Sunday 8 December 2013

Teacher Gift: Nancy Drew Quilt


I loved reading Nancy Drew books when I was younger. Zoe did a school assignment on an author of her choice earlier in the year and chose to research Mildred Wirt Benson. Did you know that the Nancy Drew novels were written by various writers, all under the pen name Carolyn Keene? Mildred Wirt Benson wrote most of the early volumes.

Even though Zoe is the Nancy Drew fan (it's so lovely to have books that she can read that I don't have to read first to make sure there is nothing inappropriate in them. Not that I would mind reading Nancy Drew!) I made this quilt for Jed's teacher. I used two and a half charm packs (108 squares to make 9 rows by 12 rows). I am pleased to say that it was well received!
Two simple pieced strips using some charm squares made this quilt back a winner for me.

It was while quilting this darling lap quilt (I'd show you some close up shots of the fabric range 'Get A Clue With Nancy Drew' but I have already accidentally deleted photos trying to format this post on my ipad. Luckily I'm not trying to do anything fancy!) that I discovered that my machine loves cheap cotton (that is by no means any reflection on me!). I usually use Aurifil thread but didn't have any in blue. I didn't want to stop my assembly line, so with nothing to lose I whacked the cheapo thread in and - with great delight - quilted away without any problems.

While here in the US I'm hoping to pick up some Isacord polyester thread that Leah Day recommends.

So, are you a Nancy Drew fan? Zoe and I love the earlier editions with the beautiful illustrations.

4 comments:

  1. You have such lucky teachers! How interesting that your machine likes cheap cotton. There's so many factors that go into quilting isn't there. Hope you're having fun on your holiday.

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  2. Wow! Your kids' teachers get pretty awesome gifts! I love it! I've heard varying comments about different types of thread. It's so hard to know what to believe, and you just have to play around until you figure out what works with your machine. I've never tried the Isacord thread but might try it out....anything to make FMQ easier! Oh, and I read a little bit of Nancy Drew when I was younger.....we won't say how long ago that was ;)

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  3. Well received!! I am thinking that this beautiful quilt will be loved for many a long year!! Though I was a little bookworm, I somehow missed the Nancy Drew books. I read the Trixie Beldon series, The Billabong Series, the Anne of Green Gables etc etc..... and any horse book that I could get my li'l hands on. Yes indeedy, I was a little fixated on everything horsey!! I am quite sure that you might have to pay excess baggage on the return trip home.....so many goodies over there in the USofA!!

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  4. Those colours really POP! Love your work J!!

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