Summer Of Quilts

After the end of each school year, I find myself sewing with abandon for a few weeks to rejuvenate. I've worked three quilts that have "been in my brain" for a while.

Meet "Tree of Life." Last summer, I bought some of Free Spirit's Hot Flash fabric, with the intent of making something a little chaotic. I put a border around three sides and then sewed a chevron border along the last side. I'm intending to hand quilt this one with lots of swirls to complement the movement of all the colors.

This turquoise and red quilt is the completion of an online quilting bee I participated in last year. Four times last year, I was placed with six women from around the world. We shared our color preferences and then each quilter made the SAME block in different colors for their group. At the time, I was crazy about red and turquoise together. I really enjoyed working with different colors and design elements. I think I'll just "stitch in the ditch" or sew around the squares. I bought tons of red polka dot fabric for this purpose.

This is "Royal Squares," a free pattern I found off of Craftsy. It utilizes scraps of all sizes. I only had to buy white fabric to make this. I like the way the white squares POP out. This quilt also helped me with those 1/4" seams.

Now, for a bit of sadness. My sewing machine has died. It was an old one, though. I bought it when Rich and I were in college, about 15 years ago, at least. He still has some of the shorts I made him. I've made Vincent costumes, Ava dresses, quilts, baby gifts- so much on that machine. Here's a picture:

It appears that sewing machine technology has taken off since I bought this one. Long gone are the 4-step button holes of mechanical machines. Now, there is automatic everything! Along with computerized technology comes a big price. There are machines out there that cost less than my first car! I'm researching machines and Rich is gonna give me one for my birthday. Maybe I'll be able to sew without my family hearing the loud roar of every little stitch. Looking forward finishing those quilts!