Quilts Quilts and more Quilts

Since I didn't already have enough hobbies, I decided to pick up quilting. Actually, it all started innocently enough. John was graduating in May 2007 with his Masters, and I wanted to give him a gift that would reflect some of what he expereinced in school. So, for a couple of years, I stole his worn-out college t-shirts to be made into a quilt. In January of 07 I started cutting them up while John was in Rochester on his internship. After a little research on how to do the thing, I got the top done and sent the quilt out to be quilted.
The quilt itself turned out alright, but the memories it held were the real treasure. John loved it.

Then, I wanted Hyrum to have a blanket made by his mother (all the other kids do) and Mom was working on some really pretty quilts, so I gave it a go. This was the result: Although you can't tell from the picture, all the fabrics are flannel, so it is really soft and snuggly. And, even though the pattern is simple (I figured it out myself), I get tons of compliments on it because the colors go together so well.

In August, we made a trip from Washington back to Minnesota to my cousin's wedding and while on the trip, we stopped by a quilting store in Rapid City, South Dakota. My sister Erin was working on a black, white and red apron while she was visiting earlier in the summer, and I decided I really liked the color combination. So, I got fat quarters in black, white and red. This is the black, white and red "Yellow Brick Road" quilt I made for Christmas for my sister Erin and her husband Brad. I really like the YBR pattern, it goes quickly and there are so many different looks that come out of the same pattern, depending on your fabric. Actually, I have made three YBR quilts in the past couple of months! On all the quilts I have finished recently I have just tied them to bind, because I just didn't have the time or finances to send them out to be quilted. However, for Christmas Janice (John's mom) sent me money that I am using to learn to use the big quilting machine at a local fabric store so I can just rent time on the machine to do my own later. I am so excited!

While I was working on the BWR quilt for Erin and Brad, I was side-tracked and picked out some fabric for Joy. She is a bright personality, and I just couldn't resist making another YBR quilt that reflected that bright personality.

Okay, now that I am thingking about it, Joy's quilt was really the last to be finished. I got the top going on that and then decided to make a quilt for John for his birthay. Since he loves Christmas and I was afraid it wouldn't be very Christmas-y in Iraq, I did a Christmas YBR quilt.

And, now that I have done all the YBR quilts, I am moving on to a traditional block quilt. It is in muted Christmas colors, and I actually have four blocks done!