Thursday, May 30, 2013

Summer

Summer Heather Ross Improv Quilt by Fabric Mutt

I considered so many different names for this quilt, but in the end I realized that the best one was simply "Summer."

The colors and prints that made their way into this piece remind me so much of the lazy summer days we spend here in Southern California on the edge of the desert. Blazing hot afternoons that fade into quiet evenings on the back patio. Long walks at local botanical gardens where my girls play hide and seek between the fruit trees. Our annual road trip to Arizona for a week with my husband's parents where we swim and hike and look for bunnies among the cactus each night before bed. These are the moments, I tell myself often, that I'm going to want to remember someday.

Summer Heather Ross Improv Quilt by Fabric Mutt

Fabrics by Heather Ross are the star here, but there are also a variety of other prints from my stash included. I tried not to stray far from a color palette of pale blue, orange, yellow, brown, grey, and white. The chocolate brown print by Lotta Jansdotter that I chose for the binding makes a nice frame around it all.

Summer Heather Ross Improv Quilt by Fabric Mutt

While I enjoy designing a quilt, I'm not always as big a fan of the quilting. Remembering how long it took me to make all those straight lines on my first Heather Ross quilt, I felt a little tired when I sat down to work on this piece. Then I decided, why not have fun with this one? So I did straight lines, wavy lines, echo quilting, free motion boxes, and even played around with several specialty stitches on my machine. Is it perfect? Nope. But I can tell you that this was by far the most enjoyable afternoon of quilting I've ever spent.

Summer Heather Ross Improv Quilt by Fabric Mutt

I finished the quilt this afternoon, the same day that my husband wrapped up another year of teaching and came home to start two months of summer vacation with me and the girls. And I intend to enjoy every minute of it.

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday.

26 comments:

  1. I love every bit of this jewel! The colors are soothing and the quilting is delightful!

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  2. Wonderful quilt! Love the colours and the name!

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  3. such a calm and beautiful quilt. Enjoy your long summer :-)

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  4. Absolutely gorgeous, I love the colour scheme and the quilting :D

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  5. So warm and happy! Beautiful Heidi! And yay for maryying a teacher! Mine works at the uni so summers are nice and flexible here too. (though he does still have to work a bit!)

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  6. So nice! It does remind me of summer. Great finish.

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  7. Gorgeous quilt! I love how you experimented with the quilting. Beautiful work!

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  8. Lovely use of the heather ross and the three and twenty fabric. Wonderful job.

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  9. A really pretty quilt Heidi! And great job on the quilting too, that's my least favourite part of the process!

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  10. Very fun and good to enjoy that quilting when you can!

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  11. I really love the colors of this quilt. You're right, summer is the perfect name. and I'm glad you found joy in the actual quilting- to me, keeping the joy and fun is the most important thing- and it really looks fantastic! As a teacher myself, I'm reveling in summer vacation too. Enjoy every minute!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  12. This quilt is stunning! I love the colors you chose for this, they are perfect! Enjoy your summer with your kiddos and your hubby!

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  13. It's wonderful! I love the random blocks and the fabrics you used. Enjoy the summer.

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  14. So cute!! Perfect name and quilt for Summer time! Enjoy the time with your family!

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  15. Summer is just the right name for this quilt. Love it!

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  16. What a playful looking quilt and yes cherish the memories. I am trying to myself more these days:)

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  17. Amazing. Beautiful. Fabulous.

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  18. I love the colors in this one! And your quilting looks fantastic - that is so great that you are experimenting and having fun with it.

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  19. Lovely quilt - and the quilting is just perfect for it!

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  20. Beautiful as always! Also love the fabrics you chose to showcase!

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  21. It looks amazing! I love the name of the quilt and the memories you think about from this quilt. Enjoy ya'lls summer vacation!

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  22. I really love this quilt. Everything about it, but especially the memories and the relaxed quilting.

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  23. Lovely quilt - great colors and I like how you quilted it!

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  24. Beautiful! Those colors are so perfect!

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