Solar Soleil

The last stitches went in the quilt during a repeat of "Queer Eye" this afternoon. I am so excited to finally finish this. E doesn't have a room so this is the first thing that is just hers. And I have to say, I think it might be my favourite of all my circle quilts.

I decided to go with a simple, yet bold background so the circles would pop. And, because I expected to finish before the baby was born, I wanted to use black and white. Do you know that babies can't see colour early on? The contrast of black on white is best for them. At the last minute I decided to take the circles beyond the edge of the quilt. Those ones are hand appliqued on, while the rest are done by machine.

The whole thing is quilted as a sun. I have some wavy concentric circles in the center, surrounded by rays/flames. You can see some detail here.

I've said it before, but I firmly believe the back of a quilt should be beautiful too. Inspired by that grey floral by Denyse Schmidt, I pieced this back. Funny story. That fabric was my favourite and my initial plan for the baby quilt was going to be inspired by that fabric. But I was convinced I was having a boy and thought that fabric was too feminine. When I showed Hubby the back he said that was his favourite fabric too.


The lighting on this shot is pretty bad, forgive me. I wanted to show you the label though. I think it ties the front to the back. I always put the name of the quilt and some comments or words on it. Then I always put my name on the label, state the content (pretty much always 100% cotton) and whether it was a pattern, an original design, or if someone else worked on the quilt. The label will be a reflection of the history of the quilt.

The name? Hubby said it reminded him of a solar system and I had already thought of the Soleil. E's name means bright one or shining light. It all just fit together.

Finally, I thought I should share a picture of the recipient enjoying her gift. Okay, so I doubt she can actually enjoy it just yet. But she sure looks good on it!