Caterpillar Kawandi

 A lady in my quilt guild had made a "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" quilt for one of her children a few years ago, and she ended up with quite an amount of remnants. Her kids have grown up and are not interested in caterpillars anymore, so she gave the fabrics to me for making a charity quilt to the hospital. 

The character from the well known book by Eric Carle is cherished by children worldwide.

There were a lot of fabrics in the collection with caterpillars, different types of food with holes, cutouts of holes, bright stripes, and stars. I gathered lots of novelty fabrics with animals and birds and other prints that a small child would recognize. I decided to make a Kawandi quilt, because that is the softest  and most cuddly quilt for a little kid.

I had a piece of grey gingham flannel that decided the size of the quilt.

 

Making a Kawandi quilt is the most relaxing and rewarding process I know. You start arranging the fabric from the outside working your way towards the middle. Everything is hand sewn with big stitches, I used a soft crochet thread for the hand quilting.

The quilt is so soft and cuddly! The finished size is approximately 38" x 40", perfect for a baby/small child.

This is my eleventh charity quilt for the year 2023, and number 103 all time for the children's ward at the hospital. 

Keep on quilting!

 

Kawandi Needle Book

 Sometimes I just want to sit down and relax with a slow stitching project, no time limits, just for fun. Kawandi quilts seem to be my new relaxation.

 

This time I used blue and green scraps to make a needle book, this is the finished product.

The process started like this. The little quilt started like this. It is completely hand sewn. I used Aurifil 12wt thread in color 2720, a thread that was a good match for the scraps of fabric.

The completed fabric all stretched out, measuring approx. 4" x 8". A button and a crocheted loop was added for closure.

The inside (or backing) of the Kawandi is the softest flannel. A few pieces of wool fabric was cut with my pinking shears and sewn in for my needles.

Another tiny Kawandi project is completed, it feels good!

Keep on quilting!

Kawandi Quilt

 

Kawandi quilts seem to be one of the hottest projects around these days. I jumped on this wagon and made a charity quilt for the children's ward at my local hospital.

There are lots of interesting fabrics in this quilt, colorful prints with animals and many recognizable objects. This will be perfect for a little child.

Kawandi quilts are 100% handsewn and are sewn from the outside in. The first row of the project with fabric pieces of different sizes. 

The starting point of this quilt was the softest  piece of a flannel backing from my stash. With a thin cotton backing I started stitching.

A detailed picture of the process. Since you sew through three layers, the project is being quilted as you go (QAYG). I used a white cotton crochet yarn for the big stitching.

I made a little test project first of 6"x9" to get acquainted with the technique.

My big Kawandi quilt measures 28"x41" and is the softest and most cuddly quilt I have ever made! It is the most relaxing and rewarding quilting technique I have ever tried.

This is my twelfth charity quilt for the year 2022, and number 91 all time for the children's ward at the hospital.

Keep on quilting!

 

My first Kawandi

 

Here's my first attempt of making a Kawandi quilt. I dove into my bin with small scraps and had a blast! Lots of colorful pieces were hand sewn into the final product, it was a really relaxing process. 

I used Aurifil 12wt thread in white 2024 to create this wonderful, scrappy piece of art that measures 9.5" x 6.5".  Maybe my favorite mug rug. Love the big stitches.

Already planning a bigger piece for next time, probably refining the technique a bit.

Keep on (hand) stitching!