Finishing Janet's Quilts

'Happy Quilt' Wall hanging.

From a commercial pattern, 'Happy Quilt' was not the original name for this wall hanging. Janet found it so cheerful and colourful that she always referred to it as her 'Happy Quilt'. This was largely finished and indeed had been machine quilted by a professional and the binding stitched on. The eyes for the animals were mostly black beads that still needed to be added and so I quickly finished those as well as adding the hanging rod pocket on the back so that it could be included in the display for the funeral service. In addition I added black cloth eyes to the cows second from the top and created the knitting needles and knitting pieces for the sheep underneath. I made about 20 pieces of knitting before I was happy with these 4, as I wanted them to complement each other, vary in texture and not be too large in order that they not conceal too much of the detail of the appliqué sheep underneath.

Christmas Quilt

Most of the blocks for this quilt appeared to be complete when I received this work. The only one that still needed more work was the Santa throwing snow balls in the centre of the bottom row. The blank block (which is to have a verse written on it) was also missing. I completed the final Santa and cut out the final blank block. On trimming back the blocks so that the quilt top could be assembled however, I found that Janet had not marked in the seam allowances before stitching on the appliqués. The design for some blocks intended that a portion of the picture be stitched into the seam (the mantel piece in the centre top row and the half Christmas tree of the right hand block, bottom row). Others needed there to be free fabric around the design elements, but I would not have been able to achieve this if I had left them as they were The dilemma I had was whether to leave them alone (Janet's work after all) or to fix them up. I feel sure that had she lived, Janet would have wanted to fix them, rather than have the finished result spoilt. So 5 of the panels needed some portion of the design carefully moved and the stitching put back in place. I was then able to cut each block to size, cut out the border strips and assemble the panel shown. I'm very pleased with the result, and I know Janet would have been too. The work still needs another framing strip around the panel shown, as well as a border incorporating star blocks for the corners that Janet completed and left behind. Santa's faces need to be drawn and painted in for each block and then the whole thing needs to be quilted. I'm aiming to have it finished before Christmas so that her family can enjoy it as Janet intended.

American Chopper Quilt.

Only the fabrics for this quilt were left behind and I have no idea what Janet envisioned doing with them, or even if she envisioned anything in particular. I have commenced assembling some blocks but I still have to work out what I want to do for the finished quilt.