Postage Stamp Quilt

I am not a fast quilter. I do not whip out projects in a day or two. I am somewhat 'Type A' and have to check and double-check myself before going to the next step, sewing the next pieces together etc...because I want to make sure I haven't missed something obvious. So when Rachel Griffith at P.S. I Quilt hosted a 'Quilt Along' to make THIS "Postage Stamp" quilt, I am not sure why I thought I could do it. I love square patch quilts - it's pretty much the only quilt making I've attempted so far...with the exception of one quilt...which consisted of a bunch of rectangles...I know, I know, I really know how to shake things up...but I love the patchy look of squares. Anywho...I got as far as week one in the quilt along - deciding on what fabrics to use and subsequently purchase. I selected Deb Strain's "Fresh Flowers" by Moda.

I guess technically I made it to step one and a half because I did get the color strips and white strips sorted into piles...now it's time to start sewing them together. Rachel's Quilt Along schedule had everyone completing their quilt tops in about 4 weeks ~ if I didn't have to work and could spend all day at home, MAYBE, I'd get it done more quickly...but probably not...I find I'm easily distracted when I'm home with lots of time on my hands...too many decisions about what to do...should I read, play w/ the boys, get together with friends, do laundry, sort through more stuff for my upcoming move, sleep etc... :)

So I'll post my progress but I'm not making promises on how QUICKLY I'll progress...my goal is to have it finished before I leave for Alaska in July.

Color Combos

I love different color combos and they definitely change over time but my current fav as you can see from the blog, is aqua and red. I'm a fan of Camille Roskelley and her blog, "Simplify". I bought her first book, "Simplify: Quilts for the Modern Home", and have purchased several of her quilt patterns. I have yet to MAKE any of them but they are in my quilt project binder for 'someday'. Back in September, she was offering a discount on her patterns as well as a free mini charm pack of her new fabric line, "Bliss" so I quickly placed my pattern order. I wanted to make a small wall-hanging out of the fabric and use it as inspiration to re-decorate my guest bathroom, which is currently navy/white/red to an aqua/white/red combo instead.

This is how it turned out:

I 'branched out' a little (for me) on the machine quilting with this one - in the past, any machine quilting I've done was 'stitch in the ditch' where you simply sew straight lines in the seams...I still did straight lines with this one, but I did some diagonal and some narrow straight lines (just don't look too closely at them as they are certainly far from perfect).

I'm pleased with how this turned out, even though it wasn't QUITE how I'd originally planned...but that's the fun of improvising ~ and now I can't decide if I want to continue with plans to re-decorate my bathroom (I just saw THIS cute shower curtain and think the Ocean color would be perfect with the red accents I currently have in the bathroom) and leave the wall-hanging in CO, or if I want to bring it with me to Alaska...hmm, decisions, decisions... :)

P.S. - Comcast gets an 'A' for their service this morning! On time, quick and fixed the problem.