Monday, May 10, 2010

far far away

My baby girl is turning three next week and outside of wanting to cry all the time over this fact, I have been trying to prepare for the big day. I had been planning on replacing her  first far far away quilt that I ended up donating to quilts for kids last year (she hadn't used it yet, and I really wanted to send as many quilts as possible) but just haven't gotten around to it. 


Her birthday was the extra encouragement I needed to get it done. This time around I did something completely different and I am loving the outcome. Now, although I resisted the temptation of putting a dresden plate on the front.....I could not resist the back!!


I think this may very well  be my favorite dresden thus far!



I completely blame my dresden addiction on Aneela...her blog was one of my first to read and where I first saw a dresden plate done in modern fabrics, I have been hooked ever since.

I have to confess something to you now (my head hung in shame) I don't label any of my quilts! I know, I know, I have been lectured more times than I can remember on this fact and I agree with all the reasons to label. Sadly for me, I have a bit of an eye distraction problem. I have tried several times to label a quilt, but end up pulling it off because it distracts my eye from the pattern of the quilt....which then drives me crazy. Outside of that, I am not good at making them. I CANNOT handle seeing my own handwriting on the label (even though I know this enhances the sentiment) and I am not a very skilled embroiderer. So I just skip it and I am fine with it. Until this quilt, I think because it is a birthday gift for Izzy I felt more pressure to label it......so I finally buckled down and made my first label! I hate it.....I think it totally takes away from the simplistic beauty of the quilt back and is a total distraction from the dresden plate. As much as I wanted to rip it off (i quilted over it on purpose to make it too hard to do) I like the fact that it tells her that I love her and when it was made. When she is my age and has a daughter of her own, she will be able to tell the story of this quilt and know exactly which birthday I made it for her. So even though I cringe every time I look at it, it stays.


I quilted it with a variegated thread and just adore the way it looks on the white sashing...I couldn't resist showing a picture of it.


15 comments:

  1. Eeeee.... I love this a lot a lot a lot!

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  2. so pretty! what a great gift. Sorry you don't like your label, but it'll be a great heirloom!

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  3. I like the label it makes it MUCH more personalized. I love the little crown on top.

    Have you thought about making a narrow and long label and placing it near/along the binding to the side. It may be less obtrusive?

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  4. It is completely awesome! as all of your quilts are! and the label is perfect - you may hate it now but you'll both appreciate it even more as the years pass. wait...where's the phone number in case it's lost!? ha!!

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  5. this is so fantastic! The pattern fits the fabric so well. Beautiful!!!

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  6. it's beautiful, what a lovely gift!

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  7. your quilting looks just perfect!!! such a beautiful birthday quilt

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  8. I completely understand why you don't like it, I do the same thing... but I do it anyway. I figure it's like hearing your voice on someone's answering machine... I HATE my voice! ;) But it's me, so what am I gonna do! I think it is a fabulous quilt.

    I have to say as a daughter, I LOVE to see my mom's handwriting, it makes me feel like I'm home and I'm sure that's how Izzy will feel too. Beautiful job on the quilt!

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  9. I love both the front and the awesome dresden plate back! With only 3 boys I'll have to hunt for a little girl to make something sweet like this.

    The label is great - and I laughed that you quilted over it to keep from ripping it off!

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  10. Beautiful, beautiful quilt Izzy, fabulous pattern, did you make it up? I adore your dresden, so gorgeous. I also am very slack at labels. If I have to handwrite them I find a lovely font on the computer, type up what I want to say, print it off, then put it behind the fabric on a lightbox and trace over the writing. Easy! Just need to do it more often. Your handwriting is lovely by the way xo

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  11. What a beautiful quilt! I love the front, the back, the quilting, the label... it's fabulous!

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  12. So amazing!!! Love love love it!
    The dresden is just heavenly.
    I never label my quilts either but for the sampler quilts I made my daughters last year I machine embroidered their names into the reverse of the binding - in white on pink so you can see it if you look close but not really otherwise. Love your label, lucky Izzy!!

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  13. what a wonderful quilt, Chris! I love the princesses on the mattresses framed in those solids... and all those fussy cut unicorns - so fabulous! And that dresden on the back is awesome - you do them so well!! I know Izzy will treasure this one!

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  14. This is one of the best uses of FFQ that I have seen! Very pretty!

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  15. This is such a beautiful quilt! I think the label looks great, especially the way it fits into the diamond formed by the quilting!

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