Trying To Be Cool

I finished this quilt in mid-August, so I don't know why I haven't posted about it until now! My husband's birthday was August 19th and we took four days off of work to go on a road trip up to Niagara Falls. On our way out, we stopped in Philadelphia and had our pictures taken by Autumn Kern. I found Autumn on Instagram and loved her style of photography. I thought it would be fun to commemorate his birthday and our almost-two-year anniversary with some pictures. 

As I started to brainstorm the setting for our photos, I knew I wanted to include a quilt somehow. This quilt began to formulate in my mind after I bought a fat quarter bundle of Kim Andersson’s Tidal Lace collection for Windham Fabrics. 

How's that for some inspiration??

I pulled some other complimentary fabrics out of my stash and started searching for a pattern. I wanted something with big blocks, both to accentuate the fabric and to speed up the assembly process (I was working with a deadline after all). I finally settled on the Stacked Squares pattern from Moda and used My Quilt Infatuation's cutting calculations so I could use fat quarters instead of a layer cake and jelly rolls.

I call this quilt "Trying To Be Cool" because I felt like this color pallette was really mellow and bohemian and as I was picking out fabrics, I was sort of thinking, "Would a really cool and hip person like this?" If the answer was yes, it went into the quilt. Don't ask me to explain the logic behind that one. Haha. :)

Here is the final product!

I pieced together some gray and blue-green fabrics for the backing. 

Overall, I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out! It has become a regular "couch quilt" in our house already and when it gets really cold this winter, the colors will remind me of summer. :)

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Watkins Glen State Park in New York state was BEAUTIFUL!! I liked it even better than Niagara Falls because you could walk around and through the waterfalls. They even had a great quilt shop in town called O'Susannah's Quilts and Gifts. I can't wait to go back!

Wonky Rectangles Baby Quilt

Back with another finished quilt (and I have ANOTHER quilt that I'll be posting about in the next few days)!

My cousin's wife recently had a baby and they waited until the baby was born to find out the gender (I love that idea!). Luckily the baby was a girl, because these colors definitely read more "girly" than I originally thought when I picked them out. Haha. :) But I had a lot of fun making this quilt and I can't wait to send it to the newest member of our extended family, Selah Grace Saville!

I love the way the big, random rectangles accent the patterns in the fabric so well.

The proportions turned out a little bit different than I was expecting, but it looks great even if you turn it vertically, so there's no right or wrong way to do it. :)

 I visited a new (amazing) quilt store called Rock, Paper, Scissors in Montclair, NJ and that's where I found this perfect backing fabric. It's a cream color with peach/salmon accent lines. SO great!

I machine-stitched the binding instead of hand sewing it so it would be extra durable and hold up to lots of repeat washings.

Welcome to the world, Selah! Can't wait to meet you!

Kerstin's Wedding Quilt

Hello, online quilting friends! I just got back from a fantastic weekend up in Wisconsin celebrating the wedding of my friends Kerstin and Kyle. Kerstin and I have been friends since 8th grade when we both lived in Hawaii. There is a group of four of us (shout-out to Morgan and Azaria!) who have miraculously stayed in touch this long. You know you have true friends when they've lived through your awkward years and still agree to be seen with you. ;) But in all seriousness, it so amazing to be able to pick up where we left off no matter how long it's been since we last saw each other. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated after our long weekend together.

Of course, I made Kerstin a wedding quilt as a gift. This is actually my first kind-of sort-of original drafted pattern. I sketched out the nine center stars and used a jelly roll and some extra fabric to assemble them. Once they were all together, I wanted to make the quilt bigger, so I decided to add some arrows like I had seen in a quilt made by Grace and Favour. (Here's the quilt, and here's a tutorial that she wrote out for the arrows.)

Wes is on a three-week deployment until the end of the month, but I had him hold up the quilt for me before he left. The binding wasn't handstitched yet, but I wanted documentation, dang it! ;) Luckily, Kerstin also sent me some pictures after I got back.

My willing and handsome participant.

This quilt finished up at a whopping 82" by 82". I think it beat my sister's wedding quilt by two inches on both sides!

Kyle and Kerstin with their quilt!

I am so happy for you guys and I'm already looking forward to the next time we hang out. :)

Aviation Inspired Baby Quilt

Hello friends! Just wanted to drop in and share my latest finished project. :)

Some friends of ours are having a baby and they both happen to be pilots, so when I stumbled across this pattern called "In Formation" using "flying geese" blocks, I just knew it was the one I had to make. I used leftover fabric from my sister's wedding quilt (recognize those colors?), and used some fat quarters to make a scrappy backing. I took some pictures in our beautiful, blooming, GREEN front yard. Enjoy!

This picture cracks me up because it looks like Wes could be naked underneath. Haha. ;)

Quilting detail. I like how it looks like swirling air and clouds.

Scrappy backing!

I love this fabric that gives step-by-step directions on how to make a paper airplane. How perfect is that?

And I've been dying to use this "mice in race cars" fabric ever since I bought it way back when, so a baby boy's quilt seemed like the perfect opportunity.

 Our friends should be receiving this quilt any day now. I can't wait to hear what they think!

Mini Swap Brain Freeze

I'm having a bit of a quilter's "existential crisis" over here in regards to my Alison Glass mini quilt swap!

I've always loved browsing quilt swap hashtags on Instagram because I love seeing the thought and creativity that go into each and every quilt. But it seems those hours of browsing have backfired because I am drawing a complete blank when it comes to ideas for this upcoming mini swap and I'm starting to feel the pressure. The quilts aren't due to be shipped until the first week of June, but I know that will sneak up on me if I'm not careful. I thought I had an idea of a pattern that I wanted to use, but I immediately started second-guessing it and didn't think it was complicated enough or special enough. I know I'm not supposed to try to be something or someone that I'm not, but it's hard not to because I want to make something truly special. Drafting original patterns has never been my strong point, and maybe it never will be, but I would love to be able to interpret my partner's inspiration and suggestions into something that she will like. 

Do any of you have trouble homing in on a design? How do you translate inspiration (from pictures, other quilts, nature, etc.) into an actual quilt design? How do you find a good balance between your taste and your partner's tastes? Have you ever participated in a swap and wish you would have done something differently?

I would LOVE to have some input! :)