BOB, HAZEL & BLANCHE – A POLITICAL LOVE TRIANGLE

I’m so excited to be sharing “Bob & Hazel” and “Blanche” with you all; I’m obsessed with this quilt at the moment. As part of the Hazel Hedgehog Quilt-a-Long I decided to make the lap quilt using 4 of the gigantic hedgehogs from Elizabeth Hartman’s Haze Hedgehog II pattern.

I opted for the larger hedgehogs because I wanted something that would have a bit of impact and allow me to play with fussy cutting. 

(Prints L-R, Top to Bottom: Lizzy House 1001 Peeps, Black Dots from Sunshine & Shadows (I used this print on my quilt “Rainbow Connection”), Tranquility by Michele D’Amore and Mustang from Cotton + Steel.)

I used Kona Cotton for the background of the four blocks and opted to use different shades of blue to add some interest and detail to the quilt. I am loving blue at the moment (I think it’s because I’m really enjoying summer this year.)

The fabulous Gemma (of Pretty Bobbins) did an edge to edge called “Not Square” in Aurifil 50wt #2563 (a light lilac). We talked a lot (which is something we do often) about what pattern to use as I wanted something angular that would work well with the sharp angles of the quills.

This wasn’t the pattern that I originally picked, but I’m so glad we settled on it because it’s so much nicer than the original pattern would have made this quilt. I’m a big fan of dense quilting and so this pattern allowed me to go dense without being too in your face.

The light lilac was not the colour I originally thought we’d use either (I was thinking an aqua or light grey) but when we stood there and talked about threads and looked at them it become so obvious that light lilac was the perfect choice.

The floral print on the bottom left hedgehog is really soft and delicate and so we ended up going with a thread that didn’t compete with that print because I didn’t want to lose it (it’s not often I work with such soft colours so I wanted to do everything I could to hold on to it).

This quilt is a great example of why it’s really important to work with a long armer that you can discuss your ideas with openly and courageously. It’s a relationship built on trust and that’s where the best work comes from. Gemma and I worked together to come up with a quilting solution that would (and I think does) work for this quilt. It’s not the vision I had in mind when I went in there, but I think it works so much better than what I would have done. When you pay to get a quilt quilted by a long armer you pay for their experience and part of that includes their opinion. A good long armer will listen to what you want and try to give you that, a great long armer will listen, discuss, guide, teach and work with you to give you a fabulous quilt.

I named this quilt “Bob and Hazel” after our former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his first wife, Hazel.  (I like to think the black and white dot hedgehog is representative of his hair colour over the years.) Bob Hawke was Prime Minister when I was a child and he’s one of those politicians who loom large in my memories of Australia during the 1980’s and I can’t hear the name “Hazel” without thinking of “Bob”.

In 1995 however Bob and Hazel divorced and Bob went on to marry Blanche. So it went without saying that I just had to make a Blanche…

I used the large hedgehog pattern from Elizabeth Hartman’s Haze Hedgehog II pattern, as well as the appliqué glasses she provides in the pattern.  I made Blanche loud and proud intentionally. I wanted it to be in your face and over-the-top because that’s how I remember the media portraying Blanche.

I opted to turn the glasses into sunglasses because I thought it would be fun and besides, she needs those glasses to protect her eyes from the glare of that kona cotton orange!

I did a really simple gird quilting using Aurifil 40wt #1154 which just disappears agains the background fabric and holds it’s own nicely against the greys and patterned fabrics. I couldn’t resist adding pompoms to this cushion, again just having fun. Later in the week I’ll share a tutorial showing you how to add pompoms to any cushions you might be making.

I really love how these two items work well together, but so easily stand on their own. I backed the quilt in flannel because I’d originally intended for it to be our snuggle quilt for the couch, but the little man just loves it so much that I think I’m going to use it on his big boy bed. Blanche is going to be added to the mountain of cushions we have on our couch.

I bound the quilt in some left over Kaffe Fasset fabric I had that I’d used to back “The Ballard of Lucy Jordan” and it worked a treat. I normally stick to fairly neutral choices for binding, but I’ve been a little bit inspired by the binding choice of Tsoniki (from Me Being Crafty) and so I decided to branch out with this quilt. I love the effect the binding gave the quilt and I’m totally going to do it again.

To get photos of this quilt I took Raylee on an adventure around the Australian National University. It’s the first time I’ve really been on the campus and I was so amazed at all the fabulous buildings and little nooks and crannies. I couldn’t help it but I took a heap of photos of little things I found interesting (like the colours and reflections).

It’s a place bursting with quilt-spiration and I’m pretty sure I’ll be heading back there to do some more exploring and get some more images.