Tangelo It.

As I write this, I am sitting on a bumpy plane. I am jetting off to Oklahoma to celebrate my Grandmother’s 85^th birthday. My Grandmother is an amazing person (I am sure your grandmother is too). This lady grew up in the middle of nowhere, rode a horse to elementary school and then boarded in town for high school.  She mothered five boys and one girl, who are six of the best Uncles, Aunt, and Dad a girl could ask for (Hi Aunt Barbara!). She has made to every grandchild’s wedding so far to be the best cheerleader ever, also, in the case of my wedding, help make some amazing pies. It has been getting harder for her to travel, so this weekend we travel to her. It is her turn to get celebrated and it is going to be a shindig! This woman has over 20 grandchildren and I have lost count of the great-grandchildren. I cannot wait. Rest assured that I made her a snuggly lap quilt for her armchair. I can’t wait to show you pictures.

Now that I have blathered on about one of my favorite people and inspiration, I am going to show you an unrelated finish.

Drumroll please….

My Tangelo!

Some of you (maybe all of you) may know, I am a huge fan of Carolyn Friedlander.  She is an amazing fabric and pattern designer and just one of the best people a girl could hope to know. Her patterns inspire me to combine color and texture. They make my heart sing in their striking, complex simplicity (it is a thing).

I have made it a personal resolution recently to make quilts for me and to try hard things. Now, when I say quilts for me… I do not actually mean I am going to keep them all, I mean when I quilt, I want to express myself just a little, even if it is for someone else. It is the way this is fun for me.

The Tangelo is for me. Blue is my favorite color. I love metallic.

This was also a hard thing. It took me nearly six months (not working constantly, but still). I worked on this quilt during two sewing weekends with my ladies. Then, I quilted this quilt all over with custom free motion quilting and used wool batting to make that quilting stand out. Also, it made this quilt super substantial and comfy). I had to piece the backing with geese, because a front this complex just needed a little something on the back.

I matched my Aurifil thread to each solid color. Yes, maybe a little obsessive? But, I need to do what I need to do. I don’t make money at this, we don’t need any more quilts to physically keep us warm in our home. What I NEED is to see the picture of colors and patterns I have in my head come alive.

Welcome to my living room Tangelo. I think I am going to like seeing you there.

Quilt Stats:

Name: Tangelo by Carolyn Friedlander

Fabric: Whites are from Architextures and Botanics both designed by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman and Dear Stella Confetti Dots. The blues are assorted Robert Kaufman Kona cottons and Moda Bella solids. The backing is widescreen in gray by Robert Kaufman with Botanics and scraps from the front.

Quilting: Custom straight line with my free motion quilting foot with about six shades of Aurifil thread.

Batting: Quilters Dream Wool

Size: 68" x 72" 

P.S. - I got to introduce Carolyn to my Tangelo when she came to North Carolina to teach. This was a high point.

P.P.S. – The quilt is not quite straight in any of these pictures, but I must defend my quilt holder, this quilt is large and heavy. It far exceeded his wingspan and he is tall guy… I think I need a new photo set-up for big quilts.