Thursday, December 13, 2007

A Silk Quilt for Christmas Present

About twelve years ago I had made a silk cuddle quilt for my friend. She absolutely loved it ... to death. Silk is light-weight, soft and fluid. A silk quilt gives just the right amount of warmth for an afternoon nap no matter the season. I've made a new one to replace the tattered one that she's gallantly been trying to keep mended.
The center panel is an Anne Kline silk scarf that has special meaning for my friend. The brightly colored silk print expands the center and sets off the lion on point. The muted green calms the "shouting" orange and pink.
Her old silk quilt was hand-quilted. This one is done by machine. I was inspired by Ferrets marvelous work. Her patterning is dense, whereas I kept my variations on the spiral open to maintain a soft drape to the quilt. To help keep that quality I used Thermore ultra thin batting.

The backing is made from one of my friend's favorite dresses. She had passed it onto me, but it was more "her" than "me" so it had just hung in my closet for the last year or so. It was a wonderful batik printed rayon that had long sleeves which produced four squares in the center. The double layered bodice had enough material to make the rest of the back.
The muted hues on this side is a nice foil for the bright orange and pink silks on the other. A soft light brown cotton print for the binding bridges the two sides.

Sssshhhh! if you know my friend, Alicia.

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