I was motivated to make this quilt based on this contest.  The rules were pretty simple: Make a quilt that is all you! What is me?

Sewing and quilting is a part of my memory for as far back as I can remember.  My mom an avid quilter always gave me her fabric scraps to play with and I remember sitting with Cary (a lady like my grandmother) learning to sew yo-yos that she later helped me sew into a quilt.  I first learned  to hand quilt and later to machine quilt.  I wanted to incorporate both the hand stitching and machine stitching into this piece.  So the quilt was machine pieced and hand quilted using pearlized cotton thread. 

While I learned to quilt using extremely precise quilting techniques, I have learned that this is not my style.  Mama, I know you are rolling your eyes right now.  I don't like using a ruler or a rotary cutter.  Instead, I find freedom in the estimating and cutting with scissors.  As long as my seam ripper is handy it always works out in the end.  The squares in this quilt don't line up exactly...I think this lends to the beauty.  When hand quilting, I left ties showing on the back and stitched using a variety of colors: blue, teal, green, yellow and orange.

I am a firm believer in using natural materials.  The quilt is made of muslin, printed cotton, and kona cotton.  The vibrant colors in this quilt reflect my creative attitude and the cool colors reflect my laid back and easy going personality.  I used a combination of patterns and solids because there are times that I strive to be outgoing, but ultimately I am an introvert. 

Testing the quilt on our bed.  I think this will come in hand during the winter.

Do you like these lamps?  I describe how they were made here.

I used scraps of the patterns and solids as a stripe on the back. 

This is a detail on the back.  You can see the way the quilting thread changes colors.  I love the pattern this made as I stitched around the blocks and squares.

The thread colors even change on the binding.

Trying out the back of the quilt.  I think it is just as lovely as the front.

Whew What a Week!

What a week!  I spent the majority of the week at a conference at Wrightsville Beach.  We stayed at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. 

 It's a hard life but someone's got to do it. Right?  My mind is on work overload so to relax I love to sew.  These iPad cases are some of the items I have been making and selling in my etsy shop.  Check them out!