Modern Mayhem

These are pictures of the first quilt I ever pieced and quilted myself. It is from the book, "Batik Beauties" by Laurie J. Shifrin called Modern Mayhem. I made my version in blues instead of the earthy brown/oranges of the original. It measures 50" x 64" and was quilted by stitching in the ditch. I really love the simplicity of this pattern and the ease with which it went together. I am a bit sad when I look at it now that I only used medium toned blues. I didn't really know at the time how to use a variance of light through to dark fabric. Oh well, I still like it, but it will probably never be a favorite.

Glimpse of the Past

This is a photo of one of my favorite quilts done by my friend Mo. The pattern is from the book Batik Beauties by Laurie J. Shifrin called Glimpse of the Past. Mo changed a couple of things in her version to that in the book and used Moda's Vienna Nights fabric instead of batiks. I love the way the creams and red fabrics make the blues really stand out. Well, I happen to like this so much that I plan to make a similar quilt for my dining table cover. I have a Jarrah table so the reds and blues will go really well with the wood. I plan on customizing the pattern to my table size as soon as my new EQ6 comes in the mail! Soon.... I am hoping.

Gridlock Progress

I am slowly making progress on Gridlock. Yesterday I realized that in order to make the size quilt I would like (King), I will need to make 81 blocks. So far I have only made 12 of the checkerboard blocks with 28 more to go before I can start the other 40! I think this is going to take a while! It's fun creating each block one at a time and trying to decide which colors to use as I go. Well, I better get back at it!

Gridlock

I've started a new project! Lately I have been obsessed with Kaffe Fassett designs and fabrics and I especially like this photo of Kaffe's design called "Gridlock" sewn by Liza Prior Lucy. I bought some Kaffe Fassett stripe and shot cotton fabrics from http://www.gloriouscolor.com
and have started sewing. I plan to make this quilt as King size, so it will be a long project. I am excited! I will keep you posted on the progress of this quilt.

Rainbow After the Storm

These are pictures of a quilt I recently finished. It is from a precut kit by John Flynn. http://www.flynnquilt.com I really enjoyed working with the Storm at Sea pattern, especially since it was all precut for me! The colors were a bit on the pink/orange side for me, but I still think it would be a fun quilt for the right person. The borders were my choice in fabric and my husband chose the backing fabric! I quilted this by stitching in the ditch on my Husqvarna (6030)! The back wrinkled a bit, but not too bad--I've had worse. The quilt measures 40" by 52" with the borders included.

Coral Reef

I took these pictures today of the first quilt I ever made. It is the quilt that we currently use on our bed and probably one of my favorite quilts thus far.

I started my adventure in quilting in December 2004, when I was still living in Michigan. One of the local fabric stores had a large stock of batik fabrics that made me want to do something with them. My best friend has been a quilter for over 10 years and looking at her work with her love of batiks inspired me to make my own quilt.

I am a huge fan of batiks, I love the way they feel, the fact that both sides can be used and the brilliant colors they display. Blue is the color I am most often drawn to, so picking out these fabrics I chose as many cool toned colors as I could find. The lady helping me was very helpful and said she liked the choices I was making. I remember thinking that the blue/purple colors looked very nice together, but that it needed a kick. She helped steer me into the oranges, which was strange for me because at that time I generally tried to stay away from orange. I had no idea about color wheels or values so I am still very thankful for her suggestions.

I cut these fat quarters into 4" squares and designed them in a repeating pattern using every bit of fabric that I had purchased. I sewed this quilt on my mom's old Singer Genie that she had from the early 70's. I think I never swore so many times! I had never used a sewing machine before and had no idea what I was doing. The thread would break every couple inches and I threaded that machine hundreds of times! There was no way I was going to be able to quilt it one the Genie, so I sent it off to be quilted. It was quilted in a beautiful edge to edge swirl pattern that inspired me to name it, "Coral Reef". In all it was a pretty good first quilting experience.