Eclectic Vibe

I finished up my modern cross quilt, made with Anna Maria Horner's Pretty Potent line last night and I must say that it has grown on me.

I still won't say that this one ranks amongst my favorites, but a finished quilt always looks better than an unfinished one, and I'm glad that I persevered to get it done.

Something my mom said actually made me view this quilt in a different light.  She said that this quilt looks like something you would find in the store Anthropologie, and I agree with her.  If you've never been in an Anthropologie store, they have an eclectic mix of clothing, home decor, and kitchen and bath items.  Everything in the store has a handmade, funky vibe.  I don't go in that store often, and I don't love every single thing in it, but just thinking of this quilt in that light makes me like it better.  It's almost like appreciating the quilt for the unique style it is, rather than disliking it for something it's not.

On the back, I used up all of the scraps, and if you look closely, you'll even see a few scraps left over from my mom's Dowry quilt.  I love that muted shade of yellow, and I think it sets off the darker colors really well.  The pattern is so small that I almost consider it a solid, and I was happy to find a fabric that could add a little balance to the color and pattern.

When I was trying to come up with a name for this quilt, I kept thinking that the fabrics have an eclectic vibe, so I decided to call it just that!

With all of the busy pattern and bold color, I knew this quilt needed a solid binding, and the Kona Berry is a perfect match to the rich, raspberry shade in the quilt.

All in all, even though this quilt isn't one of my absolute favorites (they can't all be), I am accepting this quilt for it's unique style, and since I'm selling it anyway, I'm sure that someone will love it!

Pretty Potent Crosses

Over the summer, when I made Vintage Closet for my mom, I fell head over heels in love with the Anna Maria Horner Dowry collection.  About that same time, I got a little bit AMH-impulsive and I found a bundle of her Pretty Potent line on sale.  I was so excited when I ordered it, but when it came in, I just didn't love it.

I like the colors overall (although I wish there wasn't quite as much brown), but whereas I loved almost every single print in the Dowry line, there are several fabrics in this one that I could really do without.  There were even a few that I couldn't even bear to put in this quilt (someone will love them in my guild's next FQ swap).  I still think that AMH designs some of the most gorgeous fabrics around, but I'm just not in love with this collection.

That being said, I find AMH fabrics a little difficult to blend with others because of their boldness, so instead of breaking up the fat quarters and letting them sit for eons in my stash, I decided to just suck it up and turn that bundle into a quilt.  I think the modern cross pattern fits the feel of the prints pretty well, and I definitely like the fabrics as a whole collection much better than the individual parts.

All in all, this quilt is still not one of my favorite creations, but it does feel good to get that bundle off the shelf.  And it just might grow on me.