Tuesday, March 31, 2009

what did you do this weekend?

I made a quilt. I call in my marathon quilt. I bought the fabric on Friday and finished it last night. At 2am.

On Friday, two of my quilting buddies and I piled into my Honda and drove to the closest quilt store 45 minutes away in Las Cruces, NM. It was a delightful trip with lots of gabbing and getting to know each other. This is a picture of me being somewhat overwhelmed by options at Oregon Mountain Quilt Shop:

(and yes, I do stand like that alot.)

Why make a quilt in a weekend? Well, the Ginders were the lovely couple willing to let us house-sit for them when we first got to El Paso. And Kelly came home today. (Which is significant since I thought she'd be home Sunday, but gratefully I had until Tuesday.) And I wasn't sure what would be an appropriate gift for a couple who let us live in their space for so long.

So I went for personal and decided to make something. And in classic Karen-style, I waited until the last minute.

So this fabric was bought on Friday, conveniently pre-cut in what's called a fabric jelly-roll:
And this is what popped out on Tuesday:
front

back

I chose the Chinese Coins pattern and ran with it. I'm not usually one to follow quilt patterns since I prefer the scrappy, randomly pieced-together look. But I didn't have time to experiment, so $5 later I had a pattern and a plan.

It took many hours, and two movies: Gigi and Pride and Prejudice. (And not just any Pride and Prejudice, but the A&E 5 hour version. The very best one, in my opinion. It's my "quilting movie"; I watch it at least once per quilt I make. It's that darn good.)

And I think having a deadline and only a few days is the way to go. Otherwise quilts are like any other project that I start and never finish. For once, procrastination paid off this time.

As proof, I got a call from Kelly this evening saying she loves it. Absolutely loves it.

13 comments:

Mom ~~ /) ~~ said...

It's beautiful. I am not surprised she loved it.
Love and Hugs,
Mom

Kevin and Amy said...

WHOA.

WHAT?!?!

You turned that roll of terrifying "do something creative with me" fabric into a full-blown QUILT?!?!

Who ARE you, Stella?!?

Honestly...and I'm not just saying this...honestly, that quilt is gorgeous. And also, I would have been out of my mind with terror holding a roll of fabric, knowing it should become a quilt.

It's like staring at a blank Word document, knowing it should become a thesis.

You're amazing. And you can housesit over here any time.

Happy said...

Beautiful! What a great gift idea!

I was totally going to offer to let you housesit for me too and then Amy beat me to it and then I remembered that tidbit about how you don't like to clean... :)

LOL...seems I don't like it much anymore either.

I see pretty homemade things like that and can admire them and admire the talent of those who made them, but that's about as far as it goes since I break out in hives if I wander too deep into a Joann's Fabrics.

Ask Crafty...we went there once. I stayed in the section where the pre-made things are.

Sigh. But really, it's a gorgeous quilt. I'll send you my house colors and a Jane Austen movie and see what you whip up next weekend????

Muthering Heights said...

It came out beautifully!

Crafty P said...

trying to pic jaw up from ground....

gorgeous and wow.

I work in quite the same fashion. Have many projects in the back of my mind (or strewn all over my house) but very often they do not see completion until the eleventh hour.

sigh.

I need to change, but sometimes this process just works better!

Crafty P said...

ps. I could devour moda fabric. it is just soooo yummy.

have you been to their website lately and seen their recipes? oh how delish

Sharyn said...

How is it possible you fashioned a quilt in one weekend? Are you stinkin' amazing.

KToth said...

Wow. That's crazy quick. Impressive.
All I have to say is, give yourself a deadline and get the baby's blanket (or any other project) done soon. I still have projects on the shelf from before Caleb was born (3 years ago).

Erin said...

Karen,
i am so un-martha that i'm not sure i can truly appreciate this feat... as i have no idea how one actually even makes a quilt. do you use a machine?

Megan said...

Awesome Karen! I made one quilt in my life and it took so. much. effort. I don't know how I could make it any easier. You definitely need to share some pointers! It looks beautiful.

Unknown said...

Terrific job on such a beautiful quilt. And what a thoughtful gift. You do superb under pressure.

Kerri Smith said...

My Mom would be so proud of you!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love moda fabric!! I lived next to quilt shop in KY...very dangerous! You did an excellent job!

Andrea