I'm so new to sewing that I don't think I can technically go on a "hiatus" from it yet, but I definitely took a break for the last couple of months. Although I have some really cool fabrics that I've been waiting to use, and some projects that I want to make, I just haven't been able to find the motivation or energy to get working by 9:30pm after the kids go to sleep. But I finally found myself inspired again this week when I saw photos of a picnic blanket quilt on the blog of a woman who sews (incredible quilts) and blogs about her projects. I've found that there are tons of amazing blogs by women--many of them moms--who do amazing crafty things and blog about them. Many of these blogs will have tutorials that teach you how to do a specific technique or how to make an entire project. I've gotten so many great ideas for crafts (to do myself or with Parker) and sewing projects by checking these blogs from time to time. I actually won a pack of vintage pillowcase and sheet fabric scraps by entering into a giveaway on one of these blogs--I was so happy! it was such a random good thing--and this is the fabric that I'm using for my latest project. I have always admired the amazing quilts that I see on these women's blogs, and (believe it or not) I would love to learn how to quilt. I'm pretty scared of trying to actually "quilt" the top of the project once all of the layers are put together, but I think that I can make a basic blanket for now without doing the actual quilting finish work at the end. I find that I'm really drawn to the super vintage, crazy, flowery-patterns-exploding-everywhere quilts as well as the totally opposite--super minimalist and modern quilts with colorful, solid, improvisational shapes set against plain white backgrounds. So, that's to say that not everything I make will necessarily be in this style, but right now I'm going for the vintage old-lady look with this one :) For now I've been loving just cutting all of the fabric scraps up into 4.5" squares, it's fun deciding how to frame the patterns for each square, and seeing the neat, orderly squares emerge from the mish-mash pile of funny shaped scraps feels surprisingly satisfying. It's also been fun dreaming about how to arrange the squares once they are all cut--I think I'm going to sew them into 12" square blocks, made up of 9 different fabric squares each, and then sew those blocks into a big old patchwork mess. I'm thinking about getting some new fabric to fill in the blocks, set in amongst the flowery vintage squares, all polka dots in a variety of colors so that I can arrange the 12" blocks in a sort of rainbow design--from pink to orange, yellow, green, blue, and lavender. Who knows how long this will take, and how it will turn out--I'm actually hoping to be able to use this blanket this summer for trips to the park and in the backyard. At least right now I'm just really enjoying the preparation process. The only problem with getting immersed in a project is that I find myself getting frustrated during the days and late in the evenings when I really want to do some work but just can't swing it.
Is this the longest blog entry about a quilt ever?
My growing stack of squares and my shrinking pile of scraps, all vintage pillowcases and sheets (except for the green and white polka dots)
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