Oh Brother

I forgot to write about the quilt I was making my brother. It was for his 50th birthday. I started Summer Romance about 2 years ago at a quilt retreat. This was way back in the "self taught" portion of my life. So at the retreat I made the large blocks and 199 nine patches. The gals at the guild were laughing at me that I would work SO hard on something I was going to give away. I set the quilt aside until this last summer. His birthday was approaching and I had to get to work.

Well in the last two year I have learned SO SO SO much about how to actually piece work. I learned about 1/4" seams, pressing, blocking etc... ALL of these things I did not know 2 years ago... when I was about to piece his quilt I had to do a very painful thing. I had to go back to piecing like a newbie! Yes, I had to pinch and pull on fabric to force it to marry up. And it was humbling me every step of the way. The finished product is beautiful. But when I look at it I see every rookie error.

I do love to make quilts for people because they have a deep connected story. Each quilt has been created during a period in my life that has a rich story. Brad's quilt was a Block of the month from my favorite fabric store. I purchased two of these kits because I thought Colleen would like to make it as well. It turns out that Colleen (ON THE SAME WEEKEND) was in San Diego and signed up for the same BOM at her store. What are the odds. So I set out to make a quilt for Danielle and for Brad. Each month piecing with love. It was fun to create within that network of woman at the quilt store.

John's quilt is a family tree. I had so much fun and was inspired by scrapbook page. So I blew it up larger than life and got started. This was once in my life when being a self taught quilt is a good thing. No rules...No errrors. I fused, appliqued, painted and had a great time.

Colleen's quilt I actually made with just an idea. The quilt was originally done on white blocks. I didn't like it so much until I started thinking about making it on a black block. It has appliqued angels that I did in a linen thread. That looks fuzzy so it gave the appearance of drawing on a chalkboard. This was a fun quilt. Colleen always told me that if i sold it, she would buy it. I gave it to her for her last b/day!

This year I am trying to make all my Christmas gifts. Look at the time... I better get started.