carrying on with the quilting

Two posts in one day? Say what?? This is a result of two things- needing to clear my phone of photos (so I am posting them here so I do not lose them) and wanting to share about something I want to do after I share the latest quilts and I want my new goal/project to begin on July 1.

So. Like I said earlier, I've been quilting away the sorrow of missing my husband, and as it turns out, I can sure fill some time with fabric stitching. I have been trying to focus on making things that truly make me happy, and that is generally a combination of beautiful fabric and fairly straight forward design. Let's just say no one has ever described my quilting style as overly complicated :)

After I made the custom quilt I mentioned here, I wanted to make another but infusing pink into the blue.

My third time making this design, and I still love it. 

Pretty sure I will be making it again soon, because it just makes me smile.

Simple quilting to echo the frames, with one whimsical line you can see in the next photo.

While making this quilt, it was especially stormy, and while I love a good summer storm, the grayness was playing with my mood. So one night I decided to cut into a couple charm packs of Heather Bailey fabric I'd been keeping for a long time, thinking sewing with sunshiney fabric would be the equivalent of being in sunshine. I was right about that, but wrong about thinking the charm packs were in tact. Halfway through the patchwork rows, I realized I was missing many squares and the quilt would be very small. So I set it aside.

I came back to it a couple weeks ago and decided to make it work, I folded my rectangle of squares together in half and in half again and then sliced it at an angle. I added a thick sashing in Kona Snow to all 4 sides and then stitched the piece I cut off back on. And what I had was a patchwork diamond, framed in snow, with more patchwork in each corner. Still slightly small, I added another border of Snow. None of this would happen if I planned and created like MOST people, but since I make on the fly, I am constantly in 'okay, so what can be plan B' mode. Which is a pain in my backside, but.....I actually like how this quilt turned out. So....... Plus, I am old set in my ways, so I should just embrace it, right?

Heather Bailey fabric sure is good for the soul.

I wasn't sure what to make of all the negative space, so I added some big stitch hand quilting in pink Valdani Pearl Cotton, size 12, that I grabbed from Sunny Day Supply.

I went with a scrappy binding because I could not decide. This quilt is so sunny and delightful. It's in my shop here. 

And finally a simple patchwork quilt in pinks and grays. In my opinion, simple patchwork never goes out of style. 

all or nothing as far as quilting goes

I have always been like this, but it still catches me off guard how I can go without making for quite some time, and then I make almost manically. It's like my mind decides I need a pause, and when it hits play again, boy does it. When my husband is gone and I miss him tremendously, quilting helps. It busies me, settles my mind some, and lets me feel productive and creative and that helps ease the burden of missing him.

So here is what I have been making as of late. It all started with the first custom quilt.

This sweet customer purchased a quilt I made last year for his granddaughter (you can see that quilt here) and asked me if I could make on just like it for his new grandson.

I mimicked the design, just had the focal square be on the left instead of the right.

There is nothing more humbling to me than someone coming back to me, asking me to make another quilt. 

I loved how the blues played off each other in this quilt. And stripey bindings forever!!

This next quilt.....I LOVE everything Alexia Abegg designs and her Sienna line is no exception. I could not wait to make something with it!!! 

Big, chunky strips of beautiful fabric. The focus gets to be on the color play and the fabrics and this is a design I will make again. 

I love simple design. 

I really enjoyed quilting this one. This one is available in my shop! 

Still feeling blue, I started on this one.

My take on a classic design. Big ol patchwork and scrappy low volume fabric in the background. 

I decided to not quilt the star, something I don't usually do, and instead framed it. The result was a drapey, sort of puffed star.

I have had Nicole's Stack Quilt pattern for a bit, and I guess I was waiting for the color scheme to hit me. In this case, I based the color palette on the Leah Duncan backing I wanted to use, and voila!

The Stack Quilt pattern is simple and quick and speaks to my simple, plenty of negative space loving heart!! This is the second pattern of Nicole's I have made - you can see the Peak Quilt I made here - and I love how simple they are. This coming from a girl who rarely makes from a pattern, or at least, sticks to a pattern. 

Look at that gorgeous backing!! 

Quilting this was super fun!! It is also listed in my shop!! 

I have a few more quilts I have recently finished, along with some in progress, and my GLORIOUS #pinkquiltbee2018 blocks that have been arriving!! So much to share.