Dreamcatcher {a finished quilt}

This quilt was made with Kate Spain’s new Daydreams line from The Intrepid Thread.  The colors are deep purple and pinkish corals with a hint of orange thrown in for good measure.

I modified the Criss-Crossed Quilt from February to make this quilt appear to have wonky 4-patch blocks, like this:

Or wonky crosses like this:

I don’t know which one my eye sees better when I look at the quilt.  But either way I like it!

What do you think of the texture of the quilting?  This double loop pattern came straight out of Angela Walters’s first free motion quilting book.  I never was able to do loops on my domestic machine, but I practiced on a drawing pad and then drew a diagram on an index card which I taped right on the front of my longarm machine.  After a few minutes I was able to take the index card off.  My brain knew what it was doing (for the most part).  Of course my quilting is nowhere near as good as Angela’s, but not too shabby for a first try!

The back is pieced with leftover gray fabric and pink striped fabric long forgotten but re-discovered to finally fulfill its destiny as the back of a quilt, along with a big section of Arcadia in Scarlet.

Arcadia features hummingbirds, rabbits, butterflies, and roosters and has such a fanciful feeling.  One thing is for sure, pieced backs always take longer.  I put this one together with four girls running amuck through the house this past Saturday and, for the hour or two it took, questioned my sanity several times, but the effect is worth the effort in the end…right?

I framed the cloth label in leftover purple and coral.  This quilt is for Veronica so I will write her name on there with an indelible fabric marker and date it.

She loves the quilt and even volunteered for a photo using it.

It finishes at 70” square.  The binding is Kona Punch.  The lattice is Kona Silver and the background is mostly Kona Shadow, but I ran out and had to improvise with some other grays from my stash.  I owe one to Bea for coming up with the idea of ombre.  How did she even know that word???!!!  I tried to cluster the darks in the bottom corner and have the color attenuate into light gray.

What do you think?  Would you classify this as a modern quilt?  Wonky with an edge?  I loved every part of making this quilt and hope it shows.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Fort Worth Fabric Studio on Friday. 

January’s Just Three

I’m so glad TraceyJay Quilts is hosting her monthly Just Three linky party in 2013!  Last year I tried to play along, but I wasn’t always able to do a post in a timely manner.  I’m going to give it another try this year and see if I can keep up!  Here are this month’s goals.

1.  The local quilt shop has a “PhD” (projects half done) program.  You can win a gift certificate by sending in a photo of your quilt or stopping by for a show and tell.  I sent in 10 projects and the first one picked is #6.  I’m sad to say that although I’ve cut out all the fabric, I’ve never sewn one block together.  This quilt is called “Pave the Way” and it’s from a magazine.

The fabric I chose for this quilt is Kona sand and some fabric by Carolyn Gavin. 

2.  My second goal is to finish a quilt I’m calling “Easy As Pie” since it’s made with a layer cake of Aneela Hoey’s Little Apples line.

It’s pieced and I just picked up the thread to quilt it this weekend.  Only problem is I had a shot this morning in my arm and I can barely move it now.  I get shots pretty often and never had this happen.  Here’s hoping some Motrin relieves the pain!

3.  My last official goal for this month is to make a Valentine’s pillow or something sweet with these beautiful Pam Kitty fabrics.

They are from the Pam Kitty Love fabric line (except the red pindots and linen floral print) and all of them come from the Etsy store Donna’s Lavender Nest.  Donna is the sweetest lady and got my order mailed out on the same day.  She has some beautiful Lecien prints in her shop, too.

Now for two “unofficial” goals for this month.

4.  I also have a super-secret project in the works making something with an Aurifil thread pack that will be revealed in the middle of this month on Lily’s Quilts.  Yay!

5.  I may be spending an entire weekend making bee blocks this month.  I am signed up for Beejeebers and Stash Bee again this year, doing an angel block this month, and helping lead Make It Modern.  I am excited about all the blocks picked by the Queen Bees this month (read:  no paper piecing or crazy complicated blocks) so that is half the battle!

Finally I wanted to share one of my Christmas presents to myself.

You may recognize the style of these little girls as Tasha Horsley’s designs (she just recently had her first fabric line out—The Simple Life).  When I saw this print in her shop I knew I had to have it!  She personalized the girls’ nameplates with my own daughters’ names and even matched up their hair colors!  I got it framed and it’s hanging in our guest bedroom (which is painted pink and makes the frame look pink—but it’s white).