Surprise Christmas Gift

This lap quilt was given to me this Christmas by one of my dearest friends and longest friends (I dare not say oldest should I?)  We became friends when I was 13 and a freshman in high school and continue to be good friends that both love quilting.  She has owned a quilt shop for many years.  We sat beside each other in that Home Economics class and decided to make matching outfits in the sewing unit.  I can still picture how beautiful our turquoise wrap around skirts were with the button up short sleeved tops that were made of white and turquoise flowered fabric.  Oh how I wish we had a photo of us in them now.

Back to the quilt….It is made with all batik fabrics and is just beautiful.  I use it most nights while I am sitting in my chair watching TV as it is the perfect size and weight to keep off the evening chill.The quilt is made with two basic units…a half square triangle unit that measures 4” finished and a rectangle that measures 2” x 4” finished.  The units are alternated across the quilt as well as vertically so it is a pretty simple quilt to make but is so stunning.  Notice that one of the triangles is always the same color in each unit.  That way you get the somewhat like hour glass motif marching across the quilt.  As you can see some fabrics on this quilt are high contrast to the brown triangles and others blend but the over all look is fabulous!

One thing I did with the photo I took of the quilt was change the background in my Photoshop Elements 11 program.  As you can see from my original photo the quilt is weighted down with books on the fireplace mantle.  The bricks are various shades of red and grey (not my favorite but that is the way it was when we acquired the house.)  The red bricks detract a bit as they are somewhat the same value as the quilt so I just got rid of them and added a cream colored background instead.  I did leave the mantle and books in the photo as it looked a little strange with no top edge of the quilt. Cropped the photo a bit and that was it.

   

Until Later,

Lynn