Evolving.

A good friend of mine first introduced me to quilting. I was babysitting her adorable son a few times a week and noticing all of these beautiful and inspiring sewing projects she was working on. I bought a few books on quilting, and my friend was so generous in sharing her time and materials to show me techniques like how to make and attach binding. She gave me bits of fabric, magazines and other fun things to fuel this new hobby. I am so thankful to her for introducing me to quilting, and for being such a wonderful friend.

When I first started quilting all I knew was the more traditional style, and I loved it, I still do. I love the history that comes with so many blocks, and how certain colors and patterns have trended and evolved over time. But it didn't hold my interest for long. Enter my first contemporary quilt.

I finished this quilt in January 2012, I saw a photo of something similar online and thought it would be easy enough to make. I tend to just dive into projects without a lot of planning, so I cut lots of rectangles of various sizes and started sewing them together. I knew I wanted white in between to make the colors pop, not realizing how popular white negative space had become in the modern quilting world. And I loved every part of piecing this quilt!

This is the largest quilt I've made, it fits nicely over a double bed. I quilted it all myself, using a technique shared by a speaker at my guild. The batting is cut into thirds, then that third is sandwiched and quilted, then the next third of the batting is added (whip stitched) and so on. It worked very nicely!

I discovered how much I love working with bright colors and simple but impactful patterns. So I'm starting to define my quilting style, but I think it will continue to evolve.