Friday, March 18, 2011

Starting a new quilt


I showed you the 2.5 inch strips I cut a little while ago for a new quilt.  Today, I cut all the background pieces, and enough fruits to begin two blocks without their sashing rows.  Don't the strawberries and plums look desicious? I put the lime fabric in just so the cutting board didn't show, it is not permanent.  I am pretty excited about this quilt.  I have 25 different food fabrics for 25 different blocks.  I am working from a pattern in Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett.  This quilt is Market Baskets on page 40.  I really like Kim's designs.  They all use 2.5 inch strips, and are very user friendly.  There are several more in this book I would like to try one of these days.
When I first started quilting again, I wanted to use my own designs.  When I was painting and doing collage, I didn't want anyone else to work on my pieces, or give me ideas of what I should create.  This attitude came with me when I moved to fabric.  I have finally come to the conclusion that I love some of the great patterns out there, and I really want to try some of them.  I will continue to do the more experimental (for me, anyway) quilts because I get such joy out of that process.  I will also make quilts using other people's patterns.  For playing around with traditional blocks, I can use the preemie quilts.  If I find blocks I love, I can use them in bigger sampler quilts.  In all of it, I just love playing with the fabrics and seeing what I can create from my point of view.
Tomorrow, I am headed to Sister's in Chehalis, WA.  They are having a big sale to celebrate National Quilting Day.  I used to live in Chehalis, many years ago, so this will be a grand adventure.  Sister's has a reputation for having a wonderful flannel collection.  I will let you know what I come home with.

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