My Favorite Quilt

After spending many years considering tackling a quilt project, I finally took the jump about a year ago. Since then, I’ve made eight quilts—not too shabby for the new kid on the quilting block!

This is my version of Rachel Hauser’s Penny Sampler, from an online class she taught in the fall of 2013. I consider it my favorite because it was a pivotal learning experience for me, strengthening my skills in piecing with precision and introducing me to the worlds of applique and foundation piecing.

My Penny Sampler is composed of my favorite colors—red, green, and blue—in some favorite fabrics. It highlights a lot of Denyse Schmidt fabrics. (I love so much of her work, especially Hope Valley.) I also used this fabulous red fabric with blue and green flowers on it. I bought it at least eight years ago and only had a fat quarter of it, but I used every bit of that fabric in this quilt.

By the end of our journey together, this quilt felt like an old friend—I had witnessed its evolution from a pile of fabric to a work of art. I knew, however, how many hours (and hours and hours) I dedicated to the project, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the finished quilt. It was something I’d pack away and bring out every so often to look at. So I gifted it to a little girl who loves picture books. To me, the Penny Sampler seems like the storybook of quilts. There’s so much to look at—trees and houses and horses and flowers. I like to imagine that little girl poring over those quilted images, making stories of her own.

Can’t Stop with the Totes!

Apparently, this thing with the tote bags is an official tangent. I was so happy with the one I made last week that I followed it up with two more, from the same Noodlehead pattern, both of which look like this:

(fabric facts: DS Quilts Fancy Free and Essex Linen in ivory)

I have a few nonquilt patterns that I tend to rely on a lot—I’ve done them a bunch of times, and I know how to do them really well (like, so well that I have the yardage requirements memorized!). The first that comes to mind is Alicia Paulson’s Jane Market Bag. The picture here shows just three examples, but I am not exaggerating when I report that I have made more than two dozen Jane Market Bags.

Most of my Jane Market Bags were completed when my sons were just babies and I had limited time—and brain cells—to devote to sewing projects. It felt good to pick out fabrics and complete something, even if that something was a bag I had made many times over.

This Noodlehead pattern is proving to be the same. It’s a great stash buster and easy, easy to put together. I invested in some canvas to interline the first one I made, but the second and third were interlined with scrap curtain lining I had hiding in the back of my sewing closet. I knew I was holding on to that lining for good reason!

Over at Lovely and Enough, Kelsey Boes writes about those quilting labors of love, projects you piece slowly over time. There is much to be said for savoring the process and watching a quilt top come together block by block. My biggest quilting triumph along these lines has been my Penny Sampler.

I can relate to Kelsey’s experience, but I also find enjoyment in the small accomplishments—skirts that you can crank out in a day, a tote bag that doesn’t require a trip to a fabric store.

Do you have any Noodlehead totes or Jane Market Bags in your pattern collection? What do you go back to time and again?

I’m linking up this post to Finish It Up Friday!

Christmas in June

The most amazing thing is happening at my sewing table these days: I am ahead of schedule on a project! I’m not very good at last-minute panic sewing. Sewing is much more enjoyable when I don’t fixate on a deadline. Of course, this means I’m still working on a quilt for a January 2014 birthday and a quilt for Mother’s Day 2014. Yesterday I finished a tote bag for Mother’s Day 2014 just as the recipient was walking through my front door—only 23 days late, people!

I’m slowing chipping away at this table topper with Christmas fabrics from my stash. I like how the design pairs a rigid geometric pattern with the haphazard placement of patterned fabrics. I’m using my last bits of Martha Nagley’s Poinsettias and Holly (below), Robert Kaufman’s Quilter’s Linen in red, and a snowflake pattern from (I think) Michael Miller. Everything is tied together with Color Spectrum Dark Moss.

I like how it’s turning out—I think I’ll keep it for myself, actually—but the project is forcing me to consider when close enough is close enough for me. That is, when do I rip out a seam to get my triangles a big tighter and when do I let things ride? It’s important to me that the pinwheels meet nicely in the center. I also wanted the dark moss triangles to have intact points. There are some wonky blocks . . . we’ll see what happens with them as I finish piecing. Since I’m using my last bits of these prints, there is no starting any of the blocks again from scratch, just ripping out seams and redoing.

I have to put this down every so often to work on more pressing projects, but with five months of lead time left, I think it’s safe to say that it will be done for Christmas 2014!

I’m linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced today. If you’re also working on something Christmas-y or if you have a recommendation for another Christmas project, I’d love to hear about it!