QUILTS

I LOVE QUILTS. I think I always have. My mom started me off young on loving the textures, colors, and patterns of fabric and quilts just always seemed like art to me. BUT, I knew what kind of time, patience, and precision it took to make quilts like I had seen and knew I would get bored before I even had the pieces cut out. So for years I would just admire them from afar. THEN, a friend introduced me to strip quilting, explaining it was so much easier because you cut out long strips of fabric, sewed them together and then cut out smaller pieces, thus eliminating sewing together a million 2x2 squares of fabric. We set out on making a quilt for my brother Joel. Mind you this was early 2004. She started dating someone serious and our quilt project sort of disolved, although I had the pattern and the basic concept. For the next 3 years, I would sew bits together to give to Joel as his gift with the promise that I was going to finish it that time, and it never happened. FINALLY, my dear husband, knowing what motivated me, challenged me to get it done for Christmas 2007, but sort of put a little doubt in my head to really motivate me. I told him I would not buy one inch of fabric for the entire year if I didn't get that darn quilt finished before Christmas. SO, needless to say, Joel opened a great looking quilt that Christmas morning!! Ah, inspiration and motivation!! I didn't take any pictures of it, but want to use it for an exhibit so I will snatch it back and take some pictures. Its pretty darn cool.

This last fall I decided I wanted to learn how to 'quilt' quilt, meaning quilt the top, batting and bottom together, like in real quilts. (Versus tying them together). So I read up on it online and decided that pink and yellow fabric I had been collecting would make a really cute quilt for my mother in law, Sheila, and that would be a great time to practice!! I set out on it, deciding to use large blocks to minimize lots of small cuts. Plus I only had a month to get it done, and knowing HOW long it took to get Joel's done, I needed to hustle. Looking back I wished I would have just taken more time and used more interesting blocks. Oh well. I even stippled it on my machine, which once I got going was so much fun! Its like drawing with thread on fabric! NOW, this was my first stippling, so its not perfect and I have learned soo much in doing this project. But here are the results:

The first picture is the front of the quilt. Told you it could have been more interesting:


Here is the back, which I kind of like better than the front!!


And here is a close up of the stippling. I think I needed to do it closer together, then it would have puffed up a little more. Plus, the pattern was not consistent at all, which I know is ok to some degree, but I took it a little far.


So, that's my first ever stippled quilt. I have wanted to make one for Zander and his big boy bed for a while, and think i have decided on a pattern. That's my next project! This is the inspiration for Zander's quilt: . I am going to do it a little different, using slighly larger pieces. I have been collecting different shades of brown and blue fabric for this very purpose and am really excited to get going on it. Just hesitant, you know?? Wish me luck! Oh, here is a picture of the fabrics I want to use. Ah, I will post that later. Zander is asleep and I don't want to go digging through my stash and risk ruining nap time!!