Bettsner Quilt Bee

Dear Gentlemen:
You will perhaps be intrigued to hear that there was a Bettsner family quilt bee this past week, at which a motley assortment of Bettsners FINISHED YOUR QUILT.

Photos by my dad.

Stephen, my mom, and me!   Afterwards we treated ourselves to a

 steak dinner, a step of which I know you would approve. 

                                                 

Here's Stephen, needlin' it up on your behalf.  This is quite a rare sight!  

As I write this the quilt is on Long Island, finished, wrapped, and just awaiting the arrival of your card.  

Fingers crossed that it arrives in a convenient (and fully intact) manner!  

Can't wait to hear what you guys think of it!  

Sewing the Binding

It's been a long long time since I last posted.  What have I been doing?  Well, at least in the evenings: QUILTING!
Quilting by hand just takes a long time.  But now the quilt is completely quilted (that sounds funny!), and ready for binding.

Check it out!
Our upstairs neighbors, Andrew and Charlotte, have been instrumental to this project.  First, Charlotte contributed some really lovely Liberty prints to the project, playing a key role in improving pattern diversity.  Second, their uncluttered living room is amazing for laying the quilt out when major work needs to be done.
This week I trimmed the excess fabric and batting from the sides of the quilt, preparing it for binding.
What is binding?  It's the fabric that covers the edges of the quilt.  In this case, there is different fabric on the front and back of the binding.  On the front, a bicolor Indian print to match the side panels.  And on the back there's a fab teamup by Mesdames Alexis Salas and Sarah Luna (who bought some lovely red and black fabric in Barcelona) and Mr. James O'Connell and Mr. James Petrie (two other newlyweds! They chipped in some lovely pink Marks and Spencer's shirting).

This quilt (let's call it Quilty) has been hand-made to this point, but creating the side panels and binding has required some sewing by machine.  A historical fact for you: since the invention of the sewing machine, even 'hand-made' quilts involve some machine sewing - usually in the binding.  It saves a lot of monotonous straight sewing, and adds strength.
Here's my vintage Bernina sewing machine, imaginatively named 'Bernie' by a previous owner, as I attached the binding.
Very very soon your quilt - Mr. Clare Quilty, Esq. - will be in your possession - can't wait!

Miss Jane K. - Awesomest of the Awesome

One of the last of our highlights on individual contributors to Matt and Christian's quilt of awesomeness.  Miss Jane K., please come forward!

There's a lot of love in these prints.  And it's beautiful!

I hope Jane doesn't mind me embellishing this one...

The Secret Side

Not much blogging lately, but a whole lot of WORK has been going on - and here's a first glimpse!

When the quilt is done, very very few people will see this side....it's a secret.

SHHHHH!!!!!!!

Liberty of London - and YOU!

There are 18 different Liberty prints in the quilt - I thought it would be fun to point some of them out!

Liberty cotton (or 'Tana Lawn, as it's more properly known) is fantastic stuff - it's super-soft when purchased, but only gets better with washing and wear.

I thought Christian would like the modernist chair print to the left, above - and the Grayson Perry bicycle print works with the bicycle mini-theme (birds and bicycles were both prints I kept my eye out for!)

Here we have three Liberty prints in a row!   The first one is called 'Joyride', the others have names unfortunately lost to time (and Ebay...) - but watch this space!

A lovely Elizabethan floral...

Here's a variation on Edenham, a real Liberty classic (sitting next to one of my favorite prints in the whole quilt, an Aunt Grace 1930's style geometric teacup.  But I digress...)

And here's Lucy's Farm, complete with slightly menacing radioactive snowflake....

  

I bought a lot of this to make a Betty Draper-style sundress...but in the meantime, it's hanging out in your quilt!

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And finally, Caesar, the quintessential Liberty print.  I hope it'll be at home in New York!

I'm working on the side borders now...when I'm done, it'll be time for quilting.  Exciting and scary!  

Works in Progress - Quilt, and Windows

Two works in progress: our windows, and your quilt.  

Too Long? Or Just Right?

No pics in this post - why won't the MacBook read my photo card? - but I have a lot of progress to report since the last shot.  Right now the quilt top is just big enough so that, with borders, it could cover a bed.  I laid it out on Stephen's and my futon the other day, and if anything, it might be too long!  I'm trying to figure out if I should think of adding some width.  I hope to have visual evidence soon - stay tuned!