Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Memory



It's almost impossible for me to believe that I sewed my first quilt just a year ago this month. God bless my mother for buying a new sewing machine when her old one wasn't working right. After nearly two years spent flitting from one hobby to the next, trying desperately to find my niche, sewing turned out to be the one I was waiting for. I really do believe that it saved my sanity as a stay-at-home mom. Though I've spent the last year finding both my footing and my balance, I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to create beauty every day with my own two hands.



When I started working on my quilt for the Scrappy Stash Sew Along that Jennifer was hosting at Ellison Lane Quilts, I had no idea that it would be such a moving experience for me. I've been piling up scraps for a year now, trying to decide how best to use them, and these scrappy log cabin blocks could not have been a better fit.


Putting these blocks together was a joy. It was like reliving an entire year of happy sewing memories in one quilt, and because of that, I decided to call this project "Memory."


Most of you know how much I love text fabrics. It was so fun to use all my favorite text prints as a background for the quartets of colored blocks. I decided to also use my current favorite quilting method: intermittent wavy stitching in vertical lines down the quilt top.


I backed the quilt in a selection of prints from my stash, matching the color order on the back with that of the blocks on the front. I love the back almost as much as I do the quilt top...


The quilt is bound in a grey Posie print from Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt, one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite designers.


As a bonus, I used some of the selvages I've been saving all year to make a quick pillow cover to go along with the quilt on our bed. The border is a botanical text print -- from Timeless Treasures, I believe -- which I absolutely love, and the cover is backed in the dark blue print with red and white flowers (third from the bottom row of selvages). I used the same wavy quilting as I did on the bed quilt, but this time I went horizontally.


As you can see, the pillow matches the decor in our bedroom. Believe it or not, the pictures on the wall are actually prints we ordered from Costco's photo department. My husband stained some inexpensive frames to go along with them, and I love the way they look above the antique dresser and chair we have in our room, both passed down from my side of the family.


I've had many projects this year that have been among my favorites, but this quilt is definitely at the top of the list. I'm going to treasure this one always.

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday, the Scrappy Stash Sew Along, and Finish It Up Friday.


35 comments:

  1. It's just beautiful Heidi, and the cushion to match is lovely. What a special quilt, and it has the perfect name too. Wow you have learnt and achieved so much in a year. You should be very proud of all that you do xx

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  2. A great name for a beautiful quilt.I loved hearing the story behind the quilt name.Thanks for sharing with us.

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  3. Visiting from Quilt story. Your quilt is beautiful and the back is super too! Blessings!

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  4. Wow you really worked hard on putting scraps together for this one!! It has paid off VERY well! It looks beautiful:)

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  5. This is awesome! Love the quilt, and what a great way to remember all the fun projects you made this year. I was recognizing alot of your fabric and have used a lot of them too. Guess we have similar taste in fabric. Great job, and cheers to one year of quilting.

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  6. You've only been quilting for a year!?! Color me shocked! Another gorgeous quilt.

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  7. It is just beautiful! I also love the scrappy back! It does look just as pretty as the front!

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  8. Wow, can't believe you've only been quilting a year! Your memory quilt is beautiful:)

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  9. Fantastic Heidi, love how you've quilted it and it's just perfect. :)

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  10. Wow, it turned out so well! I love it :) the matching pillow is.wonderful, too! I would have never guessed you've only.been quilting for a year!

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  11. It's so pretty, Heidi! What a lovely post.

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  12. Great post Heidi. I adore your quilt with all that text fabric! Hope it fetches you a prize ; )

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  13. I can't believe you've only been quilting a year! You are amazing!! Your quilt is beautiful and love that pillow too:)

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  14. Fantastic looking quilt, Heidi! I love the matching pillow, it's working so well with the whole theme. Your bedroom is gorgeous and I love the prints on the wall!

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  15. I really love how you used the b/w fabric around the colorful log cabin blocks. And, the back is really beautiful! I'm loving the pillow, too. Great job!!

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  16. I really think its beautiful, I love the mix of text with the light color mixture and it goes great with the antiques. I have this mix in my home too and it feels cozy and I love modern too. Lovely piece of art ..

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  17. Very cute quilt! Love your text prints!

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  18. Gorgeous quilt! I love the bright colours on the text print. Perfect!

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  19. It turned out so beautifully! It looks so gorgeous on your bed! Congrats on an amazing year of sewing and finding something that you love to do!

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  20. Your quilt is beautiful, and thank you for sharing how lovely it works in your room too.

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  21. Great quilt. love the light coloured text fabric you used.

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  22. It's amazing!! I love all the pretty colors with the black and white! Congrats Heidi, it really is beautiful!!

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  23. Very pretty, Heidi! I can't believe you've only been quilting for a year. You're amazing! Glad you found your perfect hobby match. :)

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  24. Such a pretty quilt! I love the texty background and the adorable pillow too!

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  25. You are so smart to save your selvages with more than just a tiny bit of the fabric showing - I need to start doing that! The quilt is beautiful! I love how it will always remind you of your first year of quilting (and blogging!)

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  26. What a sweet narrative about your year and your quilt - just lovely. Love your use of the text fabrics and how it softened the mail colors...very nice....

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  27. One year!! /fall over Golly you are doing so well with your creations. I'm happy you've found your niche!

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  28. I love it! It's absolutely gorgeous. And I just love that it's threaded with memories. Those make the best quilts. Congrats!!

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  29. Gorgeous quilt - adore all colours with the text fabrics!

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  30. What a great quilt!! I love all that scrappiness!

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