Pink and Orange

Just a couple quick pics of my pink and orange quilt top. Yes, I have used this pattern before. Yes, it is my favorite because the pieces are large and show off the fabric that I like so well and it goes together so quickly. Yes, I am stuck in my comfort zone and can't seem to move away from straight lines/squares/rectangles. I do want to branch out, but I'm just not ready yet. I'm also waiting until I can decide how to quilt this before I finish it. I want to try free-motion quilting, but I am terrified of ruining my quilt top. I actually thought I'd practice on a smaller quilt that I don't necessarily like. Who has quilt tops lying around that they don't like? Plan B: just jump in with both feet and deal w/ the results. Well, maybe I will try Plan B this weekend.

I'm so pleased this quilt is finally finished (except for a label on the back..but that will be done very shortly). I showed the unfinished quilt to my neice at her open house and she and her best friend loved it...and her friend said, "I want one just like it". So..that is my next quilt to start. I bought the fabric and will start cutting this weekend.

I added some embroidery to a couple squares just to personalize it a bit more. I love the Sublime Stitching patterns that I found here.

My neice is "leaving" for college this fall. She will move into the dorms about 5 blocks from home. It will be an easy transition for her and my sister as well. Her best friend will be leaving the state, so I'd like to finish her quilt and get it in the mail to her soon after classes start this fall.

The fabric I used on the back of the quilt is something I found at our local fabric store that "specializes" in remnants. I'm glad I bought 5 yds of it as I'm sure I won't find it again (at least locally) and I thought not only the colors were a perfect addition to this quilt, but I found the numbers to be a bit ironic to use on her "Quilt for College".
I used 3 types of metallic thread to quilt it. I did not plan to use 3 types. I would have been perfectly happy to finish using the type I started with, but ran out and could not find the same again. I tried another brand with similar colors, but it must have been the coating that caused such problems...the metallic coating actually separated from the thread and I could only quilt about 2 inches at a time before the thread broke. I settled for another brand and could only find it in silver, which looked nice. I have some ugly areas where you can tell I had been fighting with the thread breaking and restarting. I'll just inform my neice to never look at those areas.

--Jodie

Dining Room

I'm posting a few pics from our dining room...it's a little cooler outside today so we have the windows open and it feels so wonderful to have a little breeze coming in and blowing the curtains open! It is such a welcomed relief to not have the humidity to deal with. I made the simple cafe curtains using Amy Butler's Lotus Wall Flower fabric. I have enough left to reupholster a vintage setee I bought at an estate auction. When I'm ready to tackle that project, I will post the before and after shots.

The bottom pic is my fabulous $2 find at Hobby Lobby. I love their 90% off section! I had my hubby help me hang it and he stepped back to admire our handiwork...and noticed one of three of our chandeliers hanging over our dining room table and he said, "Hey look at that! The picture matches the real ones!" I do love how handy...yet perfectly oblivious he is at times!

A dent in the WIPs

Well I did get some accomplished on Sunday. My husband spent the day taking pics at the air show and the kiddos played well while I was sewing. I did finish my neices quilt, but the pictures are a bit blurry. Hopefully I will be able to get some better shots and post later. I have never had so much trouble with a quilt as I did with that one. Even while sewing the binding in place, it seemed like the batik fabric was "slippery" and I had a tough time keeping the edges together. I don't remember how many seams I actually had to pull out.

I did finish a lap-sized quilt for a friend. She lost her mother over a year ago and gave me all of her mom's fabric. I feel honored to take over where her mom left off. She intended for all of that fabric to become quilts, so I'm busy putting it together. I have a couple more quilt tops done, but need to get more batting before I can put finish the larger ones.

I'm pleased with the way this pink one turned out. It measures 42x42, so it went together lickety split..esp quilting it stitch in the ditch.

Summer Joy

Inaugural Blog

Hello and welcome to my new blog. My goal is to meet other creative spirits, learn and share ideas and hopefully participate in as many quilt swaps as I can!
The quilt in my blog title is one I am finishing for my neice for graduation. It's the first quilt I've made using Batiks and I'm thrilled with the explosion of color it has created!
I'm off to finish the binding on this quilt.
--Jodie