I've Got The Blues

I am amazed when I look back at the quilts I've made and see how many are either dominated by blue or at least contain some striking blue aspects.  When shopping for fabrics, it's the blues that often attract my attention first (although I manage to find the time to look at ALL the colors before leaving any quilt shop).


Besides the 2 or 3 (or maybe 4) blue ones in earlier posts, here are a few of my bluer quilts:


Cowgirl Blues (2003?) [for Karen]

Through Time and Space (2000) [Anniversary Gift for Jim]

Dorothy's 80th Birthday Quilt (1997)

Sunflower Wallhanging (20??) [with lots of Swarovski crystals]

Walk In The Woods (2008) [for Lawson because of Alaska!]

Blue Mountains and Meteors (2002?) [for David]  

This is just a small detail.  I can't find a bigger picture of this one.  But it's BLUE!

So, do you think I'm in a rut?  Old habits must die hard, because I recently purchase MORE blue fabric.  Maybe the best thing to do is go out, hit all my favorite quilt shops and buy anything and everything except blue.  Yeah, that's a plan I like!

I'll leave you with this lap quilt, although it's only partly blue.  When I put this one together I wasn't particularly interested in patriotic designs but I had the right fabric and it seemed like the right time.  I finished it on Flag Day 2001.  Not many weeks later we experienced the devastating losses on 9/11/2001 and the quilt took on a deeper meaning for me.  Since then I've made a couple things for Quilts of Valor; more on that great organization in a later post.

2012 Quilt Block Lotto

I'm having so much fun right now with a short term project!  I volunteered to manage the GardenWeb Quilt Forum's block lottery this year.  We post a block or a color theme each month and anyone on the forum can enter 1, 2 or 3 blocks for 1, 2 or 3 chances to win.  At the end of the month we hold a drawing.  Winner takes all!  

I discovered it was more difficult than I expected it to be to choose blocks and colors that I thought might have the most appeal.  They need to be complex enough to be interesting and to make a pretty quilt, but simple enough not to scare off the beginners.  This is a great way to learn new blocks so it's wonderful for beginning quilters.  But it's also a fun way to try new things and use up some stash, so it's great for experienced quilters as well.   Even a small winning of just 12 blocks can make a lap quilt, a donation project or be the basis for a larger quilt.  Some months there can be well over 20 blocks in the pot!  A couple years ago I won a navy blue & white lotto; I turned it into one of my favorite quilts with yellow sashing and a yellow Minky backing.  And of course it reminds me of all my quilter friends on the forum.  Can you tell that I love the lotto?!? 

To get the process started this year I have pledged to the group that I'll make 3 blocks each month.  And to help get them all interested and excited about it, I've already made everything through July and posted the pictures on GardenWeb.  Industrious, aren't I?  Really, I'm having so much fun with it I can't stop!

January (any block, in red & white)

February ("Contrary Wife" in rich jewel tones)

    

March ("Amish Diamond")

April ("Bento Box" in black/white and a bright)

May ("Next Door Neighbor" in red, blue and beige)

 June ("Log Cabin" in warm neutrals)

  

July (any star in blues & yellows)

The Wedding Quilt

My very wonderful niece Lisa found an equally wonderful man Michael and they were married in August 2010.  I was so happy for them and was proud to be able to make this quilt.  It's large enough to easily fit a king bed and done in neutral shades that I thought she would prefer.


I am normally drawn to saturated colors - jewel tones in particular - so working with creamy neutrals was a challenge!  But the more I looked at them the more I loved them.  The original inspiration for this quilt is one I saw long ago called White Chocolate; this is a much simpler design but I kept those shades in mind while picking out the fabric.


Long arm quilt artist Mary Beth quilted this one for me; as always, she did a beautiful job.
 

I had DH Jim with me when looking for the backing fabric and he pulled this one off the shelf:  perfect!  I need to take him fabric shopping more often!

This Jinny Beyer border print nicely complimented the fabrics and her borders are so much fun to miter!