On A Whim Quilt


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I finished four quilts in September, and that might be a record for me.  Two of them were quilt tops awaiting the final stages of completion, and two of them were new projects.  I shared Erica’s quilt here , but the other three have gone unmentioned.  This is quilt #2, made with a bundle of Anthology Fabrics from a few years ago (sorry, can’t remember the name and there was none on my selvages) and Camille Roskelley’s On A Whim pattern .  I blogged about the quilt top over at Sisterview last month, but this is the finished quilt.

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This quilt makes me happy for several reasons.  First, I love the way the Kona Ice Frappe looks with the rich autumn tones of the prints.  I’m so glad I used it, and I’m also glad I experimented a little with the dark gray.  Second, I am beyond thrilled with the quilting.  Learning to free motion quilt was one of my goals for the year, and I put it off because I didn’t want to ruin anything.  I can’t count how many times I’ve thumbed through Angela Walters’ book and wanted to try the flower power quilting but never had courage.  At last I went for it and it worked and I enjoyed it.  Tons of flaws, but you don’t really notice them.  I’m  super proud of myself for doing it.  I tried to quilt a large flower in each block and a smaller one in the gray squares.

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For the backing I pieced prints I had on hand, and managed to use almost all of my darker orange fabrics.

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For the binding I did another thing I’ve never tried and used a voile.  It’s an Anna Maria Horner voile and the colors were an almost perfect match so I ran with them.  It’s soft and pretty.

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With the turn of seasons this quilt is already being loved by my family.  I find myself wanting to decorate less for the seasons and simply enjoy them more, and I love how this is a fall-ish quilt without screaming fall.  I really did start this quilt on a whim and I’m so glad I did!

Jennifer

She’s growing up…


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Last week my oldest daughter curled her baby sister’s hair and took her to a nearby reception center for some pictures.

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Some of them capture this little (or not-so-little) personality so well…

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They also give me a glimpse at the artistic eye of the beautiful girl behind the camera, and it’s fun to see her experiment.  I look at these photos and think, “She’s growing up.”  Both of them.  It’s wonderful and painful all at once.

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This last picture is SO. HER.
As I type this, I sit in a quiet room with her on the couch nearby.  She seems to be sound asleep, but if I move to leave she wakes to insist that I stay.  I think of the things on my list for today and sigh inwardly, but it’s nice to be needed.  It’s nice to have someone who still wants me here.  I know the common feeling is that the youngest in every family ends up spoiled, and I suppose in some ways they are.  But I watch her sometimes and ache for her, setting aside things she should love because everyone else has grown out of them, trying so hard to live the schedule of the older children in a body that needs much more sleep, trying to understand their worlds so she won’t be seen as ignorant, trying to be older than she is, and on these mornings I see what the keeping up costs her.  She is adorable, clever, funny, sweet, mischievous, and exhausted.   In the quiet of just the two of us, she can be who she really is, a tiny, growing four year old.

So I guess the housework will wait while we sit, my precious little girl and I.

Erica’s Quilt {St. Louis 16-Patch}


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A couple of months ago I started on a special project – a quilt to be gifted as a wedding gift.  We have the most wonderful neighbors in the world, good people who have been kind and generous to us since we moved here and we love them so much.  When their oldest daughter got married, I made her a quilt , so when their second daughter set a date it seemed only natural to make her one as well.

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Eventually I decided to make a St. Louis 16 Patch quilt for her.  I wanted this to be something they will throw in the car for a picnic, or take camping.  I hope that they use it and that it becomes something that reminds them not just of their wedding day but also of their time together.  I settled on the 16 patch because it felt casual enough for these activities, which fits their lifestyle well.  Erica is awesome – a little bit of a lot of things, so making the blocks was a lot of fun.  The fabrics for the quilt top are mostly Flea Market Fancy with a bunch of other things thrown in.  I like that it’s a FMF quilt, but not really.

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The backing is very simple, with an Art Gallery print for most of it.  I also used the last of my IKEA numbers fabric and a little strip of a vintage sheet with beautiful flowers on it.

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The binding came from my stash – I don’t even remember where it’s from.

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The wedding was last weekend and the bride and groom seemed to like it.  I enjoyed making it; the pattern is simple and comes together quickly.  It felt good to have this gift finished a couple of weeks early.

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