Pictures of my quilts

I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my quilts here. If I have, forgive me, because I'm doing it again! I don't talk too much about quilting, and lately I haven't done too much quilting either. But it's a fun hobby and something I always come back to. And they make for great pictures!

I'm far from a great seamstress and my work is pretty amateurish (you should see what a REAL quilt fiend can do...I'm not ashamed of my work, it just is what it is). But I love the process. I love picking out colors, working out the design, working with my hands (it's so relaxing!), and then seeing the vision in my head become something real - and most of the time it's not quite what I had in mind, but that's part of the fun too. A quilt takes on a life of its own and teaches me to let go of my need for total control.


Here's my first quilt I started when I was 14. It's twin-sized; the pattern is called "Prairie Queen." I had quite a few...misconceptions about sewing and sewing machines, so you'll notice I'm not posting a close-up view of this one! ;)




My second quilt, a.k.a. the anti-quilt. After trying to wrangle my first quilt I resolved not to make anything bigger than I was! This one is 5'x4'. And after the death match I had with my mom's sewing machine on the first one, I resolved to make this one by hand from start to finish. The design is my own! This was my first attempt at quilt design and also at appliqué (the star). I like heavy blankets, so I used several layers of a terrycloth-type fabric for batting instead of the traditional poly-fil -type stuff. It certainly is heavy, but the quilting was a nightmare!



Close up:


I made stencils for the lettering by typing it on my computer in a fancy font, blowing it up to a huge size, then printing and cutting them out. The letters and swirlies are all double stitched once in silver (to show up on the front) and once in blue (to show up on the back).


My masterpiece, the Double Wedding Ring (DWR). It's queen-sized and no cheating - all the pieces in the rings were cut out individually and all of the curved seams were done by hand! I started this the year before I left for college and it's still not finished. I'm about 1/4 of the way through the quilting now. (sorry for the blurry photo)




Here's the first quilt I made as a gift, for my husband's ex-wife - they're still good friends, and she was there for me a lot when I was new here. It's an odd size and a really simple "design" because I started it while I was still living in the dorm and didn't have a lot of room or time.




Here is a wall-hanging I made as a gift for the lady who has loaned me her sewing machine. She's a friend of my MIL and I was so grateful to have a machine again when there was no way I could have afforded one of my own! I still have it and she says I can keep it as long as I want.



And here's what it looks like hanging up (sorry for the blur):



Here's another wall-hanging I made to test drive a new walking foot for my sewing machine (makes machine quilting easier). The fabric comes from a very nice lady who taught a hand-piecing tutorial on an online quilting forum I used to participate in; she mailed us samples of different fabrics so we could learn the difference that makes in hand-piecing.




Here's an English Wedding Ring pattern I made as a wedding gift when my first love got married two years ago or so. It was a constructive way to meditate and work through my feelings. I think it's about 2'x3'. I really love the traditional, antiquey look I got with this one!




This one I made as a gift for my husband. I started it actually before we got married, while I was still in college, so he could have something from me to curl up with while we were apart (it was a long-distance relationship). Of course I didn't finish it until we'd been married for a year or two! He likes it a lot but doesn't get a lot of use out of it because the black fabric attracts cat hair and our apartment is so small that we don't really have a cat-free space where he can keep it.




And here, the last project I completed, for our very own Infernal Optimist's little one! You might've already seen her own photos she posted of it back in December, but here's mine:




And of course I have two or three other projects in various stages of completion and about a dozen ideas to start on once I finish those! I have a pretty good-sized stash (did I mention how I love fabric shopping?) Just last week I spent the better part of an afternoon washing some new additions:



Can't wait to see what these will turn into...oh, ten years down the line or so! I'm soooo slow!