First among Equals

Thats what I'm calling this quilt designed by my 9 yr old.

Ok, thats weird quilt and thats a weird name for a quilt.

First, the name. In early January 2011, when I was charting out a design I quite fancied for a quilt for my sister (I was still a beginner, remember?), my lil one, then 8, whipped up a handmade calender for me with dates of the month on one side and a blank sheet on the facing side. For my quilt designs, she said. I decided then and there that I was going to try and make at least one quilt a month. Am happy to say that I have indeed managed to make a quilt a month. And as the year came to a close, I wanted to make her a special thankyou quilt for giving me that slight prod that I seemed to so badly need.

Now the twist. When your 9 yr old has 2 cousins the same age, you can't obviously make just your kid a quilt. No, you make three! And mine is the oldest by a month or two, so she's the 'First among Equals', see?

And now the design. Well, what d'ya expect?!..its designed by a 9 yr old!! I told her I was going to make her a bug jar quilt and she could choose what she wanted to put in it. And she said, cool..and chose the creepiest  fabric I had..so we have slime, and eyeballs, and berries and cupcakes, and rabbits and fish, and frogs and crabs, and bugs and butterflies..

..and circuit boards (she loves pulling things apart and trying to fix(?!) them)..

..and did I mention snorkelling frogs?..

And then she says, "Ma, put Didi (older sister) and Akka (again older sister, referring to her cousin) in a jar and throw away their hairbrushes and phones". How do you refuse a 9 yr old with puppy dog eyes??...

So the jars are done and now she wants a wolf..a howling wolf !! (I suspect Didi's 'Twilight' obsession may have had something to do with it). And a wolf howling at the moon from behind a shelf of jars makes perfect sense to a 9 yr old..what can you say?

She drew the wolf...

..and I drew the moon..

..both of which I appliqued with a silver metallic thread and quilted some echoing lines around the shapes.

The back had to be pieced. She likes it.

For the quilting, I just stuck to some good old quilting in the ditch around the jars and shelves and some free hand waves for the sky.

Didn't add binding. Just folded over the fabric from the front.

So thats my last quilt for 2011. I have learnt a lot along the way, quilting some, blogging some; and I hope to learn a lot more in 2012, especially some FMQ and some cool blogging tricks! Also hope to open an online store for quilts and supplies.

Wish you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year! Have a wonderful 2012!!

Love. Peace. Joy.
Tina