ANN TILLEY HANDMADE

Added a new quilt to my portfolio! This quilt got delivered to my cousin at our family reunion in July, I'm just getting around to editing the photos. I've learned to not let go of things you make until you have properly documented, because you never know if you'll ever get the chance again. And if you don't document then you run the risk of completely forgetting about it (done that before!)

Obviously, I didn't get around to binding this baby until the car ride to our Tennessee reunion, so photographing had to be done somewhere there. Then I forgot my camera (yes, this is one of those times your iPhone does not count as a real camera) but, being that I have about 500 cousins, Kate hooked me up with a sufficient substitute. So, I showed Elizabeth her quilt the first night but didn't actually hand if off till half a week later ("So I can't have it yet?")

The inspiration for the quilt's color and fabric choices came from this wonderful little fabric swatch, that came out of a booklet I found in an old tobacco barn in Liberty, NC. This gave me great direction for making decisions. Elizabeth is a country girl and loves natural greens and browns. I thought this color story would honor that taste but bring in something new with the turmeric yellows and icy teals.

 The backing fabric has a little sheen to it because it's a polyester blend that was originally an unused top sheet. I have the most trouble trying to find decent extra-wide backing fabric. It's either white or some hideous pattern. Can't we do a nice deep brown, y'all? Brown and white seem to be my most frequently used colors for backing, and sometimes that extra-wide white fabric will be full of all sorts of flaws (DON'T get me started on cheap imported goods). Are there any domestic fabric manufacturers anymore??

Note to self: look into this.

I think the sheet will work alright as a backing except it had some stretch that was a little weird when mounting it on the long-arm machine. And Kelley thinks there might be potential for bearding but only time will tell. Has anyone else found alternatives for backing fabrics?

Half-square triangles and leftover stars from a previous project filled in the space around the t-shirts. I did much more all over quilting on this one because I haven't been happy with how t-shirts will puff up when you quilt all around them and not on them. Much happier with this result.

This is the mirror image of the backing so you can see how I labelled the quilt. Each corner has writing in it. Her first name in one, last name in the next one with her home town, the year, and this.

Fave cuz 4 LIFE!