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!