A new quilt!

I started a new quilt a couple weeks ago. Same style as my others, but a totally different color scheme. I usually go for bright, spunky colors and prints (especially the batiks) but this one was inspired by a blue silk bathrobe that I've been dying to cut up and a whole bunch of blue and brown vintage floral prints. The silk is proving to be difficult to work with, especially since I've only worked with cotton before, but I like the challenge. And I love how it looks.

I've been messing around with the layout of this for a few weeks and finally ended up with one I liked. So for my first official Project Thursday, last week I finally unpacked all of my sewing stuff (which had been untouched since the move home) and got to work. It's been over a year since I made one of these quilts- the last one I made was a baby quilt for my best friend, last summer. Pictures of that will be up soon.

I was a little intimidated about starting another big, crazy quilt, because I was having such a hard time picking fabrics and laying it all out, but it got easier once I started sewing. Unfortunately, it is 10pm and this Thursday has been fairly uncreative. (Not to say that it hasn't been productive, though.) I guess I'll have to have Project Friday this week, instead.

In other news, I think I've finally got everything unpacked from the move. And almost all of it is organized. (I'm such a Virgo.) It's been so satisfying to go through everything, again. I'm up to 8 full trash bags of things to sell at the family yard sale this summer. It looks like my entire family is going to be contributing to the sale- it's going to be huge. We're aiming for Saturday of Memorial Day weekend...more on that as it gets closer.

New favorite song: When I'm With You, by Best Coast. Check it out.

Three Quilts for Christmas.

For Christmas gifts in 2008, my sister and I made a total of five quilts. We finished three of them on Christmas eve. My sister made one for her boyfriend and we each helped out to make one for our mom, one for mom's boyfriend, and one for our dad. I also made one in the fall, for my boyfriend. It was the most awesome feeling to watch as they all opened their presents and know that we had made them. I'm really looking forward to giving more of these as gifts.

I chose the colors for my mom's quilt based on the six chakras: Root (red), Sacrum (orange), Solar Plexus (yellow), Heart (green), Throat (blue), Third Eye (purple), Crown (white). I really didn't want a bright rainbow quilt, though, so I used more earthy, muted colors, and I love the result. It's backed in maroon flannel and filled with all natural cotton batting.

I made this quilt as a present for my boyfriend, using his favorite colors. It is queen sized and backed with soft flannel, a new idea because it was made when the weather was turning chilly. I unfortunately never got a better picture of the finished quilt. I hope he kept it.

Pictures of Rose's quilt for Tyler can be found on our other quilt blog, here:

http://mrejdecrazyquilts.blogspot.com/

As of right now we seem to be missing pictures of the quilts we made for Rick and our Dad. If I come across them though, I'll be sure to post them.

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New music recommendation: Shpongle.

Blue crazy quilt

This is the second quilt I made, which is twin sized. It took a considerable amount of time to make the front because of the sheer number of 6" long strips of material that had to be cut. It was worth the effort though- I really like the busy look of all the strips. I made this the summer after my first year at college and took this picture before the edging was done. Unfortunately, two years later, the edging is still not done. My only UFO... maybe this will be the summer that I finish it?

Crazy quilt.

Finally! A post about quilts! Here is a picture of the very first quilt I made. I just put it back on my bed this week and it instantly felt like summer (despite the un-summerlike weather).

I made this quilt during my senior year of high school, about three years ago. I got the idea after I found a quilt that I had helped my mom make when I was really little. The color was obviously inspired by the orange wall in my room, and I really love how the green contrasts with it. It brightens up the room instantly.

I worked without a pattern, and found that I really liked not planning it all out first. It took several months to make the front, a few days to make the back and assemble the layers, and then another few weeks to get through handstitching all the edges.