Hopeful Homemaker

Months ago I made my first block of Camille Roskelley’s Fireworks quilt pattern , then got busy with other things and most of the year flew by.  Hoping to finish a few things before 2014 rolls around, I pulled the Bloomsbury Gardens fabrics back out and made a few more.


I think this second block might be my favorite so far.  The floral print looks so pretty in this pattern!


Blocks three and four are the reverse of one and two.  At first I planned to mix them all up but then decided to just reverse them.  I think it will look great.


The four blocks together:


I am now 1/4 done with piecing the blocks.  Working on them got me excited about the project again and I hope to find time to make a few more in coming weeks.   While these blocks seem to take more time than I expect them to, they are very pretty when they come together.

On another note, I’ve been itching to start another Swoon quilt..  out of Waterfront Park, perhaps?
What are you working on?

Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced

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.


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.


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


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.


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