2011 - Busy summer!

Welcome to my quilt blog.  It will be more of a image album than a blog, I guess.  I'm not starting this to talk about quilts - I do enough of that on GardenWeb's Quilt Forum - so there won't be frequent updates, daily words of wisdom or brilliant ideas about quilt design that no one ever thought of before.  Its more of a place where I can record the quilts I've made and share them with fellow fabric addicts and friends who are interested.  Maybe a couple other creative things too, but mostly quilts. 

2011 has been a great year for quilting.  I had about 6 weeks of non-work time because of knee surgery this spring, so I had time to really get involved with my stash.  For you non-quilters reading this, "stash" to a quilter means all the stacks, bits, scraps, bins, bags and drawers of fabric we have accumulated over time.  I'm not saying it can't be mind-altering, but it's definitely not illegal!

I've been able to complete some projects started earlier in the year but mostly these were new projects, started and completed since May.  

The one that really got me through my recovery time is this king size made with 1930's reproduction fabrics.  Not normally my style but I'm in love with it.  The inner blocks are buckeye beauty and the outer blocks are london square.  They are an accumulation of birthday blocks made for me by quilting friends over the past two years.  It was quilted by the amazing Mary Beth Krapil in Orlando.  It's our summer quilt and reminds me of the farmhouse quilts I was so attracted to when I was a child.

The next project turned out to be the Early American tavern sign quilt.  I had this fabric for a loooong time, never sure what to do with it or how to cut it.  Then I decided that NOT cutting it was the way to go.  I surrounded it with paper pieced stars and backed it with flannel in a fabric that matches one of the non-flannels on the front.  The center of the red wonky star on the back is lots of little bits and pieces of the salvage sign fabric.  This was a gift for Jim, meant to accompany us on some camping trips.  It's just the right size for an RV bed.

We have a niece and nephew starting college this year; a momentous occasion no matter how ready a young adult may be for it.  It was Jim's idea but as soon as he suggested dorm quilts for them I was excited to do it.  I'm certain they weren't sitting in their respective dorms, wishing some old auntie whom they rarely see would make quilts for them, but I hope they bring them some comfort during the next few stressful years.  It's always nice to be reminded that your family loves you and supports you.

This one is made with Moda fabrics in the Arcadia patterns designed by Sanae.  I found them during a quilt shop hop with my wonderful buddy Marilyn and I was smitten with them.  I kept the design very simple to let the fabrics speak for themselves.  To make the backing wide enough I added a chain of all the left over bits from the front.  I think it turned out very fresh and hopefully contemporary enough to please my niece. I always enjoy the planning and sewing but this was an exceptionally fun quilt to make!

This quilt for my nephew is all about comfort.  It's soft, with a dark blue Minky backing and a thin flannel batting.  I always make pillowcases to go with gift quilts but this is the first Minky pillowcase I've ever made.  It just makes you want to sink into a long nap.  If he stops studying I may have to take some of the blame for that!  The top is a Nine Patch Pizzazz, made with some cool Japanese influenced panel pieces.  

The backing makes it a little hard to quilt but it's worth it when it comes out this nice.

 So that's 4 quilts in one summer!  But wait!  There's more!


I also made a couple batik animal pillows:  the owl was first because I have become kind of "owl involved" this past year (that's Jack Bauer admiring my work), then the turtle for my friend Evelyn who has a thing for turtles.  They must know it because a beautiful box turtle just moved into her garden!


After the animal pillows, I started working with laminated fabrics and put this large tote together.  I have more of this stuff and want to make a couple waterproof  backpacks, but haven't been brave enough to start on them yet.  The cherry bag has polka dot sides and is fully lines with more black cherry fabric.