My favorite in-laws

My husband’s mother used to always tell him, growing up, that he was her “favorite” son. As you might guess, he was also, conveniently, her only son.  And his sister was the “favorite” daughter, too.  At the rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding, she was kind enough to announce that I was her favorite daughter-in-law.

They’re long overdue for a quilt of their own.  Way back in the fall, I made sure to take a picture of the rug in their sitting room as an inspiration for what to make them.

I then bought an Aviary layer cake, and promptly let it sit, untouched, for months.  You know how it goes.

Anyways, I finally decided it was high time to put it to good use.  I decided to make big hourglass blocks, which would allow me to use the layer cake squares as-is, but not have it look like I just sewed a bunch of plain 10″ squares together (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  They came together super fast, and I used all 42 squares to make it a nice 6 x 7 block layout. (Yes, I know those dark pinks stick out, but I wanted all 42 blocks, so I couldn’t omit them!) A thin cream-solid inner border and print outer border made it a little more generous in size.

Of course, I had the top finished several weeks ago, and then let it sit while I got distracted with other projects.  Then, last week, I found out my in-laws were coming up for a visit this Saturday! Nothing like a deadline to get you moving.  Pulled it out of the dryer last night, they arrive in a little over two hours.  Hence the early-morning light in the photos.

Aviary is pretty much out-of-print, but I managed to find a shop that had enough yardage in stock for the border, back, and binding.  The large blue print on the border is the one that reminds me the most of my in-laws’ rug, so hopefully it will go nicely with their decor.

I went with a small floral for the border, and a green floral for the back.  The collection as a whole was a little heavy on the pinks, so I didn’t want to overdo it with even more pink.

I quilted it in straight diagonal lines along either side of the hourglass seams, and used a washable marking pen to extend the lines through the borders.  I especially like the effect of the quilting on the back.

Will this go on the list of my most favorite quilts I’ve ever made? Probably not. The prints are lovely, but not really my personal style.  That said, I’m really happy with how it turned out.  And we’ll find out shortly if my in-laws like it, too!