New Year, New Projects

Finally, 2009 is over.  The year sucked for me personally but my quilting improved quite a bit.  So overall, it is a toss up. 

On to the projects that will be in the line up for 2010.  Last year was mostly wedding quilts for friends.  My citrus colored quilt is complete.  After months of working on the quilting and ripping out stitches, it has been delivered.  I love the contrast of colors and the effect of the large blocks.  The veragated thread keeps the colors blending all over the quilt.  The black and white border really adds some pop to the overall look.  Black is my favorite color to accent any project with.  My original plan for this quilt was the Cascading Colors pattern.  I thought that pattern might detract from the yellow block’s center print. 

This year there will be two confirmed baby quilts and possibly more to come.  I’m also finishing a couple of wedding quilts that are overdue.  Yes, I am a slacker on some of these projects.  Most of the time, the project is bigger than I anticipated.  Better yet, life happens and sewing doesn’t happen for a few days. 

I’m taking orders for custom quilts during 2010 is anyone is looking for a special gift. 

During my last days working at the quilt shop, I purchased fabric to finally make myself a quilt.  In 10 years of quilting, I have never kept a project.  Over the last few months I have been contemplating making a Log Cabin quilt.  This is much more traditional for me and would be a great challenge.  I would actually have to follow a pattern to make this turn out decent.  Also, since I will be getting married this spring, it’s appropriate to make myself a wedding quilt. 

The fabric choice was easy since our color palette is pretty neutral around the house.  My dark print is a Lonni Rossi Andover print from her Paint Box collection.  Can’t wait to show pictures throughout the winter/spring.

Wedding Bonanza

What started as a group effort betwen my girlfriends and I has turned into something I love to do for my friends.  When KT got married we worked a quilt that included quotes about love, marriage and friendship.  When C-ann got married the following year we did another one that was very similar.

Then I moved to Florida.

Last year we attended Ben & Abby’s lovely wedding in Pataski, Michigan in August.  It was a great weekend.  They had a great colors and I had picked out material for their quilt back in January prior to our move.  I worked on the pieces all summer, but did not get the quilt finished.  Then other stuff happened and it just took forever.  Finally this summer I was determined to finish the quilt in order to be there for a their one year anniversary.

Quilts 028

Quilts 027

For this quilt I used a Disappearing Nine Patch pattern.  It is very easy to do and gives the quilt a nice random look.  With so many colors and different patterns, this is a great pattern to highlight each fabric.  These are the wedding colors of Ben & Abby as well.

One of the reasons Ben & Abby’s quilt was so late is because myself and two other girlfriends were all engaged within a two month period.  My girlfriends however were getting married a week apart in August.  I had six months to make their two quilts and finalize B & A’s as well.

Below is a picture of LeeAnne’s wedding quilt.  Her wedding colors were hot pink and black.  I can’t imagine a better combination for her.  I tried something new with her quilt…applique.  For my first try, it did not turn out too bad.

LAs wedding quilt

Lastly, I had Krista’s quilt to work on.  Krista chose great colors:  lemon, lime and orange.  I had to code all my projects early on so the girls wouldn’t know what I was really working on.  Hence, I called this the citrus quilt.  Below are pictures of the pieces of the quilt.  I have yet to finish the actual quilting.  I’m calling this one cascading colors.

Kristas wedding greenKristas wedding yellowKristas wedding orange