Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wednesday Wrap-up.....The Courthouse Steps Quilt....

If you recall, over the past couple of months I have had several super secret projects I have been working on.  One of which, is completed and received {just in time} for someone very special.

This project was inspired by a mini-quilt from Purlbee.

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purlbee
The design is courthouse steps....a log cabin variation.  I was already familiar with this arrangement.....this one I made several years ago and is in my family room....


    But the new quilt was destined for Lora and her new baby.  Lora was one of my very first students at Sew To Speak....
We love Lora...seriously....everyone at the shoppe LOVES Lora!!!  So Lora expecting her first baby was definitely something to celebrate :)

Because they were keeping the gender a mystery until the big day...I knew I had to do something gender neutral.  But we all spied on Lora as she selected fabric for her nursery so we knew her colors and even the fabric she was choosing....aren't we sneaky???

  
I knew yellow had to be a central color and then I simply added several off white fabrics....mainly because I wanted to incorporate this lovely Nani Iro {Colorful Pocho} print.

My center rectangle is 1 1/2" X 2 1/2" and the logs {or steps}  are 1 1/2 inches wide....

In the Purl mini-quilt, I really loved the very thin strip of dark.  I placed these strips randomly in each of my courthouse blocks....

  
I had to hand quilt this one....Lora knows how much I love hand quilting with perle cotton.  And as cheesy as it sounds, when I hand quilt it gives me time to ponder the quilt and the special person that will be receiving this quilt.  Almost as if every stitch is laid with love and blessings for the recipient.

  
  
I used dark grey perle cotton....stitching randomly around the steps on each block....

  
The quilt was bound with the same sweet red gingham as the center.....


And then an embroidered label for the new baby....

    

End of story??? No!  I am pleased to announce that Lora had a beautiful baby boy about one week ago!  Congratulations Lora and tons of love to baby Harrison :)


Happy Wednesday!
mary

27 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful sunny quilt - perfect for a new baby!

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  2. What a lovely quilt Mary! How sneaky of you peeking on her fabric choices! Sneaky...but good idea :) It turned out great!! What a sweet name too, Harrison. Congrats to her!

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  3. Mary~
    It's lovely. Baby will sleep well under this love gift!

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  4. Love courthouse blocks! Love the quilting on this beautiful quilt!

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  5. Mary, it's WONDERFUL! I love the gray quilting. Was wondering if there's a lot of bulk where the thin strips are and if that caused you any difficulty. I made a little mug rug using this idea and thought a whole quilt might give me headaches.

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  6. this is a great quilt. i truly love it. the colors and prints you used, the binding, the hand-stitching...all of it is perfect!

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  7. Gorgeous quilt - I love the hand quilting and the dark strip in the blocks, perfect!

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  8. This is SO lovely Mary!!! I love this little window into your process. SO fun to see your genius at work! :) I know this new baby will absolutely love this quilt made with lots of love. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

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  9. Seeing this quilt just made my day! It is so happy and cheerful. Baby Harrison is a lucky baby! I am sure it will be cherished for years to come.

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  10. i bet she cried when you gave it to her! you are such a sweet friend mary!

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  11. Absolutely beautiful! Love it all! I must try hand quilting (after Christmas!!)

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  12. Such a beautiful quilt! I love the skinny darker bits, and the grey quilting thread. Love.

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  13. It's not just a quilt it's a work of art! xx

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  14. This is a beautiful quilt! Lora and Harrison will love it, I'm sure. Such a lucky baby!!!

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  15. so beautiful, one very lucky baby!!

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  16. Beautiful quilt. And always fun to read your thought process. I totally agree with the benefit of hand quilting and the time you can lovingly think about the recipient.

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  17. Harrison has one of the worlds most beautiful quilts. I totally agree about hand quilting!!

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  18. Harrison will sleep peacefully under that treasure this winter! And it will indeed become a family heirloom! Beautiful Mary!

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  19. I love this quilt , the colours & handstitching are perfect . LOVE courthouse steps !!!

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  20. What a sweet baby quilt! I have that purl bee mini quilt on my to do list too : ) Your quilts are always a treat.

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  21. What a lovely quilt to start my morning, so wonderful for a baby quilt. Congratulations to the Mum and you'll be sure to get lots of baby cuddles in.
    All your quilts are my favourites but this is top of my current list of them.

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  22. I think my mouth fell open as I was reading this post. That quilt is GORGEOUS!!!

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  23. What a stunning and yet sweet quilt! I love it and I am sure she will too. I can just imagine it wrapping up a brand new baby - perfect.

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  24. It's wonderful, so so pretty.

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  25. This is one of my most favorite quilts, ever!
    Love the bits of black in there, and the hand quilting.
    Would love to try something like this, myself....

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