Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Quilt Mojo

Well, I am happy to report that my quilt mojo is back! It feels like ages since I've been in the mood to sew. It hasn't worried me much, really -- I know that my creative interests can wax and wane at times, and I've learned to just follow what excites me at the moment. So I've been playing with paper (making books and cards) and I've had some knitting projects going. But I wanted to make a quilt for a family member, and that pushed me to get back to the sewing machine.

This particular quilt was for my brother, and I wanted to make it entirely of flannel. After searching a bit, I found a collection of fabric by Maywood Studios, called "Woolies." The flannel looks like wool tweed and has a great assortment of jewel tone colors.


I found an appealing pattern, called Jubilee by Marlous Designs (thank you, Pinterest!) and away I went.

And look, here's what resulted:


It's very soft and will be the perfect snuggle and get well quilt. It's been delivered and hopefully is keeping my brother warm and cozy.

I was so inspired by actually finishing a quilt (starting and finishing in the same month, even!) that I started another.  This past weekend was wild and stormy here in Northern California. I didn't have pressing work, the house was clean, and Miss C was away for the weekend. So I set my sewing machine up on the kitchen table and gave myself a mini at-home quilt retreat.

I pulled out a fat quarter bundle I'd fallen in love with some time ago, in pinks and yellows --- happy, springy colors for a gray rainy weekend.  And I pulled a pattern out of my "make this someday" box -- "Shine" by A Quilting Life Designs:


I had  good old time making star blocks.


And by Monday afternoon, I had the whole top pieced and the backing sewn and ready to sandwich.
That was so satisfying that today, after making some good progress on a work project, I rewarded myself by pulling polka dotted fabric from my stash for a challenge coming due in April.


From delicate pastels to bright dots. It made me so happy to revisit some of these old fabrics, especially my Freddy Moran dots.  It feels very good to be playing with fabric again!