another couple whirlwind quilts

I mentioned yesterday that my lack of quilting generally results in a frantic drive to make things. I started with a straightforward design, and kept with it for the next two quilts, wanting to keep it simple so I could play with color.

Quilt #2 was inspired by the way the our gulf waters look when the sun hits. Varying shades of blue, with a sparkle unique to the Gulf Coast.

I used some of my favorite prints, too, so it's a fun little patchwork mix.

The cotton + steel moons, the HR goldfish, the eggs!! Love those prints.

I backed it in a solid deep turquoise blue, and I like how the quilting is so visible.

It was a bit small after I pieced the squares, so I added a little border, making it about 40 x 51 inches. 

p.s. those whales!!!!!

In case you haven't noticed, this is my favorite type of quilt picture to take. This quilt is available in my shop HERE. 

In case you are wondering, the squares in this quilt were cut to 6.5 inches, and I cut the border strips 2.5 inches x width of fabric. 6 x 8 grid of the squares, with the 2.5 inch borders means this quilt finished at about 40 x 51 inches.

Quilt #3 was fun to make and basically consisted of strips I sewed together, all the same width, but pieced together at different lengths. I added a border, like above, to make it a little bigger. 

This is for sure one of my top 5 color palettes of all time. It reminds of the sandy beaches leading into the ocean. See a theme developing here? Counting down days until summer has got me fixated on all things sea!

The border and the binding are the same fabric, so as not to distract from the focus. I quilted it with wavy lines across the colored strips, as my way of "mixing my colors" or "blurring" the color line.

These colors are my kind of peace.

Again, the solid backing really highlights the quilting.

This one went to my shop, but I will be making another larger version for myself to keep!!

Told you. My favorite kind of quilt picture. Shows the quilting, the backing, a glimpse of the way the colors play together, and because this is the way my quilts look on my couches and bed, it just makes me feel cozy.

I really loved making this one. You know how you have some quilts you sort of have to push through? Where you look at the quilt midway through and think, is this even worth finishing? Is that just me? (I actually am working on one of those quilts right now. It's been draped across my chair since Wednesday, all pieced together and basted on to batting, just waiting to be quilted.) Anyways, THIS quilt above was not one of those. I enjoyed every bit of the process and despite my back screaming at me while I was quilting it, I just kept staring down at it with heart eyes. Even a rather basic design can make me so happy.... the simplicity of it allowed me to enjoy the process even more, rather than stressing about points and perfect piecing. I am alllllllll about removing stress from this hobby of mine and trying to avoid the rules or anything that requires perfection. These two quilts were just the ticket.

*In case you are wondering, I *think* the strips in this quilt were cut to 3 inches wide, and varied between 18 and 25 inches long. I pieced two of the same color tone strips together, and then sewed all the vertical strips together. I think I cut the border strips 3.5 inches x width of fabric, for the vertical border. The top and bottom borders were cut to 5.5 inches x width of fabric and 6 inches x width of fabric. It finished at about 41 x 51.5 inches.