Jeni's Colorado

Hello, my quilting/blogging friends.

Once again, it has been a while. I wish I was in a better place and I wish it could be different. 

But I do have a new quilt and we will focus on that, for now. 

With Marcia

It began with Marcia, who is my former boss. She retired after her 81st birthday. Kudos to her, because I am sure I can't make it to my 60th before calling it quits. 

When Marcia learned about my quilting hobby (obsession), she introduced me to her neighbor - Lesley. Lesley is an art quilter. I need a whole separate blogpost to describe Lesley's work. She takes her inspiration from nature and excels in applique and embellishments. 

Lesley (notice the elephants in the quilt behind her)

We, Lesley and I, admire each other's work. She appreciates my sense of color and composition and I am totally floored by her microscopic attention to detail and excellent workmanship.

When Lesley's daughter, Jeni, got engaged,  Lesley asked me to make a quilt, embodying the feel of Colorado, Jeni's after-marriage-new-home-state. Jeni's favorite colors are green, purple and crimson. 

I shared several mock-ups with Lesley, inspired by my previous quilts/patterns. 

Shanvi/Phagun

Yamini

Niko

Honi

Fireworks

Arboretum

Lesley had also seen and admired my interpretation of the Moon over the Mountain Quilts.

This is what Lesley picked, a combination of Arboretum and Moon over the Mountain.

Final!

A queen size quilt with curved piecing, lots of angles and a scrappy border. My work was cut out for me. 

I knew that Green and Purple would have a sufficient contrast against the white background. But I wasn't sure about the Yellows.

I chose Solid White instead of Egg White, due to better contrast. Background confirmed, it was time to pick out Purples and Greens.

Island Batik Purples

Island Batik Greens

Sufficiently excited, I decided to make one each of the blocks and show it to Lesley.

Tree Block

Sunrise Block

Once all blocks were made, I sent another picture to Lesley.

I sent her several in-process pictures. I wanted to make sure she was with me on this journey.

Once the top was completed, I asked Lesley if she had a preference for the backing color.

She chose Green. I chose Dark Purple for Binding. And here are the pictures of the finished quilt - Jeni's Colorado.

Finished!!!

Since it is a Queen-sized quilt, I knew taking pictures will be a challenge. For Paul's ease, I added a temporary sleeve wherein a curtain rod was inserted. Hence the perfect pictures and a much happier quilt model.

Island Batik Fabrics

Crushing on you

Sunny & Labelled

When I took the finished quilt to Lesley, there were oohs and aahs. Marcia and Lesley posed with it and I took some more pictures.

You two are adorable!

One week later, Lesley sent me a picture.

From Jeni

I am told they love the quilt!

My work has been stressful and I have been struggling. While Paul has been very supportive, I feel like I must carry on for now.