The Year of the Quilt

I don't know if it just an effect of my spring fever, but I have really had some creative demons roaming around in my mind lately. The kind that nag at me and won't leave me alone until I confront them. This past weekend, I had no choice but to exercise one out. So, instead of cleaning or some such foolishness, I designed and started a full size quilt.

A work in progress...

Stepping backward from the photo above, my creative process actually began with color. The sight of our emerging spring has been my treasure-trove of inspiration. The brown and ochre of last fall is mixed with a million shades of newly budding green. Intoxicating. I have been so distracted on my drive home from work I can barely keep my eyes on the road. These colors are going to be the palette of my quilt.

You know, it's funny, I read a lot of quilt books. Some I own, some I've borrowed from the library. At least a few times a week you will find me on the couch with one in my hands. It's kind of weird because I've never really made a proper quilt, but I really feel like I understand a lot of the "mechanics" of the process from my reading. It also doesn't hurt that I've been taping the Fons and Porter TV Show on PBS. If you check out this link, some are even available to watch online for a fee. Sure, sometimes the aesthetics of whatever they are making doesn't appeal to me, but I have to get past it and focus on the techniques. I know my way around a sewing machine, I can do this (she tells herself).

As I've said before, I think quilting is a whole lot like graphic design. Shapes and spaces working together in a perfect balance of control and chaos. When I sat down with paper and pencil (and the computer after that), I was starting with some base knowledge on a variety of blocks and how they work together. I'm pretty excited about this design I have concocted. It employs a few different types of blocks, some embroidered panels, and some applique. It is still a work in progress...and in my usual fashion, will be until the last thread of the binding has been snipped.

The colors of the wild.

I have purchased some fabric as well as raided my stash to get started. My starting place is the eight 12x12 log cabin blocks included in the design. I love log cabin blocks. They are simple, but with the right fabric choices, can be so colorful at the same time. I am using these blocks as a "chaos" area in my quilt. That means I have been cutting tons and tons of different colors for the "logs". Major time-suck, but it will be worth it in the end...hopefully. :)

Cutting and cutting!

Next week I would love to have a little tutorial (the word tute rankles Alex) ready for you on my log cabin blocks. Until then, I will be cutting and sewing (or possibly sewing and cutting).

–Cassandra