Dorothy's quilt Part Two

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The original albeit augmented quilt laid out as I affixed the back, the first part of the Kawandi process! Notable tears and rips are visible, why this quilt required a complete overhaul.

This is heavy on pictures as I want to illustrate my Kawandi process. Because once I decided how to upcycle Dorothy's quilt, I got right to work as visiting summer beloveds allowed, hehehe.

The outer perimeter is attached! I had to be careful NOT to stitch the quilt to the bed, hahaha.

I write that due to the fact I started refurbishing this quilt in early May, then it lay dormant for nearly all of June and part of July. When I returned from keeping an eye on the grandsons on this sixth of this month, I dedicated most of my sewing hours to this effort, although the project feels more drawn out than those few months suggest.

Rounds accumulate to the point I could sew in the living room, always a pleasure! Especially fun is watching the changing nature of the quilt, although I was slightly aggrieved to erase all of Dorothy's AMAZING EPP.

Perhaps like I said in the previous post, the length is due to how long it took me to discover the best way to alter this beautiful quilt, both the actual process and my releasing an English paper piecing treasure to whatever it was meant to become, a Kawandi-style cozy.

How precious is that EPP star? And yet soon it would be obscured by new prints....

Have I done any patching on it since we moved to Humboldt County? I truly don't know. If I haven't, that's four years of it falling further into tatters, the poor thing! However, once I discovered Kawandi quilting, the answer to this quilt's resurrection was clear.

Adding new rounds occurred on my work table in the office. And after a while, I tired of straight pins poking me so I switched to safety pins.

Make a new back for it, then begin from the outside perimeter, going in. And don't forget the fabric love, lol.

Progress report! By the middle of July, I had reached this point, but all those patches made for tricky decisions and stitching, a great time to set this aside while the grandsons visited, lol.

Fabrics are a mix of Kaffe Fassett, Anna Maria Parry (AMP), Rashida Coleman-Hale, and Moda Grunge. The rounds are a Fassett/Coleman-Hale/Grunge mix followed by Parry, with a helping of Tilda because I had a fat quarter collection eager to be incorporated. Then there are the patches....

Working the patches in became a stop/start procedure. The required concentration was more than I had assumed, wondering how to include this and that scrap. Ultimately I am VERY HAPPY with my decisions.

I tried to save those large enough and ones that carried a heft in my soul. The center of the quilt is almost all old patches, other than two AMP squares, one from her new textile line and another from her Free Spirit days. As in my first Kawandi-inspired quilt, most of this is sewn by hand. And I mean nearly all of it, hah!

The orange scrap with cream flowers in the center of this picture is from my second quilt, stitched back in 2014. And yup, it was SAVED.

Hand-stitching is my jam now that tinnitus makes using my sewing machine an earplug and noise cancelling headphones effort. Having said that, I am planning a quick-in-comparison machine pieced quilt as my next shiny because I gave away my autumnal quilt earlier this year to a group collecting quilts for LA fire victims.

The back was made from a couple of lengths I was happy to use for just this purpose. The bottom print is from Joann, a nice tie-in within my mind.

And despite it being the end of August, in Humboldt County autumn is nearly here! Which is why I so desperately wanted to finish Dorothy's quilt to lay at the end of my side of the bed. And now it's done. Currently dwelling downstairs because yes, it is still summer, and sometimes a heavy-ish lap quilt fits the bill. One steeped in colour and memories, and filled with the awesome handiwork of a woman named Dorothy.

Draped over my rocking chair, where I used it this morning! If you love hand-sewing, I wholly recommend researching Kawandi quilting. It's truly how I want to make every quilt, but I am still grateful for a machine, hehehe.

Wherever you are, my quilty friend, thanks for a tremendous gift that will outlast both of us. 

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