It’s been a great relaxing long (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend over here – extra long, if you count the fact that my youngest was home (unplanned) from school last Thursday, and Friday was a PD day so both kids were home. My husband and I spent much of the weekend planning and re-organizing our work space. We’ve both got a bit more counter space and it’s a lot easier to move around in our little 9′ square shared office. When it’s finished I’ll have to share photos and a little review of my new sewing machine with you. I’ve had it for about a month and I’m loving it!
I’ve been enjoying quilting lately, and thought I’d share my progress with this one today. I’m calling it a “proper” quilt – since it’s more than “just pieced squares” this time! Interesting side note – I’ve found that repetitive-block quilts are extremely relaxing. The difference between sewing garments and this type of quilt, is that a garment rarely requires the same instruction to be followed more than twice – once for the outer and once for the lining. And sometimes there is no repetition at all. Because of that, you are constantly checking the instructions, re-reading, sewing, and moving on to the next step. With the blocks in this quilt, you must follow the same steps over and over – creating space in your mind to ponder other things, tasks, life or just the process itself. Ahhhh….. (long pause while I remember relaxing!)
This quilt is a personal project, since it’s made with my blogger bundle from Fabric Spark. When they asked me if I would to create a bundle earlier this year I was over-the-moon excited and I knew it would have to become a very special quilt. This bundle and quilt mean so much, and are such a good reminder and encouragement along my bloggy journey. To be able to choose fabrics that I love and have someone put them up for sale. What an amazing opportunity, and I am still so grateful to have been chosen for it. (The bundle is available for sale here.)
I am making an hourglass quilt with these, using this tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. She calls it a baby quilt, but I am adding in more squares than she mentions, randomly using up every last scrap of fabric that I have – so we’ll see how big it is in the end! I’ve mostly used some light gray Kona I had around for the background pieces. But since I don’t have enough I’m winging it with a few solids in other colours – I can’t wait to add these in and see how it turns out! I also added two Bonnie Christine “Sweet As Honey” Art Gallery prints to the bundle fabrics to increase the prints, hoping to make this as large as possible!
I’ve yet to decide if I’ll add any borders to this and of course I’m not sure about backing and binding yet. But I think I’m supposed to choose that after the front is finished – so I’m getting ahead of myself! I do have quite a bit of Kona Charcoal from another project – so it might make an appearance later on – I’d love to find a good print for the back though. Makes it seem more cheerful I think! I can’t wait to get to spend some serious time making the little hourglass squares so I can lay them out, that seems like a lot of fun too!
Reader Feedback: Are you quilting anything right now? What project are you working on?
Love the colours in the bundle! And I think, I got the quilting bug from you because I’m working on THREE quilts at the moment! They’re the basic blocks kinda beginner quilt but I love this hour glass one…might have to try that next 🙂
Thanks Laura! It’s soooooo much fun huh?! 🙂 Welcome to the “bugged” club!
I’m curious how your quilt turns out finally!
I don’t have the patience to quilt ;). But I do have the patience to knit or crochet… I found it very relaxing, sitting on a couch, listening to music or watching TV. And it’s doable when you have to rest a lot. Now I’ve joined the Scheepjes CAL 2014. Every week I crochet 6 squares that will become a one person blanket. (more on my blog 😉 )
I love sewing piecework for quilts or small projects (I don’t sew clothing, more crafty stuff); I also find it extremely relaxing. I usually have no TV or music on even; I enjoy the silence of kids sleeping and being able to focus on one thing ONLY for a change, even for just a short period of time! 🙂
Hey Sherri – This is exciting! I’m so glad to see you’re turning this beautiful bundle into a quilt. Can’t wait to see the end product…no pressure though! Enjoy the process.
They look so great together! I love the Joel Dewberry print, and the colour is showcased so nicely paired with the solid.