Patriotic X and Plus Quilt

Ages ago, the blogosphere exploded with quilts made out of “x and + blocks.” I think there was even a sewalong at one point. The small blocks are ideal for scrap busting. I always liked the pattern, but knew that controlled scrappy was more my style.

The lines of the block reminded me of the stars and stripes of the American flag, so I thought it would make a perfect Fourth of July quilt. It wasn’t until the May/June issue of Quilty that I was inspired to get started on it. Instead of the original 7.5” blocks, the Floral Breeze pattern features 20” blocks. You only need twelve of them for a 60” by 80” quilt!

The original patterns uses the same fabrics for each block, but I wanted my quilt to have more character. I raided my stash, but didn’t come up with very many red and white fabrics, so I stocked up on Hawthorne Threads. I was so enthusiastic about getting started that I neglected to make note of what fabrics I bought. I do know I bought a bunch of fabrics in multiple colors, so there’s lots of Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets, Dear Stella Zig Zags and Confetti Dots, and Riley Blake white on white basics.

In a perfect world, this quilt would be super quick to whip up. I found that I could easily knock out a block or two in an evening. However, I had several sewing distractions, so it took longer than anticipated. I started this quilt in May and finished in October. At least it will be ready for next Fourth of July!

It has been awhile since the timing has been right for me to share a quilt in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, so I’m happy to link up this time.

2011 Memory Quilt

The main reason I started blogging was to document my quilting efforts, so that I could remind myself of what I had finished and inspire myself to greater creativity and productivity. I have come to enjoy blogging for its own sake, though, and found that I wanted something tangible to remember my quilts by. I love using leftovers from a finished quilt in a new quilt, but wanted one quilt to represent all the quilts I finished in 2011. The first two quilts I finished last year used the Yellow Brick Road pattern, which resulted in very little “waste.” Most of the scraps were less than 2” wide, so I decided to make postage stamp blocks out of 1.5” squares. The sashing, backing and binding are also made out of scraps. The last block is a big scrap of Lizzy House’s Pearl Bracelet fabric, embroidered with the year and my initials in my own handwriting.

2011 was a challenging year for me. In fact, it was one of the most difficult periods in my relatively short life. Still, I managed to finish nine quilts, thanks to this blog, the online quilting community and my loving and supportive family. I hung this quilt on a wall of my sewing nook and every time I look at it, I think of the people that I made those quilts for: two little babies who are now walking, a dear friend, my husband’s grandma (twice), my grandma, my mother-in-law, my mother and my sweet girl.  Sometimes, I look at this quilt and think of how much I accomplished during a difficult time, and it gives me hope that I will accomplish even more in the future.

 

Name: 2011 Memory Quilt

Pattern: Postage Stamp blocks

Fabric: Scraps from projects finished in 2011

Started: September 2011

Finished: March 2012

Linking to: Bloggers’ Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side

Flashback Friday #11: Patriotic Breeze

Like so many people, I learned how to quilt from my mom. Even though she has decades more sewing and quilting experience than I do, she still enjoys it when I make quilty things for her. After the Valentine’s Day Table Topper, I decided to make her another holiday quilt, this time for the Fourth of July. I call it Patriotic Breeze, as the pattern is Bay Breeze from the Summer 2008 edition of Quilts and More and the fabric is a charm pack of Red, White and Bold by Sandy Gervais.

Part of the reason I love Patriotic Breeze so much is that it challenged me. It was the first time that I made folded piping and the first time that I worked with 1.5” squares. I love how it turned out, especially with all the blue. I can safely say that it is one of my favorite quilts that I have made. Luckily, I get to visit it at my mom’s house. I also have fabric picked out and set aside for a similar piece for myself, but in a different colorway. Patriotic Breeze was finished in November of 2009.

Check out the Fall 2011 Bloggers' Quilt Festival at Amy’s Creative Side for more inspiration.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival (aka Flashback Friday #1: Queen of the Log Cabin)

What better quilt to share in the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival than my very first full-sized quilt?

My mother was an avid quilter as I was growing up. Finally, the years of watching my mother create warm and beautiful quilts compelled me to start one of my own. During high school, I borrowed a thin book on Log Cabin quilts and painstakingly designed my quilt on graph paper. While it was a very traditional pattern, I made it my own by changing the traditionally red center to purple. My mother and I poured over bolts and bolts of fabric to find just the right ones. I was so terrified of making a mistake that I had her cut all my fabric. For some reason that I don’t remember, I had decided to make a queen sized quilt. I didn’t even have a queen sized bed when I started. It took me two years to piece the top and two years to hand quilt it. I love how it turned out, but wish I had started smaller. This project taught me not to bite off more than I can chew, but also cemented my love of quilting. It now lives on our living room couch.