Aloha Kakou
52'' x 52''
A precious gift, finally delivered. I feel that way about so many things with this quilt and the reason behind it.
This is the baby boy of a dear friend. A woman who started out simply as a roommate in a creepy rental. That was 16 years ago and we're still friends, still laughing, still rolling our eyes at each other, still slightly wondering just how we got to where we are. Back in January baby S joined her life, our lives. Crazy munchkin.
When she was pregnant she chose to keep the baby's gender a surprise until birth. I love when people do that still, even if it does present an extra challenge to making a quilt. Then again, who says fabric has to live up to gender norms?!
My fabric selections started with some treats she brought me back from a trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago. I must admit, when she brought the fabrics I hesitated. Batiks and prints best suited to a middle aged man's Hawaiian shirt. But cut up? Perfect! I combined them with various prints and even batiks from my stash. Some of Malka Dubrawsky's original batiks, a Yoshiko Jinjenzi print, screen prints from Karen Lewis, as many organic prints as I had from Daisy Janie, Birch, and Cloud 9 (including the Lisa Congdon print for the centre squares), an old Denyse Schmidt, and quite a few more. It is an eclectic mix and totally perfect.
The pattern is Vintage Spin from Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession fame. It comes from her book, Adding Layers. It was the perfect choice to showcase the fabrics yet still benefit from the crazy combinations I put together. It does use a template to cut the fabric, and there are big scraps leftover after piecing. But I've gathered those and maybe they will turn into something else? The one change I did make was the use a square for the centre of the block, instead of a circle. A conversation with Rachel at 2nd Avenue Studio led me to try it and it works so well!
It thrills me to finally present this to my friend. I made it big enough to grow with S and for the two of them to snuggle together.