Summer Fever

Last week I didn't get much quilting done... I didn't get much of anything done, for that matter. We had a bit of Indian Summer in March, up here in Portland, Maine, so everyone went a little wacky and forgot all about their responsibilities. Things like finishing quilts, making dinner, cooking in general, all just fell by the wayside.



I went for a little walk at a place called Perkins Cove. PC is well known to myself and my family, we used to go there all the time when we were little. There is a great little candy store there, which was unfortunately closed, but brings back loads of childhood memories just by walking by.


There's also this lovely walk called the Marginal Way that winds through the woods and along the ocean. Divine. As we were walking, we came along a house under construction. They were building this really cool dome as part of the house.

I hope the owners don't mind, but I took some pics to show the architect when he designs my future beach house (haha). I'll have to go back to this house and see the progress. I like the lack of equality in it, all three parts are different shapes.

Plus, it didn't hurt to have that cute guy sitting up there!

This week we're back to March-in-Maine weather, so I better get some quilting done! I'm already behind!!

Hopefully summer gets here soon... I'm ready for the beach!

Quilting is an Act of Love

I finished my second quilt. It was for my mom, and it equals love.

I used a pinwheel pattern. The blocks were made from a Moda Flora layer cake and a white paisley print. I love the yellow binding, it pops the outside really nicely. But the best part of the front, in my opinion, is the right side. I took one of my Grampy's neck-ties and stitched it to the front. I love the way it looks. Dummy me, however, never took a close-up picture of the tie. Duh. But, I machine stitched it on, adjusting the zig-zag stitch closeness so that it is very close, and looks almost hand-stitched, except much more even. It also goes through the 3 layers of the quilt, so the thread is on the back. I think it looks cool.

The back uses three different fabrics. The top corner fabric is another one that is special to my family. We are in the process of cleaning out my Grandparents' house that they have lived in for 50+ years. In the basement we found bags and bags of fabric scraps. Quilter's dream. This purpley-pinkish fabric was used for cushions on their sun-room porch. It's hideous, it reminds me of the 90's, and I love it. I was glad that I could sneak it into the quilt so we'll have the reminder forever. The cushions and wicker furniture will probably go to charity, so maybe some other family will enjoy this fabric for years to come.

Some things I have learned while working on this quilt:

1. One should always think your measurements all the way through in terms of space available at your house. You might not have enough room to spread out all your fabric.

2. I can make a quilt in 35 episodes of "24".

3. My living room is not as big as I thought it was.

4. I have so many more quilts that I want to make!!

5. As you can see from the background in this picture... I have a lot of junk!

6. I'm not ready to machine quilt just yet... I'm still tacking, but hopefully I'll get the courage to try it out on my next one!







Inspiration:
Moda Jack's Hills
Pinwheel Baby Quilt

Thanks:
Special thanks to my favorite photographer, Dermot Conlan, for taking a detour from his normal photography to snap a couple shots of the quilt! Hopefully I'll get a non-iphone camera soon and can take my own pictures!

Makin' Plans, Makin' Paper

I'm starting my third quilt this week. At this rate, I'll do one quilt a month (that's the goal, anyways). I hope all my loved ones like quilts! I haven't posted the 2nd one yet because it's for my mom - don't worry, she already knows about it, just hasn't seen it - and I won't get to give it to her until Thursday. But don't worry, it's awesome!! I can't wait to share...

In the meantime, I made my first quilt pattern this morning. I got the inspiration from this website, but they didn't have measurements, and the picture was a baby quilt, which is not what I'm making. So here's my pattern:

I'm pretty sure you can click on the image to make it bigger. This size is for a lap quilt. If you're going to use it, don't forget to add a quarter inch to each side for your seams! This quilt would be nice with fabrics with big patterns, so that you can see the whole pattern.

I also found this link, which I find to be very helpful. I has references for different quilt sizes, and how much fabric you would get/need for various sized quilts/squares. Very useful.

Alright, time to get cutting!