Take Two

I don't know what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods, but we've had a reprieve from the bitter winter temps here lately.  I'll take a beautiful, breezy sixty degrees any day!  I'm sure winter isn't over yet, but the spring-like weather made the photo shoot for this quilt much more fun that the last few.

I was finally able to get the quilting done over the weekend, but even then I worked on it in short bursts, no more than 30 minutes at a time.  This quilt measures 72 x 90, and a quilt this size takes me about four hours to stipple.  I usually enjoy my marathon quilting sessions, but to my surprise, the shorter sessions were just as enjoyable, even though it really felt like doing it that way made it take longer.

Other than the triangle bits that are part of the little preemie quilt I'm working on, I used every available scrap in the backing, and I love the way this warm yellow fabric makes the colors pop.

The binding is a beautiful, rich shade of red that I feel like I have been seeing a lot lately, and I realized after I chose it that Marsala is the Pantone 2015 Color of the Year.  So that may explain things a bit.

This quilt is for my mom, and I can't wait for her to see it.  Perhaps you remember the Anna Maria Horner Dowry quilt that I made for her over the summer?  Well, she is redoing the guest room in her house and wanted a quilt with AMH fabrics.  She really loved the LouLouThi line (these fabrics), but since it is an older line I couldn't find enough of it, so I made the quilt with the Dowry fabrics instead.  

Although she really likes the Dowry quilt, it turned out to be too dark for the room.  The Dowry line is much more jewel-toned, and these fabrics are more earthy.  Since I knew she had her heart set on LouLouThi, I kept my eyes peeled.  I found a bundle of it on Etsy last fall and snatched it up.  Clearly, the rest is history.  All of this goes to explain the twofold meaning of the name of the quilt- Take Two.

Not only is this quilt "Take Two" for the intended room, I also think that Anna Maria Horner fabrics have such a great vintage feel.  The prints feel like a wonderful hodgepodge of fabrics you might find in a thrift shop, and the bold mix of colors really give a treasured, aged quality to the quilt.  I'm certain that Take Two will be exactly what my mom had in mind!

Let's Link Up!

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I am happy to report that my procedure went well on Monday and thank you all for your well wishes and good thoughts sent my way.  I'm still not up to hefting my diamond quilt to get it quilted, but I haven't been completely down and out.

These skinny little triangles are actually the ends of the strips from cutting out the triangles for my diamond quilt.  In the past, I have always just thrown those away (which kills me), but I like these fabrics so much that I just couldn't bear it.  I sewed them into rectangles before my surgery, and yesterday, I pieced them together.  I figured that sitting in one place and sewing them would be okay since they are so little and don't weigh anything, but truth be told, I did overdo it a little bit.  It's just tough for me to stay idle for too long.

That being said, I really LOVE this little quilt.  It is only a preemie size quilt (right at 35 inches square), but I don't know if I'm going to be able to part with it.  I might keep it as a wall hanging or table topper.  My activities yesterday sent me a message loud and clear that it will be a few more days until I can do any more sewing though.  I guess taking it easy in yoga pants with a good book is just what I need to recover fully.

So much awesomeness was linked up last week!  Check out some of my favorites-

Elise at Lovelea Designs showed off her Atlantic Currents quilt, and her echo quilting on this one just rocks!

Southern Gal Thoughts shared the journey of creating her first large quilt finish- a Scrumptious quilt with prairie points!

and Karen at Quilts...etc. linked up this hand pieced, hand quilted Dear Jane masterpiece- WOW!  Red and white quilts are just timeless, don't you think?

What an amazing bunch of links!  I love browsing through all of them each and every week.  You are all such amazing sources of inspiration!  So, it's time to show off what you're working on this week.

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

LouLouThi Diamonds

I've been working for the last several days to finish my latest quilt top made with Anna Maria Horner's LouLouThi collection, plus ten other prints from my stash.  Can I just say that this is a LOT of triangles?  330 of them to be precise.  I have mastered the art of sewing triangles while preserving the points and without stretching them out of shape, but I must say that I still find it a bit tedious to do so many.  It's all good though.  This one is for my mom, and she will love it!

AMH collections are always a mix of prints and colors that are really fun and unexpected, but are so harmonious when put together.  Because her fabrics have a certain vintage feel, it can be tough to mix other fabrics with them, but I think the ones I chose fit in well.  If you look closely, you might just spot some Amy Butler Cameo in there!

The backing is all finished, and the torturous task of basting will commence tomorrow.  I'm having an outpatient procedure on Monday morning, so I'm not sure when I'll get this one quilted, but I'm hoping I'll feel up to some short quilting sessions by the end of the week!