Proving that I indeed can fit 80 x 80" of fabric through home machine, here is the "Swoon" quilt all finished. This quilt goes to France to my friend Pierre's mom whose birthday is next week. I will arrive the week after so I'll find out if it was a hit or not in person, and perhaps, see it in its French home. 

I like this pattern a lot. I will be making another one for my cousin in a more somber palette.

Oh boy - are these the cutest little girls or what?  The quilts are great backdrops for their cuteness. This is the best reward for all that work: seeing the blankies with their owners.

So my "Swoon" quilt is coming together. It is a beast. 80" by 80". I now know that I can quilt something that size on my little home machine. Not easy, mind you, cramming 80" of fabric through an approximately 7" x 4" rectangular space. But, it can be done.  I will have this sucker finished by the weekend I hope. It has to travel to France in 2 weeks so it definitely needs some intense focus from me.

Here it is 1/2 way done. My shoulders are cramped and sore from wrestling all that fabric!

Several months back, I bought this pattern (Swoon by Camille Roskelley). I have delayed making it because, well, I'm lazy.

At last, I have started and am making steady progress. It's so pretty in that old fashioned kind of way. The modern fabrics, although they are retro in design, give this pattern a fresh look. I'm excited to finish it and am hoping to have it pieced and quilted by June 1. Wish me luck!

I suppose finishing a project is critical to my being able to move ahead. No surprise - i'm actually a great multi-tasker but i don't like things hanging.

This little quilt was kind of therapeutic. I was stressed and doing intense quilting allowed me to exercise that. The pattern is a take on one in a book called "Block Party: Modern Quilting Bee" - the inspiration pattern is called "Earn your Stripes" by Elizabeth Hartman which is a riff on the basic Coin type quilt. I'm calling this Coin Toss b/c there's so much negative space in my pattern adjustment. Anyway - if you're a quilter - I recommend the book, and Elizabeth's wonderful blog. (She's got a new book coming out which will be fantastic, I'm sure.)

I've spent the better part of last evening and this morning looking at lovely things on the web and hopefully have found a way to inspire myself, which includes going to the gym today to start moving my body a bit. 

stay tuned!

The square. my favorite quilting shape. whether it's a simple 5 x 5 square set into white or more complex log cabin type designs, I find the square to be the most gratifying to work with.

Next up is a simple patchwork of squares in one of my favorite fabric lines - Hometown by Sweetwater. The design is at once modern and vintage & I love the text patterns.

I have it all cut out and am in process of laying it out to find a color balance before sewing. It is the project for this weekend.

All wrapped up, quilted and now in the washer for that soft worn in effect. I took a few photos before laundering. I always like to see the contrast (will post those after washing pictures shortly). I used my neighbor's fence with its fleur de lis motif for the "location". I need to find a better way to hang the quilt for photographs - the white clips are not very graceful.

Anway - you get the gist.

If you'd like to make one of these, it's certainly not rocket science as you can tell - however there's a simple little tutorial for the quilt top here on the website. It's very easy but fresh and modern. You quilt in your favorite way. I like the straight line horizontal quilting for this particular fabric which is called Petite Ecole. the lines remind me of notebook paper lines.....(click here for a simple tutorial for the quilt top).

The backing is a little western looking to me with its circled letters at a slant. kind of a bandana feel. It is however, from the same fabric designer as the front but a differently named line, Petite Odile. All fabrics from French General which seems to be my favorite place on earth (and it almost is!).

I am on track with my schedule of a quilt in a week. This is a simple, but sweet, "plus" quilt using the Petite Ecole fabric line which is one I really like. it's very subdued and perfect for a baby boy. It's hard to find fabrics that work well for boys, particularly if you gravitate toward polka dots, bright colors and flowers like I do. French General has the best selection of Petite Ecole fabrics. Most fabric shops have one or two of the prints but not all.

I went with a simple patchwork configuration that is simple and makes the traditional-esque fabrics look more modern. I think the straight line quilting will further "modernize" the palette and prints.

Stay tuned for progress, and I hope a finished quilt by Sunday night :)!

Moving along.