Twister

Ready for another quilt post?  Well, that's what I have photos of, so it will have to do.  My friend adopted a baby a year ago.  It was a quick process from being selected for placement to the birth, so I put some other projects on hold to work on her quilt.  As soon as I got the text telling me the gender, I got in my car and drove 2 hours to my favorite quilt store.  I have a couple stores locally and there are a handful between here and that store, but I needed a large selection to really be inspired.

Actually, I started with this fabric from Hobby Lobby.  It caught my eye because of the various bright, yet girly colors.  Also, the mom likes paisley.  From there, I just gathered numerous bright, happy fabrics that worked well with the inspiration fabric.

That's my normal method - pick an inspiring fabric and then find other fabrics that coordinate.  That's also my very favorite part of the whole quilt process - just picking the fabrics and imagining how they will work together.

My mom's family is creative.  And social.  About once a month, there is a Cousin's Quilt Day and anyone who wants to work on projects is welcome to join.  There is a diverse group of people from my grandpa's cousins on down to my own cousins.  It's not limited to quilting.  Often people do other sewing, crocheting/knitting, scrapbooking, homework, or just visiting.  It's usually held about an hour and a half from here, so we don't make it often.  We try to go once in the Spring and once in the Fall.  

I had seen one of my grandpa's cousins do a Twister quilt at one of these gatherings.  Many of the other family members thought it was too busy, but I loved it.  I thought it would be perfect for this baby quilt.  I bought a template and went right to work. It was quick and simple and looked a lot more complex that it actually is.

I loved this quilt.  It was so warm and happy and charming.  Everyone that visited my house while it was here loved it.  Most importantly, my friend loved it.  And when my sister in law announced they were expecting a girl, I made another just like it for her.  I never duplicate quilts, but this one, I did!  In person, the colors are more vibrant and the oranges and yellows are less similar than they appear here.  It is really such a happy quilt.  I get so excited when I see Baby Madeline or Baby Lily using it.

Ogee

Last Summer, my friend announced that she was expecting her second child.  Happy news!  I had previously bought some fabric and I knew it would be perfect for her -- if she had a baby girl. As soon as she found out she was having a girl, I got to work on her quilt.   

I originally saw this quilt and knew I had to make it... but I was feeling cheap and didn't want to pay for a pattern -- sometimes I'm cheap over the weirdest things.  Anyway, as I sat admiring the quilt, the construction seemed clear.  It was a Drunkard's Path variation.  Bonus, we had just finished the Only Nine quilt and I could use part of those templates for this quilt.  One area where I am not cheap; tools.  I think a good quality, versatile template is worth every penny. That said, I don't buy templates for squares and things like that I can do with my rotary cutter and ruler. Mine has wider points than the pattern I didn't buy, but that could be easily changed.  I happen to like it just fine this way. 

The fabrics are mostly a Michael Miller line sold at Joann Fabrics. There are some other fabrics thrown in there as well.  The back is the large multi-colored floral and the binding is the teal polka dots.  

Meanwhile, two of my other closest friends suddenly announced that they were also adding to their families -- all baby GIRLS!  One was adopting and the baby was expected before any of the others, so this quilt went on the back burner while I made a quilt for her. Eventually, I finished this one.  Yes, the baby was already here at that point, but that's okay with me.  She loves it anyway :)

Only Nine

Our mom's family holds a reunion every Summer.  In addition to talking, playing, eating, and debating, we also have a family auction.  Every item auctioned is donated by a member of the family and the proceeds pay for future reunions and family history work.  We usually have an eclectic mix of afghans, quilts, fresh-baked bread, homemade jam, etc.  It's honestly one of my favorite traditions.

A few years ago we also started including service in our auctions - things ranging from handyman hours, to web/computer services, to cleaning and organizing help, to cooking lessons.  It was seriously so much fun and added a greater dimension to the things offered in the auction.

Last Summer, Steph and I didn't take anything to donate to the auction.  We hadn't really thought about it until it was too late to realistically get something made in time.  It's not a requirement to donate, but we enjoy it and we felt bad that we didn't have something to contribute.  

In a moment of craziness, I turned to Steph and said "Let's offer to make a quilt!  The buyer can choose the fabric and pattern and we'll make it for them."  She loved that idea, so we slipped a note to the auctioneer (one of my uncles) and waited.

The winning bid was from my aunt, Georgie, and she was so excited.  After the reunion, she emailed a few quilt pictures that she liked.  There was one similarity in all of them.... curves! We also asked her to pick out a main fabric that she wanted us to use.  She chose: Patricia Bravo for Art Gallery, Paradise Double Bloom in Taupe.  

We considered several different ideas and browsed lots of different quilt patterns for inspiration.  We both really liked one called Only Nine.  We bought the pattern and the templates and went shopping for fabric (our very favorite part!)  Georgie wanted us to focus on blue, pink, and purple, but didn't mind if we used other colors as well. We bought most of the fabric locally and then didn't touch it for a couple months. To be honest, her fabric choice did not inspire me at all.  I mean, I didn't dislike the fabric, I just struggled to get excited about it. 

We finally got around to it, pulled out the fabric, and realized that the quilt store had cut all the fabric incorrectly (shorted us 1-3 inches per piece).  I was mad.  We did our best to track down the needed fabrics and swore to not go back to that fabric store ever again (which we didn't stick to, but have recommitted ourselves to avoid because they are just lousy).

Steph did most of the work on this one.  If I'm not inspired by a project, I just can't get into it.  She wasn't inspired either, but she soldiered on anyway.  Finally, when the top of the quilt was coming together, we both started to actually like the quilt.  A lot.

The colors and patterns worked so well together (the green reads MUCH more lime in these photos) and Steph quilted it using a multi-stitch zig zag.  I actually did help... particularly with the binding.  I like preparing the binding and hand sewing it to the quilt.

Most importantly, Georgie loved it.