Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Baby Quilt for MX

Not too long ago an old friend commissioned me to make a baby quilt for a co-worker. The expectant parents planned to name the baby Marley Xene (said Zene). Not exactly your average, everyday middle name, but my friend was particularly taken with their choice of name, especially the middle one. In fact, my friend was so enamored of the name that she asked that I incorporate the-as-yet-unborn baby's initials in the design of the quilt.

I love this kind of challenge. I knew that my friend would be open to a creative interpretation as we went to Art School together. So, I set about designing a super-sized single block that included a variety of fabrics, especially mine, and at least hinted at the the aforementioned initials.
I had to do a lot of math, not exactly my strong suit, to craft these triangles and fit in the "letters", but I'm very happy with how this baby quilt turned out. Also, I can definitely see expanding this concept into multiple blocks as part of a larger quilt.
I'm also happy to report that my friend loved the finished quilt and was super excited to gift it to her co-worker.
In a bit of a twist though, the parents decided to forgo the unusual middle name, not related to the design of my quilt...I hope. :)

11 comments:

Elizabeth Dackson said...

Malka, this block is amazing!! I love it to pieces, and I'm sure that the expectant parents will adore it as well :)

knottygnome said...

it's beautiful! great design.

stitchinpenny said...

Their loss for not using the initials, but the design stands beautifully without the link to initials.

Cindy Sharp said...

Very cool quilt.

Carla said...

I think you rose to the challenge just perfectly. How big is it?

Malka Dubrawsky said...

Thanks, Carla!
The quilt measures about 40" x 40".

liz said...

Brilliant and beautiful! Bravo!

Brenda said...

at first glance it looks like a star, and then I saw the initials. fabulous quilt!

Watercolour and Textile Artist, Eileen Gidman said...

Great designing.

French Toast Tasha said...

Really cool! I love the radiating chevrons quilted into the X. The whole X could be just a design feature, assuming they kept the M ... not your problem in any case, it came out great!

Leanne said...

I love this quilt, the design is unusual and so effective.