3 Quilts/3 Weeks

As mentioned before, I've previously been a quilt or two a year kind of quilter. Last year, I made 4 quilts. Now, I made 3 in the past 3 weeks. All three of these quilts are for the prayer shawl ministry.


I started the first one the day before I read about project improv. I had already planned on making a log cabin quilt, alternating white and color. I deciding to change things up a bit, so I went from all 2 1/2 strips, to strips that were also 4 and 5 inches. I then started putting them together, trimming edges to make things a bit wonkier. I do like how it turned out, and I think the bright colors combined with the white really emphasize the wonk. This quilt is for the mother of a childhood friend, who has breast cancer.

I was almost finished with the first top and had just told Allen that this was the last quilt I was going to make before we moved. Then, we heard the news about Brian. I decided that two more quilts were in order.

I had really enjoyed the wonky log cabin, so I decided that I would continue to play for awhile. Instead of cutting exact strip lengths, I just grabbed my scissors and started cutting random width strips of all of the fabrics I was using - freedom! Working this way really fits my personality- kind of messy, plus I don't tend to get things exactly square, anyway, now I don't need to! Anyway, I pushed the blocks a bit more with this one, but kind of evened things out with the white. This quilt is for Brian's son, Nate.

For the next quilt, I pulled out a few fabrics that I had purchased together, with no specific project in mind. I thought they would make a beautiful quilt for Kirsten, Brian's fiancee. Again, I just started cutting the fabric in random widths. I had this wild floral that I used for the centers and a bit on the sides. I really love this quilt. By just butting the blocks up against one another, it is more difficult to tell where one block ends and the next begins. I want to keep this quilt, really it is one of my favorites.

yes, the picture is upside down, but Allen was holding it the wrong way.

And, you can see why I like the quilt. See how nicely it fits into my living room.

I used these same fabrics to make my red/aqua block for the project improv charity quilt. I'm not sure that I'm as crazy about it as some of the blocks in the full quilt, or maybe I just like them all put together better. It does need to be ironed and squared up a bit (like I said, not so good at the square thing.) Either way, I'm done quilting for awhile. My sewing machine, along with most of my other worldly possessions, will be packed in about 10 days.

When we are settled, I would like to continue quilting improvisationally. I am already looking for fabric for future projects.

Yes, I do have a few travel photos and the kids to post, it will have to wait a few days. Seriously, 3 quilts/3 weeks does not allow much time for other things.

A New Quilt for Old John

Several years ago, John and Joy were cleaning out a shed on their property. In it, they found quilt squares made by John's mom in the 1940s. (They were paper pieced onto newspaper from 1944.) At the time, I didn't know what to do with them. This time last year, I pulled them out again, and decided they needed a new life. I asked Joy to send me photos of John and his mom. I then sewed everything together into a new quilt for old John.