Campfire Glow - Caroline's Quilt

Hi friends! I am excited to share all about the Campfire Glow Quilt I made my Sister in Law, Caroline, for Christmas of 2021. 

Caroline is my husband's little sister and when Luke and I started dating - in high school - she was only 8. So we definitely grew up together and it's wild to think for the past year she has been teaching English to students in South Korea.

While on a big family FaceTime call over Thanksgiving (Caroline in Korea and the rest of the family all together at the family ranch) I noticed she had a quilt on her bed. I made a comment on it, asking where she got it and she wasn't quite sure but it was pretty threadbare. She slyly said "well, I am waiting for the day when I get a Then Came June Quilt on my bed". And I laughed it off and was like "yeah, you and everybody else in this family! I still owe your brother a wedding quilt and it's been 2+ years!"

Now, if any of you have quilted for a short amount of time or a long amount time, getting asked to make quilts for family can be a constant question. And it really is fun but also not the easiest task to work into the quilting schedule - especially when quilting is your livelihood. But I remembered the comment and thought, it would be a great gift to give her - maybe for her birthday - in April.

Well, then a couple days later we did our annual name picking game for the Christmas Gift Exchange. We each put our name in a bowl and then pick one name out and that is who you are gifting to for Christmas. Well luck would have it, I picked Caroline! I knew immediately I would try and make her a quilt for Christmas. It didn't give me a lot of time but I knew I wouldn't ship the quilt to Korea as she was coming back to the states in early January. So I did get a little more time to make this happen.

I knew I wanted to make her a Twin Size quilt as that is the bed size she has in Korea and she committed to another year of teaching. After that, I decided to pick a pattern of mine that already included Twin Size. I was debating between Campfire Glow, Radiate, Paper Cuts, and Seeing Double. And then the next step was using my stash for this quilt. I didn't really have time to shop for fabric and wait for it to arrive. So, I chose Campfire Glow because I could use FQs on hand and some large scraps for the stars.

Also, I remembered that in the Campfire Glow pattern, the mock up I used for Twin Size, was one I always wanted to make eventually. And luck would have it, it screamed CAROLINE! This mock up below is in the throw size but it is the same colors as the Twin one. The two 9 patches are made from two different shades of blue and then some creams and a grays. The stars are peaches with a variety of colors for the backgrounds.

Here is the pull of fabric I took out of my fabric cabinets.

I love the variety of texture and some pops of metallics. Below you can see how the stacks are separated. Left is 1 of the 9 patches - creams and light blues. The middle is stars and their backgrounds and right is the darker blues and grays for the other 9 patch.

I shared some of the process of this quilt make in my newsletters in December 2021. It was a nice way to track what I was making but not overwhelm myself with trying to make this quilt super quick. A twin size is big which means there is a lot more sewing than I normally do for one project.

So many 3 patch pieces for just one of the color ways!

When making the Campfire Glow quilt with FQs instead of yardage, it turns out to be a scrappy quilt. I didn't think too much about what fabrics I were pairing with others. I was mindful to hopefully not have the fabric repeat more than 2 times in a 9 patch. Otherwise, I just sewed and sewed and sewed.

I sewed up the 9 patches over a couple weeks. And when I saw them next to each other all together, I was so excited! 

After I finished the 9 patch blocks, I move onto the stars. The window pane fabrics are Cloud 9 and aren't in print anymore. I have hoarded these for years. I love love love them. I am so happy I found a quilt to use them in that warranted their use!

The stars are a mix of 4 different peaches as I didn't have a peach fabric in 7/8 yard like the pattern states. And I like the added variety with the colors.

Once all my blocks were made, it was time to lay them out according to the diagram provided in the pattern. The placement of the 9 patches and stars are specific. Since this was such a big quilt, I couldn't use my design wall, I used my living room floor.

Once I had all the blocks laid out in their rows, then I staked the rows left to right and pinned a little number on them to keep myself organized. The nice part of sewing these rows is the seams should mostly nest and you don't have to press them until all the rows are done.

Once all the rows are sewn, you press them opposite direction so the seams nest. You don't even needs pins as each seam is kinda your guide!

We snapped a couple photos of it in front of our house and my little man tried to sneak into the edge of the photos. 

Then, a few days later it snowed and I made Luke go back outside to snap more photos! ha.

 

It was so fun to see our new house blanketed in snow. It didn't last long but I am happy I got these photos to remember it!

When it came to picking the quilting pantograph, I knew I wanted something with an all over design. Since it is a bed quilt, I didn't want the quilting design to be directional as it could look upside down depending on how Caroline laid the quilt on her bed. Not that I would see that but it is important enough that it won't ever be an issue! ha.

As an ode to the family citrus ranch, I picked the Interlocked Orange Peel which is one of my favorite pantographs! I sent this quilt off to Kaitlyn of Knot and Thread Design and she squeezed me in during the busy holiday season. The scale of the quilting design is a 4" repeat. It is enough texture without being super dense that the quilt doesn't drape easily over a bed. 

And, this quilt arrived back to me about 3 days before Caroline was flying in from Korea. Perfect timing!

 We bound the quilt in a pretty peach print by Carolyn Friedlander. And backed it in a soft blush tone gingham.

Because Caroline was coming so soon and would obviously be taking the quilt back with her when she left, I had to snap my own finished photos! Say what! I typically have Amy, my photographer, come for some photo sessions and would snap the images but I didn't have that time. So I did and let me tell you, Amy is amazing. I think my photos turned out fine but they are not as ethereal and crisp as hers.

The next round of images are well... adorable. Did I throw this quilt onto Redford who was looking all cozy in his bed? Yes. Yes I did. Did he look at me like I was nuts and wouldn't let him move? Yes, Yes that is true.

The last photos I needed to grab were some full shots of the finished quilt! We stopped at two different places by our house - a church and a mechanic shop. The walls were so pretty!

 

When Caroline arrived to our house last week after her super long couple days of travel, I had this folded on her bed. She didn't mention anything until I said "That quilt is your TCJ quilt" and her head snapped up and was like WHAT! And she was SO excited. I rarely ever get to gift someone personally a quilt I've made so it was really fun and special. We snapped a photo of us holding it together.

And that is it! I need to continue to make personalized quilts for family as time allows because it was such a joy to make. But also, maybe not bed size quilts again. ha!