Monday, August 17, 2009

Because I Really NEED Another Project....

I saw these quilt blocks on Flickr awhile back and have been in complete awe since them. Methinks I might be getting gutsy enough to attempt something like this on my own. I have done a little bead embroidery practice before, and while not that difficult to do it is VERY time consuming and certainly not something I can easily do with Livers around.

Seriously, I honestly don't need another project. I just started taking up knitting (I think I'm in love) and will be starting my mom's quilt very soon and a large mixed media collage for my office, so I definitely have my free time filled up. I will definitely keep you posted if I decide to take the plunge!


1. Red Block, 2. Orange Block, 3. Yellow Block, 4. Green Block, 5. Blue Block, 6. Purple Block

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Livers' Completed Quilt!

I finally finished Livers' rainbow quilt about two weeks ago, but between family and friends visiting, helping my parents, assisting J in his newfound beer brewing hobby, and spending time with J after Livers goes to bed, this is the first real quiet time I've had to sit and discuss my work.

I must say, that for a second quilt, I'm pretty proud of myself (and very motivated to start my next one!). The mistakes are relatively few. The only ones I really noticed are with the blocks around the border. For whatever reason they ended up smaller than the rest of them. Luckily they are all uniformly about a half inch smaller on the edge than the other ones, so it ends up looking intentional.


I'm particularly pleased with how the binding turned out. I have never hand-bound a quilt before, let alone attempted mitered corners, and I was needless to say nervous with the venture, but it worked splendidly. I was most nervous with how to hand sew the final step of binding, but I found a great tutorial on how to use a ladder stitch to sew it, and it worked great. I think it ended up being my favorite part of the entire quilting process. I found it very cathartic to sit on my sofa and watch TV and just bind away. Once I got the hang of it the process went very quickly. It only took me a few hours to do, and it was done in a day.



The flannel backing was a good choice. It is so soft and comfortable, and I could personally wrap myself up in it and read a good book all day. I wish Livers felt the same. She has formed a very strong attachment to her baby blankets, and even though Mama worked very hard on making this for her, the sentiment is lost on her. I will often cover her up with it at night when she's asleep so that it at least gets a little loving. Maybe one day she'll grow into it...


The process was very fun, and I hope to start my next (and very ambitious) task within the week. My mom wants me to make her a quilt for her king-sized bed, and though it will take FOREVER, I'm looking forward to it. It will be made with simple 5" x 5" blocks, but with a quilt that size it will total over 500 individual blocks. I guess I need to start cutting fabric!