Settling In

Oh how I've missed you guys.  Man a month has flown by with business.  Thankfully I can now say, life is back to normal.  Well at least a new normal!  Sadly the only boxes left to unpack and organize are my fabrics.  Selfishly I would have unpacked them first, but if you know me, I'd never sleep until my house, especially the kitchen is in order.  Two hungry boys depend on me for food.  Soon I hope to share with you pictures of our new home, but I haven't picked up our new couch yet, and my walls are naked.  So stay tuned...

I did manage to meet one of my 'before I move' goals.  A finished a quilt.  Not just any quilt, but one for my mother. 

 Freedom Quilt

She received it at her birthday dinner at the end of March and has mentioned more than a few times how much she loves it.  I still can't believe it took me this long to make her a quilt.  She has been high on my priority list, but I had to collect the perfect fabrics over time.  She was worth the wait and I'm so happy with the combination that unfolded.

Please pardon the picture quality.  It really doesn't do the quilt justice.  The FREE pattern/tutorial I used was Starry Eyed by Angela of Fussy Cut.  Its was an easy tutorial and I thought the star theme went really well with my Red, White and Blue selection of fabrics.  

This here is my favorite block because I managed to add a piece of Anna Maria Horner into the center.  This small piece of fabric was a swatch thrown in with an fabric bundle I received a while back.  I kept it on top of my growing fat quarter stash for my mother's quilt for inspiration.  In this quilt, it adds a fireworks kind of effect. 

You may have noticed I used a bit of Bliss by Bonnie & Camille, as well as a very large variety of DS Quilt fabrics and a few reproduction prints from Darlene Zimmerman and P&B Textiles.  But my ultimate favorite was that I was able to use the Holly Hobbie-ish fabric as my white background.  It was the perfect low volume print.  This print I picked up at JoAnne Fabrics, oh gosh, I don't know.  Maybe 8 years ago.  I had 3 yards on hand so I had just enough for this large throw quilt.  I think it was the perfect touch, don't you?

For the back I scored on the clearance rack both DS Quilt prints for only $6/yard...and then I did a center scrap strip to join the two together.  It was really fun to design the pieced quilt back.  

For the quilting I don't have a detailed shot, but in case you are interested I used my walking foot to quilt in the ditch.  I quilted in the ditch between every print and the white background, including every star.  It was a serious trying of my patience, kind of test.  But the end result was just what I was hoping for.  

Well I'll be back hopefully soon to share some pictures of my sewing corner all set up.

xo,

Lindsay