Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring Coastal Orchards

Quilt Stats

Quilt: Modern Courthouse Baby, inspired by a Hopewell Workshop quilt

Fabric: Coastal Orchards, designed by me and produced by Benartex in 2019

Maker: my mom both designed this quilt pattern and stitched this quilt (Thanks, Mom!)

Favorite Part of Quilt:

• beautiful neutrals

• how the striped section melds the solid white and mostly-solid putty sections

A Modern Take on the Courthouse Quilt

This gender-neutral beginner-friendly quilt is a modern take on the Courthouse quilt. Similar to a log cabin, the Courthouse block is constructed by sewing strips sequentially onto a center rectangle. When making a log cabin, you sew strips one at time, pressing as go, rotating 90 degrees with each strip to form a sort-of spiral. With a courthouse block, you sew identical strips onto opposite sides of the center block simultaneously, then sew two other identical strips to the other two sides. I’m not sure if that explained it very well, but when this pattern comes out, there will be a diagram that’s much easier to understand!

Gender Neutral is Versatile

I love having at least one gender-neutral baby quilt on the shelf ready for that last-minute baby shower gift. Perfect for a girl or a boy, excellent for the modern minimalist couple. Also, if I’m being honest, whenever a friend has a baby boy, I feel less inspired on gifts, so a gender neutral modern quilt is perfect!

Gender Neutral Quilt Inspiration

Check out these other gender neutral quilts for inspiration the next time your friend decides not to find out the gender, won’t tell you, or you just want to stitch up a beautiful neutral quilt for their incoming bundle of joy.

• Christmas home-run (left): This monochromatic Layers of Charm quilt (by Fat Quarter Shot) quilt can be made with precuts (a layer cake and a charm pack). Backed with flannel it’s the best last-minute Christmas gift.

• Perfect for twins (middle): Another quilt inspired by Hopewell Workshop, this dynamic geometric quilt is a quick make and actually generates two coordinating quilt tops that can be used for a pair of quilts or as the front and back of a single quilt. Check out its twin quilt on my Mom’s blog.

• Lonestar instant-expert (right): You may not know this, but Lonestar quilts are strip-based! This means all you need are a few WOF strips and you’re off to the races. This intermediate-beginner quilt will make you look like an instant expert at your next baby shower.

Other Modern Courthouse Quilts

Since its inception—when my mom designed the pattern for a quilt for my cousin’s baby boy—I have made four more! It’s such a versatile pattern. Originally designed to showcase a fat quarter of hand-printed fabric, it’s grown be my favorite quilt to showcase a favorite print in the center, hand-printed or not. Stay tuned for a quilt pattern in the next few months (hopefully).

• Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring citron hortensia

• Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring navy pistachios

• Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring hortensia test print

• Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring minty long-legged

Check out what others are reading:

Modern Summery Palette | Loome Quilt

Modern, summery palette for a strip-based baby quilt. This fabric pull has watermelon vibes and can't wait to be squeezed!

Minimalist Quilt Patterns

Riane Elise Menardi is an inspiration to me. Her soothing minimalist quilts and exquisite photography—both process shots and finished quilt recording—soothe my soul. When her book Inheritance came out in 2017, I knew I was preordering it, and when she asked for pattern testers several weeks ago, I couldn’t think of a better quilter to partner with to get myself quilting again.

This year she is releasing monthly minimalist quilt patterns. So far, she has released the Sola quilt and the Harte quilt, pictured below (photo credit: Riane Menardi). See what I mean about her quilts and photography?

Sola Quilt by Riane Elise

Harte Quilt by Riane Elise

One of the next quilts in her series is the Loome Quilt, which will be released Sept 18, 2020, and I am honored to be testing the pattern before its release. Although, I can’t show you the full quilt yet, I can tell you that it is strip-based, and that Riane does a great job to provide a suggestions for where to put light/medium/dark colors to amp up the composition.

Color Palette

I opted for a summery color palette with watermelon vibes. These are some of my favorite solids that I’ve been vibing with for several years now! Pictured below (left to right):

• Swirling - from my fabric collection Coastal Orchards by Benartex Fabrics

• Empire Yellow - Art Gallery, Pure Elements solids

• Peach Sorbet - Kona Cotton

• Coral - Michael Miller, Cotton Couture solids

• Soft White - Michael Miller, Cotton Couture solids (not pictured)

As I started cutting fabric, I realized that I had one fabric too many in my palette since I was planning to use white for the background. Empire Yellow got nixed because I really wanted that peach-coral color play.

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Next Up: Strip Piecing

Just finished pinning the strips together during a Zoom call. Maybe I can sneak in some quick seams and a few more pics today! Follow other pattern testers and quilters making this quilt on Instagram with #LoomeQuilt and follow my progress @LovelyandEnough

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Mustard Stripes Wall Quilt Completed

Quilt: Lenten Twelves One (2017)

Listening to While Quilting: Despacito (Remix Audio) ft. Justin Bieber on repeat

Favorite Part of Quilt: my first experiment with stripes printed on quilts

Place for Improvement: printing stripes with thinner ink for more even printing

I have to write a lot for grad school. (One year from my PhD if anyone else is counting!) Because of that, writing on the blog does not bring me joy right now. However, formulas do, so in true scientist fashion, I am going to follow this formula of indexing my quilts with: the music/tv/podcast I was listening to while working on it, my favorite part of the quilt, and something I want to improve upon. Thanks for sticking with me.

To read more about this Lenten Twelves series, follow the links below:

Introduction to Lenten Twelves

Lenten Twelves One Progress (beginning)

Printing Stripes on Quilts

Lenten Twelves : Four

I can't express just how lovely this week was. Slow quiet mornings, productive solitary days, church-filled evenings. Wednesday night was sewing with the church ladies night, and it was absolutely wonderful. I passed up Village Draft House with my grad student friends to go, but I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat. Digging in to a homemade dinner, seeing everyone's projects, and chatting the evening away is just the kind of perfect night I love. This week I sketched out five or six new low-volume blocks to piece and print and dove into the first one.

As you can see...I didn't print it. I went back and forth quite a bit, as per usual. I called my Mom. I talked out the design with Brent. I debated with friend Alyssa. The final decision was to leave this zen quilt to stand alone--and then make it exactly the same in the next weeks and print it. Gotta love indecisiveness. I do like the calm simple aesthetic, although I think it could look striking printed as well.

What color would you over print it?

I can't get red out of my head.

(If you don't understand what I mean by overprinting, check out Lenten Twelves : Two)

I experimented with a couple other things as well this week from glue basting to interfacing. Ironing interfacing to the back of my quilt top for added stiffness proved interesting. On one hand, I had no pulling or shifting as I quilted. Hooray! On the other hand, the quilting does not bump up as much. Hmm. Bummer of all bummers it didn't stay bonded to the quilt top, so the edges were still flimsy. Hrumph. I shall try a lighter-weight interfacing next week and Stitch Witchery it to the edges for added adhesion. (Yep, that's a verb.)

On a different note, photographing this morning was a bit of an adventure. I chuckled as they loaded into Lightroom and thought I'd share a bit of the process. I call it

Anatomy of a Blog Photo.

1. Shoot, forgot the self-timer  2. Too zoomed in  3. Lying on my back on the floor and use full palm in last ditch attempt to get the quilt to cover my piece of tape, but I'm not fast enough and my arms are just not that long  4. Misjudged entirely  5. Too low  6. Caught my face  7. Too low again; bummer that one could've been cute  8. Just not quite short enough sitting down...even when I duck...  9. Person walks between me and the camera right as it goes off; nice lunch...  (numbered left to right, then top to bottom)

Can anyone relate? What are your blog photo blooper stories?

If you missed the Lenten Twelves Intro Post, follow the link and read it now for background on the challenge my mum and I took up this Lent. If you'd like to join us or just follow along you can find us on instagram with #LentenTwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing and her Lenten Twelves. Find my Lenten Twelve One, Lenten Twelve Two, and Lenten Twelve Three.

Lenten Twelves : Two

Do you ever get a quilt pattern or color palette stuck in your head? Two summers ago it was triangle quilts. Last winter it was coral and navy. Then it was plus quilts. Now it's Ohio Stars.

I try so hard to resist (not quite sure why honestly, probably just my stubborn nature), but I've come to the conclusion that it's best to have out with it, the better to move on (or at least the better to make use of the single-minded concentration.) This week I had an evening star completely sketched and calculated out when Printing marched into my creative mind quickly followed by Ohio Star. I went with it. What better way to play with ideas than a weekly twelve inch quilt?

Feasting into creativity with my mum this Lent has been really lovely so far. We keep each other accountable and check-in with one another. Last night she provided the pep talk I needed to get off my butt and actually sew. She really is great. I'm so very thankful for her.

And speaking of sewing last night, I tried free-motion quilting on my Bernina for the first time, and it was like butter! I didn't realize how difficult my Brother had been until just last night. I will definitely be practicing my free-motion quilting more in the coming weeks through these quilts, and I feel much less reluctant to try now! Hurrah!

What sewing mental blocks or fixations have you been experiencing lately?

Any you might tease out in a quilt this Lenten season?

If you missed the LentenTwelves Intro Post, go follow the link and read it now for background on the challenge my mum and I took up this Lent. If you'd like to join or just follow along, you can find us on instagram with #lententwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing  and her Lenten Twelves.

Lenten Twelves : the start

Every year for Lent I chose to do something (or to not do something), a habit to form, a priority to adjust, a rhythm in which to settle. New Year's resolutions come and go for me, but Lent is forty days of commitment. When I choose to do something, I do it. This year I wasn't quite sure what I was feeling called to. I'd already given up Netflix for February (right? is there anything to even give up after that?).

That's when my mom called me with a challenge: one twelve inch quilt per week. Instead of fasting from something we're feasting into creativity. I love it. Plus, we're doing it together. Here's the first.

I've never pieced a curve before and it very much intimidated me, but Kim over at Leland Ave Studio encouraged me to finally take the plunge. I figured a twelve-inch quilt was the perfect place to give it a go. Guys, it was actually so easy. I used SheCanQuilt's little video and Noodlehead's Sunny Side Up quilt pattern and it was a breeze! For real! When I finished the first block, I literally yelled "I DID IT!" right in the middle of facetiming my boyfriend. Then I promptly hung up on him to call my mom. Yep, I was that pumped. I may not have gotten the curves lined up perfectly with one another but one step at a time.

As you also might have noticed, I switched my tune part way through and traded the citron out for coral. Looking at the pictures, I'm not entirely sure that was the right choice, but it's okay. That's exactly what experiments are about!

Are you doing anything for Lent? If you'd like to join my mom and I or just follow along, you can find us on instagram with #lententwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing and her first Lenten Twelve quilt.

Scattered Wheat

Tis the season of projects we can't share on our blogs. The afghan is out of the bag, but there are two more endeavors in the making. I'm really excited about them and how they are coming together, but enough of hints! I still remember my best friend Haley looking me in the eye my senior year during jewelry class and saying, "There's something I can't tell you." Gah! Well then don't. Because now I REALLY REALLY want to know!!

This project is not a secret, though! It began a couple summers ago as I forayed into modern twists on traditional blocks. I even quilted it back then. The binding just took another year and a half coming. Ha! Can anyone relate?

Now that it's done, it's hanging right in front of my desk at school. It is the first piece of artwork up, and the zen feel helps me keep going when my literature searches feel fruitless. That and calls to my PhD mom. (Thanks, Mom.)

I've been drooling over a couple new quilters lately. Tara's gorgeous style, hipster beanies, and classic quilts over at Rad and Happy have got me dreaming up new projects. And Lindsay Stead's impeccable taste and reserve in modern and heirloom quilt design make me want to throw out all my prints and work purely with solid duos. With them in mind, I've returned to some of my more minimalist projects, and that's where I'm heading next.

Do you have any secret holiday projects? I promise if you tell me, I can keep a secret. The lucky person receiving your gift isn't likely to read the comments on my blog either! This is a safe place. Get it off your chest.

If you're looking for finished project inspiration to keep you sewing as Christmas rapidly approaches, you can find more with Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Experiment One: Paper-piecing

This is the first of my mini quilt experiments. With the shop open, I feel some freedom to try out new styles and techniques, to branch out and play around, so I'm embarking on a set of little trials.

Number one: Paper piecing.

Now, paper-piecing is partly for the perfectionist and partly not at all. Crisp lines: yes. Efficient use of fabric: no. Cutting wonky oversized scraps is not for the Dutch or the stingy at heart, but the results are glorious! Straight lines, matching corners, lovely shapes and geometries. My heart is happy with the quilty results. And Sarah Rose's pattern was such a fun one to begin my adventure with.

Have you tried paper piecing before? What are your favorite modern paper-pieced blocks? 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday with Lee over at Freshly Pieced.

Community and a Coral Quilt

I know it's only November, but I think I know my New Year's Resolution for 2015:

go to Modern Quilt Guild meetings

This past week I was invited to sew with some ladies from church. Now, I've never sewn with people before, so I didn't know what to expect. Usually it's just me and the characters of my favorite TV show with Mom and boyfriend on call for design advice. But with phone dead and a warm house on the north side of Raleigh beckoning me, I decided to try it, community sewing.

Guys, it was amazing. I had so much fun chatting as we worked, seeing their projects, and stitching side by side. We had Hallmark Christmas movies on the telly and chips and guac on the counter. In wool socks, leggings, and a comfy sweater, I felt so welcomed and at home. I knocked out cutting, design decisions, and piecing in one night, and I'm really looking forward to going back!

This leads me to my New Year's resolution. I've been meaning to go to a MQG meeting for so long. My hometown MQG even meets at my favorite local quilt shop, Pink Castle. I guess it just took an extra little push from God and my church family. Well, hooray, push received! I even looked up the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild and got excited to meet some of the ladies, such as Daisy at Ants to Sugar and Nicole at Mama Love Quilts. Eek! So excited!! TMQG here I come!

Variations on a Bouquet of Hydrangeas

Do you ever fall back in love with a project? It can be a work-in-progress that you pull out again or a finished project that resurfaces several months later. It happens to me a lot. Nostalgia and sentimentality come easily to me, the little rising feeling in your chest when you see a picture of a lovely vacation moment or a finished quilt in its new home or a small adorable grey kitten. (Yeah, I've been kind of wanting one of those lately. It could tiptoe across my keyboard while I blogged and curl up its soft little body in my lap. I'm getting that feeling now just thinking about it. I digress.)

I realized, as I finish up quilts and prep to open my shop, that I never shared a finished quilt from this summer. And then when I was looking at the photos, I got all nostalgic over it. It is the third incarnation of my Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips quilt. Seeing the progression of colors and quilting from one to the next is so fun, so I am going to share it with you!

First came the six-inch buckwheat block for my Farmer's Wife Quilt. Next my senior show quilt, Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. Third, the duplicate senior show sale but with light grey on the side triangles instead of low volume white, Variations on Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips. (Yeah, if you read my post about naming quilts last weekend, that one's a bit of a mouthful.) And lastly, all new colors and some new quilting, Variations on a Bouquet of Hydrangeas.

I have received many bouquets of hydrangeas in the past year, each one with its own special giver and expression of love. Hydrangeas encompass the network of people spread across the country that come together to love and support me; my sister and Mom, my friend Susie, my boyfriend Brent. From designing fabrics to my farmer's wife quilt and blog beginnings to opening my shop in the coming weeks, I couldn't do it without you. Thank you all dearly. This post and quilt go out to you!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Fresh Starts II

How does one name a quilt? I was brainstorming (the collective I that includes Brent [boyfriend], Taylor [sister], and other text-support [Mom]) and came up with some I really loved, but suddenly, out of nowhere, the name game became a thought-provoking dilemma.

I love "the Tate" and "the James" as if I am naming the pattern. Then anything after it could be "the Tate II" and "the Tate IV" or "the James VI." But those means nothing to anyone but me. Tate is my new roommate's last name. James is the name of the library on campus I inhabit. See?

I also like "Summer Sails" or "Fresh Starts." These have more immediate narrative when you hear them. They are names you might post in a gallery. Also a tad more whimsical, these names shift the focus from pure design to story.

Gahh I'm so indecisive; I should just give it a number: minutes worked on it plus date finished, 125610152014.

I realized mid-dilemma that this one is easy. It is called Fresh Starts II. Its first incarnation was already christened, making my decision simple. And the quilt is drenched in fresh starts, moving to Raleigh, beginning grad school, a new relationship, and an exciting business venture. Fresh Starts II it is.

But how do you name your quilts? Your projects? Your products? Your art?

What's in a name? I'm all ears.

Yep, it's sideways. But what's really the top anyways?

My photo-snatching partner-in-crime and I peering through the Contemporary Art Museum window around front.

And I'm linking up to next week's Finish it up Friday because I couldn't be my lazy bum to post before last week's. Better late than never! Check out the flimsy finish and quilted progress too!

Plus for a Finish

Mission three into the James Hunt Library was a success. Laden down with newly finished quilt and iron, I confidently climbed to the fifth floor. Brent was such a gentleman to let me disrupt our weekend for a library photo shoot. He even engineered an invisible tape method to hang the heavy quilt. What a guy.

We snapped over seventy photos that gorgeous Sunday morning, and I had to FaceTime my mom just now to decide between them all. Here are our four favorites. The quilt was designed for my living room wall and hangs comfortably above the couch. It fills the room with a balance of softness and presence, and if it wasn't for the complete lack of natural light in here, I would show you just how classy and homey it feels.

The quilt is also brimming with imperfections. Wobbly seams, batting peeking out at the edges, binding stitches that went through, and plusses that don't align. That's what shows it's handmade. Some of my favorite vintage quilts have worn-through holes and faded patches, missed corners and uneven quilting. The imperfections bring it above factory-grade quilts; they make it perfect. I've been thinking of starting a linkup for Perfect Imperfections, the happy accidents, the frustrating mistakes. What do you think? Would enjoy linking up to that?

Mission one and the early stages of this quilt can be found here, pre-binding. And I'm so excited to link up to Finish-it-up-Friday over at CrazyMomQuilts and Show Off Saturday at SewCanShe. (Links forthcoming when those days arrive.)

Quilts and Clandestine Missions

It was so quiet, large, empty. With a bulging bag over my arm, I padded to the elevators in my Carolina blue dress and pressed the brushed steel button for the fifth floor. Silent doors slid open to reveal the gorgeous Skyline Reading Room of the Hunt Library. Big white walls to my right and floor-to-ceiling windows on my left, I slipped off my shoes and pulled out masking tape and quilt. My clandestine mission: to use this dream photo studio for my almost-finished quilt.

The moment I walked into my new apartment, I was taken aback by how large it is, a huge cavern from dining room wall all the way to living room edge. If the couch feels a tad small, the frames on the walls look like postage stamps. No matter, I can quilt. (Imagine me with hands on my hips, chin held high, wonder woman.) Because this quilt isn't for the shop or a show, I was allowed to delve into my non-handprinted fabrics. (Now imagine me as a kid in a candy shop.) It was a fun way to jump back into quilting after so long working on fabric designs, and tonight is the night to bind it!

What do you like to do as you bind a quilt?

So excited to have a quilt to link up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced. Head on over to check out what a talented group of sewers are whipping up!

Chai and Binding

Our screened-in porch is one of my happy places, calm and breezy with the voices of the woods. This morning I get to finish hand-stitching a binding out here with a mug of chai latte. Have you ever bought chai concentrate? It's practically the cost of one chai latte and makes almost ten cups! Bliss in a carton.

Yesterday I finished my Lone Star to the tune of Gossip Girl. I may or may not have finished six episodes of season two as well. Watching the series for the second time lends new hilarious insights. Serena asks to meet with GossipGirl in the season finale and he (or she...) actually shows up but you don't realize it...ha! I digress.

Sunday I had a slow and steady afternoon of quilting a baby quilt on which my mum and I collaborated. I'm excited to show y'all once the binding is attached. All in all a great week so far. I do seem to be accidentally sewing several quilts in the same color scheme, but oh well. The heart picks fabrics as it may.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

She Can Laugh At the Days to Come

Transience and permanence. This collection anchors itself in the juxtaposition of beginnings and endings, expressing confidence in the face of uncertainty and joyful contentment in the present. As my sister began her college career and I finished mine, we seized the opportunity to spend a summer together studying textile design and photography in Florence. While there, I crafted a small line of fabrics inspired by her graduation party—hydrangeas, bunting, and striped paper straws. As I reminisced on our time together and began to sew summer fabrics into autumn projects, this show was born. It contrasts the deep constancy of family against the transience of growing up through a medium that has long accompanied those disparate pieces of life: quilts. From births to weddings to graduations, quilts commemorate transitions in life. Drawing on the tradition of the simple one-block quilts of the Amish, I utilized large flat planes and solids, bringing it to the modern quilting scene with fresh colors and straight-line stitching. Each quilt contains a printed snapshot of our summer together—laughing and exploring—as well as a look into the past and future through the meanings of the traditional quilt blocks.

The show title is taken from Proverbs 31, which describes a woman who is successful in her business endeavors as well as at home but grounds her strength and carefree nature in Christ. She can laugh, enjoying the present without fear of the future, just as I hope we can embrace the now and hold what might come with excited and open palms. I invite you to enter into these moments, feeling the tactile changes in direction our lives take as well as the unity of family and faith that undergirds each quilt and story.

Remnants of Summer

With little pieces of hydrangea fabric from the summer as well as an overprint of hydrangea design, this block brings me back to walking the hot streets of Florence with my sister at my side. Freckles and sandals and sketchbooks in backpacks. However, rather than settling into nostalgia, I like to remember the many things that have grown from that month: a deeper relationship with my sister, a year of studying fabric design, a beautiful quilt from the fabrics we purchased at the markets, this show. Dwelling on the past is not productive. Appreciating, instead, the unfolding of moments into long-lasting treasures keeps us thankful and grounded in the present and future.

Variations on a Bouquet of Tulips

Life doesn’t always happen as you expect, but often then it is better. My sophomore year, I was surprised with a bouquet of tulips after one of my dance performances from a friend who then asked me to dinner. I was flattered and excited, but the relationship didn’t take off and ended up rather awkward. This year, though, I was surprised again with a beautiful bouquet from two of my chemistry major friends. We all chatted and laughed and had breakfast together the next Friday as we had all semester. Great friends, good conversation, and lots of fun. Sometimes the best moments are subtle variations on what you would’ve picked for yourself.

Lovely & Enough

The title of my blog and this quilt encompasses a lifestyle to which I aspire. My life is so full of blessings: a loving family, a great group of friends, a burgeoning church, and my knitting and quilting. I want to live happily and contentedly in this and remember that my life is lovely and enough. Quilting through physical chemistry tests, documentary photography classes, friend drama, and stressful dance performances, I choose to work with my hands and lead a life that reflects the great wonder of life rather than the minutiae. This lone star block, with its classic pattern and single star represent the beauty in simplicity and the joy that can bring.

New Growth

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Coming & Going

Windmill Wings

I've grown up hearing the phrase, "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much." This, of course, isn't true, but I feel very connected to my Dutch roots and home church. Originally titled End of Day as a block in the Farmer's Wife Quilt, I am renaming this block Windmill Wings as an homage to my heritage and the Benjamin Moore color I painted my room as a little girl. It speaks of a solid foundation in my life—my Dutch church family and home—from which I can now springboard into a wider body of fellow scientists, artists, and Christians. The end of each day and phase of life is then not a conclusion but the groundwork for winging into the next adventures of life.

Little Pieces

This is our purpose: to love one another as He loved us. Being afraid of the unexpected turns life throws crushes faith and spontaneity. Rather than worrying, we can instead focus on the beauty of each moment so that any little pieces we leave in our past among close or lost friends, realized or broken dreams are beautiful and untainted with regret.

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Ties

Initially titled Ribbons in the Farmer’s Wife Quilt, I shifted the title to Ties to reflect family relationships. Our ties to family can at times feel like shackles and other times like an anchor amidst the storms of life. No matter the effort taken to cut them or the misguided attempts to bolster, these ties remain invisible and unbreakable.

Evening Star

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Fresh Starts

This is it. The show I've dreamed about since deciding to be an artist as well as a chemist. It brings such a lightness to my life to have both sides. Never during the senior show process did I wish I had just stuck to chemistry. (Well, perhaps once, but it was probably 3:30 in the morning or 3:30 the next afternoon as I feel asleep in my third class that day, or more likely 3:30 the following morning when my walking foot broke.) Finishing the show at last is an enormous sense of accomplishment, and it brings me such joy to sit in the gallery in the peace and quiet. Even better is having people come to me after visiting the gallery with stories of how it touched them. College is full of transitions in locale and in family, and I am so thankful to God for the ways He can speak to each individual person's situation through the things He put on my heart for the show.

A special thank you to Mary and Andie, my Mom, my Dad, my sister Taylor, my Grandma and Grandpa Bolt, my Aunt Lisa, and everyone else who was able to make it out for the reception on Friday. Celebrating with you was a wonderful culmination of my time at Wheaton. And to all who were unable to make it due to distance and previous commitments, extensive documenting of the show can be found over on Flickr.

PS Somehow I missed taking pictures of my favorite quilt, Remnants of Summer, and since it was the one finished at three in the morning the day it was due, it has never been posted on the blog either. I will make sure pictures are posted this week, so stop back by to see them.

Double Feature

Yesterday was a double feature day. Two movies. Two quilt blocks. Josh Duhamel and his precious children swept in to steal my and Julianne Hough's heart in Safe Haven, while I rotary cut the morning away. Then a matured Zac Efron gave a touching performance in The Lucky One, reminding me of my love for piano music and old homes, as I pieced late into the afternoon. I'm really hitting my groove with the navy and coral, and I decided to redo some of my favorite simple Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks in the new colors. Best choice. I love them. Ribbons is one of my new favorites of all of the senior show blocks. (My favorite is still the cut-glass block.)

School starts today, so it will be interesting to see where I can squeeze in my quilting and begin over-printing the blocks. However, I'm really enthusiastic about the next three Farmer's Wife Quilt blocks that I have picked to remake in coral and navy, and I can't wait! Maybe tomorrow morning...

If you haven't seen the other senior show blocks, you can check them out here (Corn and Beans), here (Flying Geese and Cut-Glass), here (Locked Star), and here (Lone Star).

Family Time

Home again home again! Jiggity jig!

I am home with the family. We are contentedly sitting in the living room after a day of Christmas shopping at the mall and considering going out to get our Christmas tree. Dad and Taylor were a very willing quilt rack this afternoon, so I have some lovely full pictures of the Giant Starburst Quilt Top. I can't quite decide how to quilt it, but I am going to add a thick white border. If you have any nifty ideas for quilting other than basic straight-line white quilting, I am all ears.

Starburst Top

I'm embarrassed to say that it's been almost two weeks since my last post. I guess photographing the cut pieces of my starburst quilt just wasn't really inspiring me. Not to mention, the sun goes down around four o'clock. Talk about no time for natural lighting. Anyways, with a miraculous finals week that includes no actual finals, simply a three-page paper, I am walking on air with a little time to quilt. Social events have been keeping me busy, though, from breakfasts to coffee dates to birthday dinners. Last night my girlfriends and I commemorated a 22nd birthday with a trip to Denny's at midnight dressed up as hipsters to make fun of our exes. Feelin' twenty-two-oo ;) Today, the guilt really set in on being away from the blog as the last two items on my semester checklist read "blog" and "paper." I set aside the paper (who likes writing papers anyways) and pounded out the final eight seams of the quilt top. Ta da! Finished quilt top! With fifteen minutes of light left before sundown, I photographed it on the awesome new/old ladder that my mom found for me at an estate sale. Now just one little paper between me and home. Next stop: Ann Arbor!

Happy Triangles

On my last day of summer, following advice from my mom, I dove into a pile of adorable fabrics and simply cut and quilted what I felt like. It turned out to be a mini minimalist triangle quilt. I spent Friday morning sewing the way I wish I always sewed: contentedly and with reckless abandon. I set down the weight of senior show and fall exhibition and pillow covers and quilted to my hearts content. What a lovely finish to the summer.

Checking In

Blog update! I need a new posting strategy because I'm scheduled to be out of town every weekend for forever. Sundays don't seem to be such an ideal day to post anymore, as evidenced by my absence for a few weeks, but I still want to be present here! I will ponder.

Perhaps another reason I have been absent is because I haven't bound the last quilt yet...and it's been almost three weeks.....I will get there eventually, but I decided not to let it stop me from starting another quilt, so here it is: a Scattered Swoon. I can't decide what third fabric to use. I had a beige woodgrain pattern but didn't like it. Right now you can just see the batting. I'm considering a light grey stripe that I snagged at a store closing sale a couple of weeks ago. It would add some movement while remaining neutral. We shall see.

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer and enjoying the extra friend time and extra outside time like me!