Latest Finishes

Or near finishes. One top isn't quilted yet -- but I did complete the wedding quilt for Jackson and Brianna before(!) the wedding in 3-1/2 weeks. And, yes, this IS the first quilt I did on my HQ¹⁸ Avanté. Finishing quilts before the wedding or before the baby is born doesn't happen very often -- what with five babies born in the last 12 months to nieces and nephews.

 

 

Emily and Jaren's wedding quilt hopefully will be done before their first anniversary in July! I figure if brides have up to a year to send thank-you notes, I have up to a year to deliver the wedding quilt. I have picked out the fabric and the design, so it's practically done.

I must say that it feels so good to be back in my sewing room (if it were bigger I would call it a studio). After five months of having no energy due to thyroid issues (Hashimoto's thyroiditis, to be exact) and extremely low vitamin D levels, and 5 weeks of adjusting to thyroid medications following a thyroidectomy, it is wonderful to feel normal again. To have the energy to sew for a couple hours in the evenings after a full day of work. To spend all day on a Saturday working on quilts -- rotary cutting, sewing, pressing, etc. etc. etc.

A couple weekends ago this was where I focused my creative energy:

 

I was looking through an old issue of Quilt Sampler magazine and I saw this quilt. It mentioned a kit was available at Waterwheel House Quilt Shop. Would the kit still be available this long after the magazine came out? Hallelujah! I didn't have to go searching for the Kaffe Fassett striped fabrics -- but could simply buy a kit. It was a cinch to sew up. After all, what's easier than a log cabin block. And the courthouse steps variation is the easiest of them all.

This was going to be Emily and Jaren's quilt -- but I fell in love with it myself and can't bear to part with it.

I'm going to quilt this one myself as well. I was auditioning thread colors using the collection of thread in the Handi Quilter studio. I found a mossy green and a muted aqua that both work really well. Who would've thunk it? So I ordered a Kaffe shot solid fabric in a moss green for the backing. I'm thinking the moss green thread will be best, but we'll see how it works with the backing.

I learned in a lecture a few weeks ago by Suzanne Hyland about how to choose quilting designs for a quilt that if the quilt is busy like this one is, it's not worth the time and effort to do a lot of fancy, custom quilting because it will simply not show up. Plus, I intend this as a utility quilt to keep me cozy while watching TV, etc. in the winter. It WILL be used. So I'll be able to get away with a simple all-over design -- probably a meandering stipple in my case.

As I said before, it feels good to have quilting and creative energy again!

Get Ready for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 9

Not an April Fool's joke! I have another block in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. This time in volume 9.

I'll be participating in the blog tour. My assigned day is May 1.

Be sure to join in the blog tour the week of April 28 through May 2 because all of the bloggers -- including  me -- will be giving away a copy of the magazine.