Planning for the Holidays
Apparently the dam has broken, and now I have a bit of a flood. Let me explain..
Pretty much right after I wrote my post about not having any quilt goals, I called my parents to find out if my dad was still interested in a quilt for Christmas. He was, and I quickly got the details.
Me: “So do you want typical dude quilt colors?”
Dad: “Not necessarily! I like blues AND greens AND greys.”
Me: “And browns?”
Dad: “Yes, browns would be nice, too!”
Me: “So… typical dude quilt colors.”
Not that I’m complaining! I have been loving navy for the last year or so, and I am totally taking this opportunity to make a quilt featuring a lot of it. And once I thought of that, I remembered this gorgeous urban lattice quilt made by Erika @ Midwest Family Life. And once I re-found the image, I realized this is what I’m going to make for my dad. In dude quilt colors, obv.
Then, this last weekend, I went down to visit my brother and his family. I adore my 9-year old niece, and I told her I’d make her a quilt for Christmas. She’s the only other leftie in the family, is learning to program, is an artist, and she told me that she’s going to be just like me when she grows up. *heart grows 3 sizes bigger*
So I asked her what she wanted on her quilt. And because she is apparently following in my footsteps in all the ways, she announced that she wanted a DRAGON quilt. (I have loved dragons since around her age, too!) I sketched her a couple of baby dragons during a previous visit, and she said she wanted that on her quilt. In the colors of the good dragons in the Eragon series (blue, green and gold).
I have NO idea how I’m going to accomplish this, but I really want to make it work. Paper-piecing is my first instinct. Appliqué might be easier? Especially if I want to keep those curved lines. But appliqué sounds hard.
So with those two projects in mind, I am set for seasonal quilting. And then of course earlier this week Sarah @ {no} hats in the house posted her mind-blowingly amazing shooting stars quilt. I am seriously over the moon (pun not originally intended, but now very intended) about this quilt, especially the low volume side. I can’t get enough of it.
And after staring at it for a long time, I remembered my old Skill Builder BOM blocks I did back in January (and then promptly quit participating because: time) which I did low volume + rainbow shot cottons.
And then it all clicked in regards to this design I’ve been sitting on for months. So now I really want to work on that, TOO. It’s going to be a busy holiday season, that’s for sure!
I was so worried I had run out of things to work on. I really need to learn to enjoy my down time between projects instead of fearing it!
-Anne
re the dinosaurs, try raw edge applique and then stitch the edges with a free motion foot. You can get great detail. Like this: http://charlottenewland.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/to-market-to-market.html
Ooooh, I call that doodle quilting (because I like to make up terms I guess?) and I love how that looks!! I should practice a lot before I do it on a real quilt top, though. Hrm.
That’s a great idea. It’s a type of appliqué that is a lot more my style.
Funny how that works! Not a project in sight and then there are 2,3, 4! As always I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
I’m so used to always having a backlog of things I want to work on, that I get really uncomfortable when that’s gone! Of course, there’s ALWAYS a backlog of things I SHOULD be working on, even in those down times. But funny enough, if I don’t want to work on it, it never quite makes it onto the list to get done. lol
Love the little baby dragons – they are gorgeous and would make a fabulous item on a quilt!
Thank you, I really hope you’re right!
It’s very much out of my wheel house, to say the least. 
But I am starting to get swayed towards appliqué instead of paper-piecing. I just need to figure out how to make this something my niece will like for more than a year!
Applique! It’s not hard I promise. Take Sarah Fielke’s craftsy class.
I’ve done some appliqué but it’s definitely not something I feel really comfortable with yet, unlike paper-piecing. Thank you for the craftsy class rec! I will definitely check it out.
you’re so super talented, those dragon sketches are darling. Could you do some embroidery blocks with the images on them? I can’t wait to see what comes of the idea!
Hrmmm I hadn’t considered embroidery! I’m not that quick at embroidery, so I fear that I’d run into some time constraint issues.
But I love the idea!! I will have to consider that!
I’ve been avoiding working on the design for this quilt, because it’s hard, but I suppose I should stop doing that. lol
never fear, there is ALWAYS something to work on, we just temporarily forget what they are (: last 2 skillbuilder blocks are posted in about a week i think…i was really looking forward to seeing more of your blocks for that, don’t delete it from your list! (:
True enough! I remembered another two projects that I’ve backburnered that I was hoping to finish for the holiday season as well. *gulp* Who needs sleep?!?
The skill builder is still on the list! Maybe it’ll just become my 2014 block of the month. lol
Glad to hear you have once again found inspiration and have a list of projects lined up! But you better get crackin’! There are only 73 days left until Christmas! Love the dragons!
Holy crap, and now it’s like 71 days or something!! Does counting down help you? I fear thinking about it that way would end up with me in the fetal position.