Some days it’s still all about craft

Ok — as September’s of A Month of Softies “Personal Challenge” theme comes into its last days, I have decided to join Kim’s Modern Quilt-Along! I have the book coming in the mail, but I found a copy of it at the library on Monday (serendipitously staring at me from a quilting book display while Amelia and I stood waiting in queue to check out our books) so thought I would jump right in. I am going to make a single bed quilt for Amelia’s room and the pattern I have settled on is Marquee. I couldn’t find a photo of a finished Marquee quilt on the Fun Quilts site, but there is a snap of a Amanda’s Marquee table runner here. The basic block design is a little like this

Why did I pick Marquee? Well, firstly it’s one of the easier ones in the book. Not the easiest, but not too bad for a beginner. Secondly, I do have such an attraction to good old fashioned country cottage quilts but I also love the idea that Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr talk about in their introduction — they believe in making quilts which reflect the current times and design culture. I think this one kind of pulls together both ideas. It has that simple, blocky feeling of some of the most traditional quilts but with a fun and flirtatious twist. I am drawn to the vintage (30s and 40s) and reproduction prints but, in the same way I use them in my toys, I would like to make something a little quirky with them. I think that these may work in the strips around the edges of the more plain squares… using low contrast prints of course (I am learning so much from this book! How easy it to get lost in!).

The other thing that I love about the Modern Quilt book is the notion of the “Big Idea” – finding something to wrap a story around to create your most individual palette of colours. I love looking at the diagrams they have drawn which accompany each quilt demonstrating how incredibly different each looks depending on the colour palette. So what’s my Big Idea? Well, Amelia’s room has that bright green wall sitting along-side three white walls, and gentle pinky-brown tasmanian oak floorboards. She also has a beautiful, full flowering camellia outside her window which currently has bright pink blooms and beside it is a fuchsia with delicate pinky-purple flowers hanging like little lanterns. I think it would be kind of nice to make Amelia a quilt which she will have for always which evokes the colours and the mood of her childhood bedroom. Plus it will match. Bonus.

I am a complete quilting novice so this may just not be something I am quite capable of pulling off, but this is my personal challenge!

Speaking of Amelia’s room, here is a new toy sitting on her window sill (in front of the fuchsia no less). As you can see, this little bear has arms that stick out at 90 degrees. This was not a deliberate thing (like so much of my toy making) and at first it annoyed me but now I have decided that in fact it was a special design feature so she looks like she’s waiting for a big hug. She’s off to the Northern Hemisphere to give plenty.

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16 Responses

  1. yay another MQA’er! I made that marquee pattern as a baby quilt and it was really fun to do. very satisfying to get all those little stripey bars without that much effort.
    love that cute huggy bear!

  2. What a lift I get reading a post like this. Thanks so much for sharing these details of life and strivings.

  3. thats what I was just going to say.. she is waiting for a big hug.. happy mistakes are great!

  4. I’m sure you’ll carry off your new quilt endeavors with your usual, unique flair!

  5. yay! me too. and strange we both posted about it at the same time. i am doing unfinished business (the most difficult) but i think it gives a lot of leeway and i love how the colours fade. looking forward to seeing yours come along – i have only just received my book in the mail so am still deciding everything.

  6. Now I feel like quilting too… I’ve been toying with the idea for a while, but it just seems like such an enormous project. Perhaps I should go check out the library too?

  7. I thought the same thing, she’s looking for a great big hug, she is adorable! And I am sure your quilt will be beautiful as well!

  8. tinafree@blueyonder.co.uk says:

    I made a quilt, it took me 3 years, most evenings. I loved making it, and love it, but I have never found the get up and go to make another. Mayby we only have one quilt inside cach of us? I hope not. Good luck with yours, enjoy xx

  9. kateri@wi.rr.com says:

    Welcome to the world of quilting! I got drawn into making quilts through my interest in the historical aspects of it all, but as far as I’m concerned, any reason is a good reason to make a quilt. I’ve made quite a lot of them after 20 years at it–big ones, little ones, antique-y and modern ones. They all mean love and warmth to me still, and I hope you have a great experience making yours.
    Big project? Yes, it is. But there are lots of shortcuts and speedy methods these days. And the process of quiltmaking is a journey in and of itself. Enjoy the journey!

    I have to say that the best part of quilting is the friends I’ve made through it–you can meet like-minded folks hanging out at your local quilt shop, and there are probably quilt guilds and groups in Australia just like there are here in the US.

    Have fun. And please keep us posted with your progress.

  10. Hi Claire 🙂 That is one cute bear! So many fun textures and colors and detail. I also love the idea behind her outstretched arms. I’d hug her! I’ve been wanting to join in one of your MOSs, and maybe this month will finally be it. Now I just have to think of what my personal challenge will be. That quilt is looking pretty good… (though I’m sure I have a slew of unfinished projects stuffed in a drawer some place). Off to look!

  11. jokano@gmail.com says:

    Hillary at weewonderfuls made a baby quilt with the marquee pattern–maybe it’s in one of her photo sets? It’s adorable.

  12. Yay! I’m so excited you joined!

  13. nice blog!!! I love your dolls!!!cheers!

  14. reidfamily@pacific.net.au says:

    I am so excited that you are doing the quilt thing. I am addicted to quilting fabric like others are addicted to the smell of new stationery. I am not the most accurate nor precise quilter in the world, but I just love putting fabric together, arranging it and rearranging it until you get the story just right. It takes me forever and I always seem to have a “work in progress”. On Monday I am picking up my Amy Butler “Ginger Bliss” quilt that I cheated and sent off to be machine quilted and I just can’t wait to see it. The fabric was so gorgeous that I couldn’t bear to cut it up into hundreds of little squares and triangles so I have just done big 20 cm blocks. And when you come to put it all together and choose your wadding, that is a whole new world too. I love 100% cotton wadding. It breathes, shrinks a little when you wash it to give your quilt a kind of “vintage” look and is very cuddly. Anyway, I could talk all night… But am looking forward to more quilting updates.

  15. I am so glad you are going to start this quilt! I hope you enjoy the process as much as I do. I actually just bought the same book yesterday. It hought it was going to be for beginners, but it had a lot of appeal to me as an intermediate quilter as well. Can’t wait to start a project, but probably not for a few months – too many UFOs on the boil at the moment.