Monday 14 May 2012

Snuggles & Cuddles

This quilt was a commissioned piece for a baby who arrived a few days ago. I made one for her older sister a couple of years ago. (Hmm, my style and my quilting ability have evolved significantly since then!)


I've already seen a photo of the newborn snuggled in her quilt; I do love seeing the quilts I've made in use! One of my best friends sent me a photo of her two children under theirs the other day, too; it made my day!


Snuggles & Cuddles is named for May Gibbs' the gumnut babies featred in the four fabrics in the border (above and below); Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are the two best known, although they don't actually appear in these prints.


For this version of my tree quilt, I adapted the shape of the tree, as well as enlarging it a little, to make it a little more like a eucalypt.


I also changed the leaf shape to match eucalyptus leaves.


The gum blossoms were a bit of an experiment (I blogged about the process here)


As usual, the applique (apart from the blossoms) is done with machine buttonhole stitch. Then I quilt closely around each shape using matching or slightly darker thread; I add the central leaf vein at the same time. For these I used a variety of thicker (mostly 40wt) threads, including King Tut and some generic machine embroidery threads.


For a bit of variety, I quilted the background of the tree in a swirl design. I was really pleased with how well this worked; not only did I manage to keep it even and consistent, but it's not as dense as my usual tree fillers, which will work better for a bassinette quilt.


The border was quilted in a simple meander, as the idea was for it to be barely visible. Both the swirls and the meander use Superior's BottomLine threadtop and bottom.

2 comments:

M-R Charbonneau said...

It's beautiful, Emma! That baby is very lucky!

Barbara said...

Dear Emma
I love the quilt. I have a granddaughter (6) who adores the May Gibbs characters. Could you email me and tell me where you got the fabric? Or its name? Have searched endlessly for it, and want to make her a quillow for Christmas. Thanks
Barbara
barbara.299@bigpond.com