A quilt for May

I have just finished this lap quilt for my Mother-in-law May.  After her stroke before Christmas, she has made a remarkable recovery and is home being cared for full time by her husband of over fifty years.  He is an inspiration as their lives are altered beyond comparison.
May spends most of her day sitting in their back room which can be quite cold.  I made this quilt for her to put over her knees.  It is a two-sided quilt - one that is bright and cheerful - the fabrics begged to be made how it has turned out - I had no plan - it just happened, while I made the other side more mellow and muted, so she can decide whether she needs cheering or soothing.
I have made a number of quilts recently for babies, so it was fun to make one for a person of more mature years.  It is soft and snuggly and hopefully will keep her warm.
I gave this quilt to May last weekend and she looked thrilled to receive it.  Communicating is not easy for her, but there were many smiles - Alan, her husband told us that she had rarely smiled during the previous week.  I machine pieced the front and back and hand quilted it using an embroidery cotton.  I love this range of fabrics and two other projects designed using them.

21st birthday quilt

My niece Caitlin has just turned 21.  I had wanted to make a quilt for her birthday, so I asked her sister, her mother and all of my children "if I made a quilt for Caiti, what colours should I use and what sort of design should I do?"  Each time I had the same response "she will like whatever you make for her".  This was singularly unhelpful, but undaunted, I took Susannah with me to shop for fabric.
This was a year ago - I thought I would give myself plenty of time to get it made.  We went to one of my favourite shops Prints Charming in Annandale armed with a  Kaffe Fassett book containing a quilt design that looked effective and reasonably easy.
We had a fun time choosing fabric - we bought just enough for the quilt I had selected and it sat looking beautiful in plastic wrapping.  A year ago I was not at all well and the idea of starting this project was a little overwhelming, so it sat until the beginning of this year.
In January, I took time off work, thinking that Keith would have finished writing about Ricky and we could go away, but his deadline was moved, due to other events that happened in our family, so I had time to fill, and I constructed this quilt!
The fabric that Prints Charming use is beautiful to sew - it is soft - I am not really sure what else to say about it, except it is a dream to work with.  There have been times over the last few weeks when I have had to quickly hide this project, as Caiti often visits.  I finally completed quilting it on the weekend and gave it to her this morning.
This quilt was a pleasure to create and I am hoping that Caiti will use it to snuggle under while watching TV or asleep in bed and that she can drape it over the easel which Mum gave her for her birthday when she is not painting.
I would love to artistically display this quilt in the fashion of Kaffe Fassett, but alas, as with decorating birthday cakes, this is not my forte.  But it did look lovely in our garden.

Celestial Stars

My aunt had a significant birthday last November and I wanted to make her a quilt.  She lives in England, so the plan was that I would finish it in time for my friend to take over in August.  I tried hard to meet this deadline, but due to my health, it didn't happen.  I had other friends who went over in September, but again, it didn't happen.

My aunt lives in a gorgeous house in Bury St Edmunds, near Cambridge.  Their sitting room is large and overlooks their garden.  They have a white chaise lounge in the room which is where I pictured a quilt draping which Susan could snuggle under while reading a book or watching TV.  Not everyone is into quilts, so I asked her if the idea of owning a quilt appealed and for tips on colours and types of fabric she likes.  Her response was positive and she gave me plenty of ideas for choice of colour and fabric.

Last June, I went to the Craft Fair with my good friend Rhonda to find fabric.  Rhonda has a great eye for colour and puts fabrics together that I would never think about combining - she is clever and creative.  We had fun together browsing the many stalls, and at times overwhelmed by choice, colour, noise, crowds of people and thought we would never find anything.  However, Rhonda spotted some unusual fabrics - Indonesian batiks and we were instantly captivated by their colours and uniqueness.  We chose an enormous range of fat quarters and later found another shop that also sold them, so I selected a few more.  At that time, I had no idea what shape the quilt would take, but I had heaps of fabric.

I took some photos of quilts on display and was inspired by one which featured a star pattern.  Susan's house is very traditional, so I thought I would go with a traditional pattern, using these gorgeous non traditional fabrics.  Susan lived for a number of years in Vietnam teaching English to doctors and nurses, while living with a local family.  I thought she would love these fabrics and remind her of happy years spent in South-East Asia.

Maths has never been one of my strengths, so doing calculations when designing a quilt is the most difficult aspect.  Unfortunately, while doing most of the calculating, I had a coddled head - mostly from migraine, so I ended up designing and making a quilt much larger than intended, especially as I had to get it to England without knowing anyone who could take it in their suitcase for me.

I finally finished the quilt in early January, just before Keith finished his PhD, which is another story entirely.  With much fear and trepidation, I packed it and posted it via air mail and hoped it would arrive safely.  A week later, in fact, on Australia Day, it reached its destination and Susan loves it.  It will live on her white lounge happily and I am much relieved.  I called the quilt Celestial Stars, as the colours seem to sparkle - they have a life of their own.  I have heaps of this fabric left, so I am experimenting with making bags with the leftover pieces.

Talia's Quilt

Talia's Quilt, originally uploaded by sarahkeithcondie.

Welcome to the world beautiful Talia Abigail. She arrived one day late - much to her Mum's relief. What a pity that they no longer live just around the corner. It hasn't been possible to visit but we have spoken on the phone. Life in those early days is sheer survival - particularly with a very busy two and a half year old keen to be in on the action - except when Talia cries.

We can't wait to meet the new Condie family member, but it won't be until late November, as we are about to head off in two days for England for almost nine weeks. This quilt was the final big project that had to get completed - well there were others, but this one had to get finished and I mailed it off to them on Tuesday - and it arrived thank goodness!

It was fun to make this quilt - a bit like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. I love the retro pictures of girls and boys - it is full of life and energy and fun.

Sun on the Sea

I finally finished this quilt for Mum. I started making it in early 2006, after spending a number of months collecting fabrics. My dear friend Libby Lukins helped me choose some of them. I then had my stroke which made it difficult to sew, as my hands shook constantly from the medication I was taking, and I couldn't really concentrate. However, I did spend time sitting in our garden sorting the fabric into piles for each square - 63 squares, each with 18 rectangles! Am I mad or what?

I love the way sun shines on the water and makes it sparkle. During 2006, I walked a lot, as this was something I could do. One of my favourite walks was around Iron Cove Bay and depending on the time of day, the sun would reflect on the water and shimmer. Later in the afternoon, the colours would be completely different. Another of my favourite walks is up at my Mum's place - she lives at MacMasters Beach and again, the sun on the sea, particularly in the late afternoon is gorgeous. I have tried to capture some of these colours in this quilt.

My friends Silvia and Margo helped me pin this quilt ready for me to hand quilt at the beginning of 2007. However, it was such a large project that I put it off. Unfortunately, my daughter Susannah needed the pins in my quilt to pin her quilt for her major textiles project, so she took all the pins out - much to my dismay. She promised to repin my quilt, but this didn't happen until earlier this year. I finally started the quilting in May and finished it in August.

Mum was so excited. I gave it to her at my birthday barbeque in our garden. However, she is not able to take it home for another six months, as it is going to be displayed at the State Library of NSW over summer in a staff exhibition called "Unclassified". Much to my surprise, they have selected two of my quilts to display.

These photos capture what inspired this quilt: