. But....it's Friday and my tax stuff is DONE. Yippee!!! That totally counts as a finish.

I managed to finish a quilt top, too! My daughter (7) designed this quilt last July and it's been hanging out on the lower quadrant of my design wall ever since. Well, I decided I needed my design wall back, so I sewed it up. There's nothing like a deadline to motivate me to finish some unrelated and unimportant task. (I have a degree in procrastination. ha!)
Sewing it up was not as easy as it looks. I used some non-conventional piecing techniques and there were a few partial seams that had me puzzled. It was a fun challenge, though! I lost a little bit of the wonkiness on some of the pieces, but I did the best that I could without stressing too much.
I REALLY like it! Kids have such an intuitive sense of design. There is a great disregard to matching everything perfectly. It made me cringe a bit to put the dark teal next to the hot pink, but in the grand scheme of things, it works wonderfully. I love that there is just one little pop of orange, too. It's so interesting and I can't stop studying it. I'm glad that I am able to sew up and preserve a little bit of her artwork in this way. She is ecstatic and she's already talking about snuggling up in it. (That makes me so happy!)

It measures 66" x 62".

This is a follow up to her first abstract quilt, which she designed when she was 4. She's already talking about a 3rd quilt. That's my girl. :)

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes (and your finishes only)! I'd appreciate your cooperation in this...and so would the people linking through. Thank you!

Have a great weekend!


62 comments:

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

love your abstract quilt, and YES tax stuff definitely is an accomplishment! That would be harder for me than ANY quilt finish, haha!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

beth said...

Ooh! I love that quilt!

SarahZ said...

I love her quilt top! how special to have it!

Jade said...

That strip of orange is awesome. (Procrastination seems to be a common "degree" in the quilter world... I have one as well.) I love that you let your daughter decide how it would look. I need to try this with mine. She would LOVE it. :)

Erica said...

I love her quilt! She has a great sense of design. Very pretty!

Nicole said...

Your daughter did a great design job! And kudos to you for letting her design it as she saw fit. I struggle with making too many suggestions to my daughter on color and design when we sew together. I can learn from you!

AmandaK@whatthebobbin said...

Yay for the taxes being done! Double yay for a fabulous quilt project with kids. Love. It. Its so random and it works so well. I wish I could be so successful at the randomness.

Jen Crutchfield said...

LOVE your daughter's quilt. I would like to be more attuned to my Sarah's (6yo) wanting to sew, etc. It seems so hard when we have our own deadlines looming (those taxes!) but it's worth it in the long run!

Thanks for sharing your space with the link up, too.

Michelle@factotum-of-arts.com said...

Wow, that is such a cool quilt design. What a great idea, to get the interest and creative juices running.

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I wish I could say the same... taxes next week so I get my son's FAFSA in too. Not looking forward it!

Terry Johnson said...

I love your daughter's quilt. Isn't exciting to be nurturing a future quilter!
Thanks for your blog story today, as I can relate. I must have been in one of your classes while working on your degree in procrastination. I am behind you still working on my degree. Hehehe

Ellie Q said...

Love your daughter's quilt! My almost 5-year-old son has been bitten by the quilting bug as well. Sometimes he picks fabrics and we decide together how wide of strips and where they'll go (sort of an improv log cabin block), and sometimes he designs a block with crayons and paper and then we recreate it in fabric.

Unknown said...

Love your daughter's quilt top. Great design job!

Sara said...

Taxes already done---good for you!! Your daughter's quilt does keep the eye roaming across the quilt wonderfully. And she wants to do a 3rd....really neat!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

I love how uninhibited kids are and how wonderful that makes their creativity! I saw something on facebook about procraftination, pretty much ignoring everything to sew - there's another layer to that though when you start sewing something else other than what you need to be working on! That's why we all have WIPs!

Jehnny said...

That is an amazing design! Your daughter is definitely talented! I think that it is great that you would take the time to let her do that and then to sew it up for her. What a great mom you are!

Lorna McMahon said...

Looks like you have a budding quilt designer in your midst! A little friendly competition? I love her fabric choices. In addition to the abstract design, the solids give it an ultra modern feel. Well done!

Carla said...

Fun Quilt. Great idea. Wish my taxes were done. THAT is a great finish!

Paige said...

Way to go, Daughter! Your quilt top looks fantastic!

Brenda said...

great quilt! and good for you for following through on your daughter's design. does she sew at all?

Christine S said...

I love this! She's going to be a pro for sure at quilt design! She has a good teacher as well!

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

Funny how good they are isn't it? My kid will pick out fabrics and I'll find myself rattling off some color "rule" or some reason she should pick something else. She usually rolls her eyes and says I dont care thats what I want. When she's all done, it turns out she was always right and my stupid rule should be damned! :)

Diana @ Red Delicious Life said...

Such a great quilt! I'm hoping one day my son would be willing to play on my design wall and help to design his own quilt. So fun!

Fran said...

What a fantastic mum you are, putting that together! It really looks great.

Linda said...

Love A's quilt! :)
A sweet quilt for a sweet girl!

Jayne said...

What a fun abstract design! Great job!

Anne said...

I love this!

Live a Colorful Life said...

I ADORE A's design skills. What a fun project to work on. I really like her style.

Angie in SoCal said...

Another darling quilt. Little "A" takes after her mom.

Kris said...

Your daughter did great. Wow! I love it...and the hot pink and teal. :)
How wonderful for you to encourage her like that.

Unknown said...

Love your daughters quilt Amanda! She did a fabulous job! Definitely right about kids they amazing creativity! As always, thank you for the linky party!

Tennjenny said...

PLEASE don't think this is rude, but that has got to be in the top ten of my favorite things you've made. Honestly, I like it better than most of the quilts in my Pinterest. Which reminds me, excuse me while I go Pin this sucker. Love it!!

Nancy said...

What a great job both of you did on this quilt.
It sure is a special one.

Maja said...

I love that quilttop your doughter designed!
And I love that you made the top for her!
I was so in to my own designs when my doughter was younger and designed hers, but I have started to sew hers now and it´s a great feeling to do that!

Renee said...

That is a great collaboration, and I think you did a great job of keeping her vision together. My son is 4 and would probably love it if I gave him a bag of scraps and a corner of my design wall to use--what a great idea, thanks!

Stacy Olson said...

High 5 to your daughter! What a precious thing to let her imagination and creativity shine and that you are able to preserve it for her in a very cool way. Something she can cherish forever.

Sarah said...

I am obsessed with this quilt!! Any chance you'd be willing to do a simple how-to for this? I really want to try it, maybe wall quilt size, for my daughters, but words like "unconventional piecing" and "partial seams" terrify me. I'd love even some tips for getting started!

sonia said...

Amazing pattern! Love her colour choice and your bravery to tackle such a difficult project. Congratulations!

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

I love the idea of a child's abstract quilt. I think my little ones would love it if I gave them a bunch of fabric for them to lay out - might try a doll's quilt first though!

liz said...

I love both of the quilt designs your dd came up with! Soooo cool!

S Staum said...

I am so impressed!! Like mother, like daughter!!

MariQuilts said...

The quilt is amazing....I just told my daughter the other day, that we need to think like a child if we are afraid of improv, because they are fearless. It's certainly true in your daughter's case.

Di~ said...

You are such a good mom, seriously! Two finishes for today, you go.

Tamie said...

Congratulations on your daughters design and your execution! Love it.

Suzanne said...

Truly A has an intuitive sense of design. You are so good to make up the quilt top as she laid it out. Multigenerational talent, I tell you! I too have that procrastination degree. I am actually working toward finishes in my own way and boy, does it feel good?! I'm embarrassed to say my 36 patch is on that list but it WILL get finished this year. Maybe even this quarter.

Cheryl Arkison said...

She is so awesome.

Kristal said...

Your girl has an awesome sense of color and design. I really do love how her quilts turn out. I can't wait to see what her 3rd one will look like!

Anonymous said...

I love this quilt! The apple did not fall far from the tree. Nice job to both of you!

Anonymous said...

I really love the abstract quilt! The pop of orange and strip of red next to it really does balance the quilt somehow. :)

An aside -- how do you keep the fabric on your design wall? Is the wall felt?

Thanks!
Jess

Helen in the UK said...

Love your daughter's quilt design - she's a natural talent :)

margaret said...

I cab see your daughter has inherited your creative talents, lovely quilt

charlotte said...

I have to say, that's a great little quilt. Kids are so much freer artistically. I wish I still had some of that in me. Can't wait to see it quilted up.

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

What a little artist!! I Love it - You and I share the same degree... *sigh* My oldest was telling us all about what he learned from us as parents... from me - he said he learned how to procrastinate.... oh boy ..

janequiltsslowly said...

Can I borrow your daughter to design a quilt for me! I think she has a great design sense and a great mom for putting it together for her.

pandchintz said...

Love this quilt! How clever is Miss 7?!?! (Oh, and clever mum for sewing it up!)

Lea said...

Your daughter did a great job designing, how fun that you helped make her dream come to life.

Anonymous said...

This time, unrelated, but not unimportant. How wonderful that she is designing so early!

Cloud CouCou said...

Your daughter did a great job! mine would love to do something like this...nice idea :)

JP Herman said...

That is a gorgeous quilt! You're right about kids being intuitive about design... It's like beauty just naturally flows through them and they don't waste energy with second guessing themselves or doubt.
Wonderful.

Catrin Lewis said...

What a great idea! I'm not ready to let my daughter loose on my machine yet (she's five) but a design wall, my scraps and me piecing sounds like a great way for us to start quilting together - thanks Amanda x

Catrin Lewis said...

Oh, nearly forgot - your daughter sure has a great eye!

lindaroo said...

What a treasure of collaboration and love! It's really a fascinatingly beautiful quilt.