Summer Hours

Filed Under Quilting, Sewing 

Summer has been over for a (long) while now, but that didn’t stop Saturday from being an absolutely gorgeous day. But for the positioning of the sun in the sky, it easily could have been an early summer (you know, that’s in March in central Texas) day. A perfect day for a photo shoot outdoors.

Being lazy (ok, I admit to not wanting to have to deal with the baby while trying to protect my quilt and take photos of it at the same time) I opted to set up the shots out on Alexis’ playscape while he napped. This is the second time I’ve used it as a back drop and I really like the weathered wood against the fresh clean quilt.

This little hourglass quilt was made from the cutest teensy charm pack of Moda’s Summer House which I received in my Sewing Summit swag bag and it took mere hours to whip up. Hence the name “Summer Hours“. The white is Kona White that I had leftover from January’s do. Good Stitches blocks (which are still not sewn… hehehe). This quilt is tiny at about 16″ x 20″. The perfect size to drag into work and hang on my oh so blank wall.

It’s a shame that you can’t see it well here, but the backing fabric is (I think) aqua Sketch from Timeless Treasures. It’s a very fine crosshatch pattern that I am just in love with. You can however see very well the criss-cross quilting on the back. I’m still really new to machine quilting, and after sewing up the scarf for my mother in law using my walking foot, I decided to try using it for straight line quilting. Now, I’m very averse to change for some reason, but I’m now kicking myself for never trying the walking foot before. It. is. a.maz.ing. Definitely will be using it for more machine quilting.

The only thing I don’t love about this quilt is the binding. It’s some nondescript solid gray that I had a fat quarter of. (I hate it when I get the fat quarter without the selvege identifying it, don’t you?) I think it’s really just too pale. I had another gray, a patterned fabric, that I considered using, but decided against it because I didn’t want it to be too busy. Now I wonder if I should have gone with my instinct.

Anyway, the bright colors and fun pattern at least lighten up my days a bit. The “cold” short days are getting to me and making it hard to stay positive. (Well, that and the complete lack of sleep courtesy of a baby who cannot self soothe for anything.) I enjoyed piecing this quilt tremendously, and in fact, I let it sit on my chair upstairs in it’s quilted, but unbound state for a couple of days because I love the look of a freshly quilted and trimmed up ready for binding quilt.

I’m noticing lately, that I’ve been pushing myself to try new things. Six months ago I would have scoffed at the idea of making a mini-quilt — but now I see the value in these little fast quilts. Not to mention the (almost) instant gratification.  I’ve tried new ways to cut HSTs, I’m using my walking foot, tried my hand at big stitch quilting (so much faster and easier on the fingers than traditional hand quilting) and I credit all of this change to the amazing online sewing community. I know most of these women don’t even know it, but they’re inspiring people like me to try new things every day.

Ok, now that I’ve completely gone off course, and what’s worse gotten all mushy, I’ll leave you with a question. What have you tried new lately? or if you rather, What else should I try that I’m missing out on?

Linking up with Fabric Tuesdays.

Comments

8 Responses to “Summer Hours”

  1. Melizza on January 10th, 2012 4:20 am

    So so beautiful. I started a lap/mini quilt but have yet to finish it. One day! Mine looks meh compared to yours. Such great colors!

  2. Tami on January 10th, 2012 5:07 pm

    I love it, so bright and cheery. Great job.

  3. Simone R. on January 10th, 2012 5:10 pm

    That’s a lovely little lap quilt.
    What I haven’t yet tried, and have sworn I never would, but am now seriously considering is applique on a quilt. I’ve had to do some top stitching on a cathedral windows quilt I’m working on and just love the look of the stitches, which makes me think I’m going to have to try applique.

  4. Faith Jones on January 11th, 2012 5:11 pm

    I love it, look at all those tiny HSTs! And YES, the walking foot is awesome!

  5. maria on January 12th, 2012 4:27 am

    Gorgeous quilt! I love the colours, especially on this grey, January English day!
    I can’t think of anything new I’ve tried lately, you’ve got me thinking that maybe I should!

  6. Norine on January 12th, 2012 11:04 pm

    This is lovely!

    Instead of trying something new, I need to go back to basics. I made a quilt top last month that is just terrible and its all because I was sloppy.

  7. NaomiRuth on April 17th, 2012 9:05 am

    This is a beautiful mini quilt. Have you ever tried paper piecing? You can complete complicated looking patterns really easily! Fresh Lemon Quilts blog has a really great tutorial.

  8. Jeannette on April 25th, 2012 4:16 pm

    Yep, I’ve done quite a bit of paper piecing from Fresh Lemons… I’m working on a couple of block patterns myself. :)

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