dream on by urban chiks for moda

i haven't had much time to work on my quilt this past week but i thought it would be fun to show you what i have had time to do.  i know i've only given you sneak peeks so far so it's fun to reveal what's hanging on the quilt wall.  i received all this lovely fabric from my parents for xmas a few years ago and at the time i had chosen a quilt design i had in my mind.  i'm happy to say that after all the time has gone by i am still liking the same design and am super excited to get all the blocks sewn up.


i decided to go with a bit of a fence rail/basketweave design.  i love the scrappiness of it and at first contemplated adding some sashing in between the rows of blocks but have decided against it.  this quilt is going to be a test for me.  it usually takes me forever to decided which pieces i want where on a quilt and i over analyze it to the point where i just leave the darn thing for months..haha.  so this time i decided to just throw caution to the wind and put them together using my instant gut reaction.  i simply picked up new pieces went "does it look good" and sewed them together based on my answer.  i didn't look at the ones i had already created, i didn't pin them all up as i went, i didn't analyze my colors, i just went with my gut.  it was soooo fun and super freeing.

 

i'm going to attempt to do the same thing when it comes time to sew those blocks together.  i'm going to just pin them up and stitch em' together.  of course i will take enough time to see if it's ugly or not...lol...but i'm really striving to go with a gut reaction and not over think the whole process.  for now though i'm still in the cutting stage and you all know how i feel about my rotary cutter...lol.  i'm getting better but i still have a love/hate relationship with the darn thing.  luckily this quilt involved cutting but not tricky cutting...lol.  i simply had to cut up my layer cakes and cut up my jelly roll.  then when the block was stitched together i trim it down to square it up.  it was pretty easy but i have to make myself do the trimming right now.  not fun in my mind.  i seem to keep finding other things to work on that are far  more fun that trimming up this mountain of blocks (shown below).



now that i have my new worktop space it's been making quilting really easy and a lot faster.  it's also nice to have a white worktop.  it's clean and makes a great backdrop to choose fabrics and colors on.  i've really been enjoying it.  when i was at ikea picking up my new furniture i could not resist this adorable teacup tray.  love it.  remember when i did "teacup month" on the blog?

so fun!  i knew this had to come home with me and guess what it's been doing?  that's right....holding all my quilty bits...lol.  it's the perfect size to keep all my in progress quilt blocks on.  who knew in ikea that i'd end up using this adorable tray for that purpose right? oh well, if it's working - stick with it.  the more organized i can keep my mess the better :)


i'm planning to do a sashing (maybe in a natural tone) around the entire quilt top when the blocks are all put together and the back is going to be done with the same light blue used in the blocks in a solid along with some patchwork.  i'm super excited about it!  as for the binding...who knows...lol.  that's one decision i'm not looking forward to.  it always seems to be the hardest one for me.  i'm going to wait until the end to decide and then just go with it.  you know....a little this way and a little that way...it's all good.  i cannot wait to sleep under this beauty and dream of all sorts of vintage goodness.  it's going to look fabulous on my bed.


i'm all pumped up to get it done sooner than later because i just recently placed a nice order from one of our sponsors - "fat quarter shop" for some fabric for another quilt that i've been designing for a few weeks now.  i've got a little plan mapped out with a diagram and it's got a fun modern vibe to it. i'm really excited to see if i can bring it to life.  i love that i'm going from scrappy vintage goodness to modern and fresh.  makes my gemini soul happy.  i've also really been enjoying the fact that all of my quilts so far have just been me going with a general idea and not following an exact pattern.  i love the freeness of it all.  the feeling of just letting your mind and your heart tell you how you envision the quilt and then making it come to life is just way too fun!

what is your process like while quilting?  are you a this way and that way or an over analyzer like me? do you have a process that helps you make decisions on your quilts a bit easier? share...i'd love to hear your thoughts.  it's raining out today and i'm in the mood to chat quilty goodness!
read more about this quilt here:
http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/2012/05/quilting-911-its-never-too-late-to.html