I'm back!

It's been almost two years since I updated this page... hard to believe! Which  means this is about to be the longest post EVER.
Ready?
Go.

I started two quilts last fall, one was a Christmas present for my dad, the other for myself. I worked in my usual style- not planning anything (or if I did, not sticking to the plan), not using patterns, just letting the quilt build itself. And I branched out from my usual cotton and started to experiment with velvet, satin, and even metallic lycra.
I woke up one morning in September with a crazy inspiration to start a new quilt (after having a pretty severe creative dry spell for most of 2011) I finally brought all my fabric from my mom's to my new apartment and dove in headfirst- materials and colors that I've never used before in quilts, had the entire quilt planned out, and finished the first 8 or 9 rows in one weekend.

Once I started, I decided to stick with yellow, rather than fading out to orange and red like I had originally planned.. But then I ran out of yellow. I got stuck for about six months, and only recently started working on it again. Turns out it's difficult to find a yellow cotton with an orange pattern in the wintertime! So I packed it away for a while, figuring I'd pull it out again in the summer when I could find more bright prints to choose from. I found exactly the right fabric during an impromptu visit to a thrift store last month, and I'm thrilled to see this quilt get closer to being finished!

It still needs another foot or so in each direction, then it will fit a queen sized bed. And then the hardest question of all....what to use for the back? I'm thinking black, and maybe a little row of yellow/orange strips, or squares.

I started my Dad's quilt in October, right after I got stuck with the yellow quilt. I went out looking for inspiration to start the quilt, and found a blue velvet bathrobe from the company "Jasmine Rose'...so obviously I took that as a sign to base the quilt around that fabric. After getting stuck a few times, and taking out more than a few rows, I finished the quilt in December (okay..so I didn't finished the edges until March, but it was put together in time for Christmas morning!)

My sister made two of the matching pillows (center and left), incorporating some of the same velvets that I used in the quilt. I made the pillow on the right last summer as a birthday present. I hadn't started the quilt yet, but it ended up matching the style and color pretty perfectly.


Last week I started a new quilt with a similar style the yellow quilt, but haven't taken any photos yet. (I will once it's a little bigger.) These two are a little different from my usual style: none of the little strips, or squares, like in my early projects. I'm not really sure how to describe what I do- I don't think there's a name for the technique..and I've never come across anything like my quilts (except my sister's..but even she has her own style). I think that's pretty awesome.

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I've moved into (and out of) half a dozen apartments since I started this blog, lived in three different states, and graduated college.. It's been an amazing few years, filled with countless projects and adventures, and I wish I'd documented more of the projects as I completed them (rather than going back now and filling in all at once).

Two years ago I came across this link: http://blairpeter.typepad.com/weblog/2009/08/stash-value-quilt.html.  I fell in love with the bright, happy colors, the style so different from what I usually made..and I welcomed the opportunity to use all my fabrics with bold patterns. This quilt was fun to make.. a little time consuming, but very easy.
I completed mine during the summer of 2010.

A wonderful tutorial showed me the easiest/ most efficient way to get all those triangles cut and paired: http://sewkatiedid.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/value-quilts-tutorial/


I just started four new quilts, three are commission pieces, and I'm beyond excited to have all these projects to work on. To date I've finished eight quilts: five as gifts, two for myself, and the last (the triangle value quilt, above) lives on my mom's couch...but I have yet to sell one. I've wanted to for years, but haven't really know how to start. Until now.

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A few of my other recent projects. 2012 has been a busy year so far!
New pillowcases to match the new room (the old cases had neon polka dots..didn't quite fit with the teal walls!)

A little zip-up pouch for my headphones and iphone charger. It took less than an hour from start to finish, and the directions couldn't be easier to follow. The (fantastic) tutorial I followed can be found here:

http://erinerickson.com/2011/11/circle-zip-earbud-pouch-tutorial/

And today I finished a new case for my Kindle, to protect the screen from getting scratched up. I didn't use a tutorial or anything, just started piecing scraps together, then traced the outline of the Kindle to make the sleeve.