My first kona cotton quilt

My first impulse was to call this entry “my first quilt” but that would be quite untrue. I did before a few quilts using scraps of fabric, and then I made two quilts with the alphabet, but this one feels like it is my first quilt.

Maybe it feels that is my first quilt because I did a lot of “studying” for it: how to “proper” piece, how to quilt by hand, what is the better thread for hand quilting, etc, etc. I mastered a few things in the process, for instance, the quilter’s knot, how to chain piece, how to buy Kona cotton in Israel.

Or maybe it feels that is my first quilt because is my first quilt using a rotary cutter, and cutting board. I feel very professional when I’m using them, and, I must say, it makes things so much easier.

Some things I still don’t know, and better learn it fast, because one of them is the use of the thimble, and to find one that does not get lost. I got one but now I have no idea where it is (note: I must to tide up the studio TODAY).  The other thing I don’t know is how to take a proper photo. Today I went early to the desert to take a picture, inspired by this pictures of quilts with a nature background that you see in pinterest. I came with a bunch of overexposed pictures, so I hang it from the wall and this is it:

(Maybe I should have ironed it first)

Materials: Kaufman kona cotton except the liberty print that I think came from Denisse in Beer Sheva. The batting is 100% cotton  Kahtadin from Pissott. I used Gutermann thread 100 % cotton special for hand quilting. I got it also in Pissott for 20 shequels. Then in my next shopping expedition to Najalat Benaymin in Tel Aviv I noticed that in this shop the sell it for 16 shequels. Not small difference. It has a wax coat that makes hand quilting a much easier task.

The Kona cotton I got it from Fabricworm. The were wonderful on trying to get the shipping cost down. I got 10.5 yards (or meters, is more or less the same) at $6.5 the yard. The shipping was $24. That makes something like about 9 dollars per yard, or 35 shequels per yard. Pissott sells them for 44 shequels, and then of course, there is the shipping costs.

Then I found Fabricshack ,  they have Kaufman Kona cotton at $5.5 and the shipping is only $18, and they have 300 colors!

Why Kaufman Kona cotton?The color collection is amazing (300 colors !!!!?), the good quality and it’s nice that they don’t discontinue the colors. The weight is 120 gr per square meter, which means that is a very light fabric, but it feels sturdy. It is a 60 x 60 thread count (120), which is standard, but they say that it achieves the better quality that it’s famous for by a process of added yarn to the overall bulk of the completed product. I have no idea of what it does mean, but i believe them.

The quilt is all hand quilted. Hand quilting is a very good activity for a mom. You do some stitches, you get interrupted with a water request, more stitches, and then some arbitration services are needed between sibling, a few more stitches and then dinner and shower time comes. Next the day the same thing and one day, surprisingly, the quilt is done. Also you can take the quilt to the playground.

I’m not very happy about that label. It was a piece of canvas with a drawing of a cat that Lulu made sometime, and I did some experiment with embroidery. Then I just wrote the information with a sharpie. I’m working on the label, and I was happy with it until I realized that the logo that I had in mind, I that I was so proud off, it is very common.  I was following the advice from Missouri Star Quilt Co., that says “always label you quilt”.

I got the inspiration from Rothko and from this Musu quilt. Many thanks to them.