Process

Thought I'd show you a little of my process on one of these projects that's been sitting for a few months because I couldn't decide how to finish.

I had a charm pack of this fabric collection from Tula Pink (can't remember the name right now).  One day I was needing some instant gratification sewing, so I grabbed this charm pack (5" squares, one of each print in a collection of fabric).  I thought this lime green complimented the bright colors, so I cut each block into four 2.5" squares and made these green crosses in the middle.

Total impulse sewing, I had no plan.  It was fun sewing these little guys together though!

The obvious choice is then to sash them.  I did have enough of this green, but I knew that such a huge dose of lime green would be overpowering.

I really liked this bright lilac solid, although I only had a small piece.  So I merrily started sewing these blocks together, telling myself I'd just order more of the purple.

I got as far as the photo above and ran out of fabric.  The whole thing was shoved into the corner and I turned my attention to something more pressing.
 

Now we are four months later, and I'm trying to finish up a few of these cute but pesky piles.  So why didn't I just order more of the purple?  Well, I had my finger on the purchase button a few times but for some reason I never did.  One reason is that I've been making a real effort to use the fabric I have on hand.  The other reason is that I had some niggling doubts about the purple.

Oh, it's a perfect shade for these fabrics.  It looks really good with them.  But honestly, I knew this quilt would turn out really. really. purple.  I knew I wouldn't use such a purple quilt for a baby of mine, and not many other folks would either.

Time to get practical here!  So I'm going to rip out that purple sashing and instead use a more neutral fabric that I have in my stash.

Here you see I'm trying out some Kona Snow (a creamy white).  In the photo above is a light gray.  Either one will work.  I'm pretty sure I'll use Kona Snow.  It's my go-to safe zone!

At this point, my prediction is that I'm not gonna love this quilt, either way.  But I might surprise myself!

*Note*  I have a feeling that some of you will cry, "Keep the Purple!".  I hear you:)   If enough of you say that you would honest to goodness buy a bright purple quilt for your baby, I might reconsider!

Process:

Quilting With a Modern Slant: A Review

So friends, I'm doing a sponsored book review today!  (Sponsored meaning the publisher sent me a book for free, and I get to give one copy to one of you)  If you read my blog much, you know I just don't do this stuff.  I find it way too hard to be honest, but also nice at the same time:)

So why am I doing it this time?  I don't know.  Must have been that the concept of the book intrigued me, as it did not seem to be your typical quilting book.   And even though I don't label myself as a modern quilter, I am influenced by modern quilters and very interested in this topic as a whole.

So I said yes, I will accept this book and talk about it on my blog.  And then in the weeks I was waiting for it to arrive, I wondered to myself why I had put myself in for this, since I was sure to disagree with most of what the book said about 'modern' quilting.

After the book arrived (only yesterday, so I haven't had a lot of time to look at it) I cracked it open and started reading at the beginning.

I started out by being pleasantly surprised.  I enjoyed Rachel May's introduction, as well as the following pages which include Six Steps to a Quilt (simple breakdown on how to make a quilt),  as well as a few pages with her thoughts on modern quilting.  I found this first part of the book to be very encouraging and inclusive.

This book is mainly a collection of quilters and artists who have inspired or been a part of the modern quilting community.  Each person has a page or two with some of their thoughts on various aspects, as well as some examples of their work.

I was very pleased to find Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr as the first featured artists.  I only wish that they could have had a few more pages to share their amazing quilts and valuable thoughts.

I could go into so much more, but I'll try to put my overview into a few sentences.  I enjoyed reading this book, but am not sure what it's use is for me.  There are patterns sprinkled throughout, but none that I would be likely to use.  There are lots of beautiful quilts shown, but it felt like I'd seen a lot of them before.  It was interesting to hear a bit from each of these quilters, but I would have rather seen a smaller number of contributors and more in depth conversations as well as more samples of each artist's work.

I feel like I'm being picky by saying this, like I'm expecting perfection!  The fact is, this is a beautiful book with a LOT of content.

If you are a quilter deeply immersed in the modern quilting world, you'll find this book interesting simply because you'll recognize many names and feel a connection.

I would also recommend this book to a fairly new quilter as I feel like it has a very encouraging and inclusive tone to it.  Overall, I am very happy with the impression it leaves of the quilting community in general.

I hope this little review interested you enough to go check it out!

Oh, and leave me a comment here on this post for a chance to win a copy.  I'll leave the giveaway open till Feb. 24th.

A Little Red n Blue

Another little one that's been finished for awhile, just hadn't shown it to you yet.  I really like this simple design, just strips sewn together.

My memory is a bit dim, but here's how (I think) I did this one.  I cut varying width strips by the width of fabric.  The strip widths were anywhere from 1.5"-3" wide.

I then took these strips, layering a few on top of each other, and cut them into the following lenghts, 3.5", 6.5", and 12.5".  This makes it really easy to mix and match your widths, as two 3.5" sets sewn together make 6.5", and two 6.5" sets sewn together make 12.5".  Make any sense?

For the quilting I did my old standby, straightline quilting about 1" apart.  I've found this to be my magical formula that makes for just the right amount of crinkly texture, but not too much quilting to make it stiff.