Quilting: A Change of Heart

I had NEVER been interested in quilting. For me, the word conjured up images like this:








Fussy, green, maroon and brown geometric nana-quilts.



However, recently I stumbled across the photos below and immediately fell in love with rag quilts.

http://southerncharmquilts.com

After trawling through quilts on Pinterest, I discovered that quilts can be amazingly beautiful!

Some of my favourites are:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/114724021/modern-patchwork-quilt

I'm loving the square look and I really like the yellow squares in the middle of each block to pull it all together. Great fabric from Lotta Jansdotter.

ididntsaybanana.blogspot.com

Pinwheels in super cute colours as a baby quilt. Preeeetttty.

http://www.magpiequilts.com/2012/02/chevron-quilts.html

Mmmmm...Chevrons!

I have made a few baby quilts/lap quilts, but never a full-sized one, nor one with anything other than patchwork squares. See two of my little quilts here and here.

But now, some days it seems all I do is think about quilts and quilting. Strange how this obsession snuck on me. I even have a Quilt board on Pinterest!

After first seeing the above rag quilts I decided I want to make a king-size one for our bed and spent hours calculating sizes of block and how many fabrics I'd use and how much I'd need. I ordered some spring-loaded snips, a walking foot for my machine, spent ages scrolling through pages and pages of fabrics trying to decide what to use. (I think I have found the colour story I want to use, but more about that later.)

After such a burst of enthusiasm I then stopped to think and decided, prudently, I believe, that I should start with a smaller project. I have now started a single quilt for Max's bed. More about that soon.

And now, back to my sewing machine!