Wednesday 26 March 2014

The insanity begins

I know there were a few doubters out there when I mentioned I'd like to make two quilts for the two weddings I'll be going to in a few weeks time - and I have had a bit of a reality check since making that possibly-not-so-well-thought-out statement. I decided not to forgo sleep entirely, and to aim for one quilt, and a few cushions for the other gift instead ;o)

So, after finishing off a VERY overdue set of bee blocks on Tuesday, I started quilt number one. I pulled this bundle of fabrics a few weeks ago, in the requested colours of blue and red. Although I love blue and red together, I wanted to add a bit more variety, so I've pulled a bunch of red-oranges, reds, navies and greenish blues. There are quite a few prints from Tsuru in there which happen to coordinate beautifully with the Lush Uptown prints I've pulled, along with some Denyse Schmidt and others. I've already culled a few of these, and will more than likely add some different prints but you probably get an idea of the palette :o)



My initial thought was to make a Swoon quilt (still on my bucket list after abandoning my first Swoon efforts), but it didn't feel quite the right choice though for my brother and his fiance. After a bit of brainstorming I started making some Maple Leaf blocks, since the soon to be married pair actually met while they were working in Canada.


I'm almost done with the next three blocks as well, and I'm planning a 5x5 layout, so I'm almost a quarter of the way there (so I'm thinking I will retain some level of sanity by the end). I'm not sure how much more of this quilt I'll share before it's finished - I'm pretty sure the recipients don't ever read here, but I might have to make certain first.

I have actually re-sized these blocks to 15", and I will be sharing my process tomorrow for this week's Decipher Your Quilt post.

xx Jess

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOVE that colour palette and the fabrics you've chosen. i see some of my favourites in there :)

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

What a timely blog post - I am just pulling fabrics for a Maple Leaf quilt and now that I see yours I am TOTALLY going to make it.

Leanne said...

This is looking wonderful. I am sure you will manage the plan before the weddings or else give them a photo and a fabric sample in the box with an iou.

DeborahGun said...

its lovely Jess. I love your pull of fabrics. A Swoon is on my to-do list to - I was going to make one for my parents but it didn't seem right either (and I don't think I have the time!) so I am still searching for a different pattern!

Renee said...

Some of those fabrics are among my favorites, and I love the leaf pattern--so I'm confident the quilt will turn out awesome, haha!

Cheryl said...

Beautiful fabric pull, I love the color combinations

Debbie said...

Beautiful fabrics and this is one of my favorite blocks! Seems appropriate! If you post on flickr, considering joining in the "Falling for Modern Maples" group - we'd love to see your progress!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Going to look brilliant, now get secret squirrelling!

CapitolaQuilter said...

Smart choices - can't wait to here the resized details. They're going to love the quilt. I've got two wedding quilts to make but they're not due until June and August.

Heather D. said...

What pretty stacks of fabrics Jess. I love the colour combo.

Kirsten said...

Love the colours your are using - the maple leaves will look amazing in these pretty fabrics!

Katy Cameron said...

Perfect choice :o) I really think you weren't thinking outside the box though on the 2 quilt front, you should have just put the kids in storage for the 3 weeks and you'd have had all the time in the world ;o)

Ella said...

That's going to be an amazing quilt!

Hilary said...

This is going to be a beautiful quilt! I'm looking forward to seeing the final result :)

Sarah said...

I made a maple leaf quilt last year. My cousin married a Canadian girl and when their son was born in November I decided that I wanted the baby quilt to reflect Kristen's home country.