keri's quilt

my friend keri just turned 31 and so i decided to make her a birthday quilt. 

i love the look of the super quick + easy quilt in joelle hoverson's last minute patchwork and quilted gifts, so i decided to give it a try.  i made the dimensions a bit bigger -- more like 42" x 52"ish -- and used the "zigzag option" for the sewn ties since my machine is pretty basic and doesn't make those lovely satin-stitch ovals.

i was working with a few parameters, and overall i think i found a fun way to incorporate them. her apartment colors are sage, gold and some purple and since i was hoping this quilt throw would work well for her living room, i wanted to find a fun fabric that matched.  

i also wanted to find something that seemed to really capture a bit of who this fabulous keri is :)  she is one of my closest friends and a constant inspiration to me, so this was no small task. but i am really excited to give her the quilt and see what she thinks...  i went with an alexander henry aviary fabric in gold -- it is bright and cheery, pretty, and filled with a classic symbol of peace, the dove.  so, if you knew keri, you would agree that it captures her quite well :)

i was a little nervous that the reddish color outlining the doves might not be quite perfect for her place, but i loved the fabric and couldn't find anything else that matched her so well...  so i went with it. i hope she likes it! 

i'm excited about how it turned out -- very springy and refreshing.  i wonder if i should have used the washable wool batting for more loft, but thought the cotton would be better for spring/summer.  i'll definitely use this pattern again soon.

'inaugural' quilt

i started working on my first quilt last week. i was so excited because quilts are something that i LOVE and i've always wanted to make my own. i had bought the fabrics for it before christmas at quiltology and, with christmas and birthday sewing projects complete, was able to begin. i decided to start with amy karol's "easy lap quilt" since my sister had so much luck with it in making her daughter's baby quilt. so, i had a great pattern and great fabrics -- where did i go wrong?? well, i decided to adjust things a bit. normally i think this is an excellent thing to do -- but perhaps i should have waited until i was a bit more... experienced. anyways, i wanted the quilt to be a bit bigger so i could really cuddle up in it with my hubby on the sofa. so i increased the length and width -- fine -- but then decided to play around with the patterned pieces. i should have left them all one (perhaps longer?) length, but made two lengths instead and interspersed them on my quilt. et voila, my overly busy, but still not terrible, first quilt top.

i LOVE the back though. probably because it is just simple. i used quiltology's tutorial to put that part together.

so, it isn't terrible, just not my 'dream quilt'. just have to sandwich and quilt it and then i can move on to the next one :)