Keeping Secrets

While working on the Bloom Where You Are Planted quilt as a surprise for my friend, Laura, we had scheduled a ski weekend together! Out of the four of us, two like to ski and two don't. The two of us that didn't want to ski decided to stay at the cabin and work on projects. It was my very first sewing retreat!

Of course I couldn't work on the Bloom quilt, so I needed a different project. I had recently seen a tutorial for what seemed like a quick and easy quilt, so I decided to try it!

I bought the fabrics at my local Jo-Ann's (in Las Vegas, NV).

I cut the fabric on the kitchen counter of the cabin and ironed on a towel on the floor. I got three quilt tops (two blue and green ones along with a red and black one) done over the weekend! (March 3rd and 4th) I loved having such quick finishes amidst the much longer process of the Bloom quilt.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

While living in Las Vegas, we became great friends with a couple, Jeremy and Laura, that lived just down the street from us. We had SO much in common and spent much time together. We even vacationed together!

Jeremy was in the Air Force, which required them to move regularly. Laura lived by the motto, "Bloom where you are planted," in order to make the most of each place they lived.

An Ugly Quilt

In February (2011), the quilt shop Quiltique in Henderson, NV had it's 3rd annual "Ugly Fabric Challenge." I convinced my mom that we should both participate for something different and fun!

On February 14, my husband and I drove to the quilt shop and purchased a brown paper sack of the challenge fabrics - one for my mom and one for me. It was $25 for the ugly fabric and three coordinating prints. The coordinating prints were different in each bag.

I decided to use a One-Block Wonder pattern. I matched up the print in six layers of fabric and cut equilateral triangles through all six layers.

A quilt for baby Jocelyn

I sat in front of the sewing machine, palms sweaty, my foot barely reaching the pedal, and my mother standing over my shoulder. My seams weren’t straight and the shirt I sewed didn’t fit. I hated the entire process. I swore I would never sew again.

A decade and a half later (in 2010), I got an unexplainable urge to sew a quilt for a friend’s new baby. Armed with a hand-me-down sewing machine, I turned to the best teacher I know: the internet. I watched YouTube videos and read tutorials for every step. I called my mom and grandmothers more times than I can count.

I bought the fabrics for the quilt at the only fabric store I knew of - JoAnn's. I bought a fabric book panel, coordinating solids, and a stripe. (The book panel was a Daisy Kingdom panel named "Jesus and Me" by Michelle L. Palmer.) I also bought a crib-sized polyester batting and some coordinating Coats & Clark threads.

I cut the book pages apart to be blocks and added the solid fabrics around each page. I did not follow a pattern, just made it up as I went.