Hello again ...

I'm back in the blogging world! I confess, up until last Monday I had not sewed a stitch since my last blog post. Beginning a graduate program and starting a new career as a teacher sucked away all the extra time and brain power I had available. However, I am now in my third year of teaching and am starting to find my groove. I have been finding myself with some leftover brain power and have been trying to figure out what to do with it. Going back to trying to sew garments didn't really appeal to me, but some conversations with my grandma and some friends sparked my interest to check out basic quilts on Pinterest. WOW! They were so beautiful - I loved the interplay of the color palettes, bold lines, and negative space of the modern quilting aesthetic. I thought to myself, "Hey, I want to do one, and I have all the sewing stuff I need already, so why not?"

I picked up a couple of books for inspiration and instruction. My favorite, by far, is Elizabeth Hartman's The Practical Guide to Patchwork: New Basics for the Modern Quiltmaker.

Hartman's designs are lovely and made for beginners. She also includes a variety of fabric ideas for each project to help you picture different ways the quilt could look. She has another book out that is lovely as well, Modern Patchwork: 12 Quilts to Take you Beyond the Basics and her blog, Oh Fransson!, offers some additional ideas, and remakes of the quilts from her books. 

I chose a design called "Batch of Brownies" that relies on an offset checkerboard pattern to highlight the contrast between prints and solids. I thought it looked like a fun way to showcase a variety of fabrics, so I made my way to JoAnn's, braved their Veteran's Day Sale and stocked up on some fun fabric. 

I have finished the back of the quilt, and assembled my 1st four blocks. While there have been some stumbles along the way (three of the fabrics I bought weren't wide enough to cut the correct sized pieces, so I had to patch them AND I made a small error in assembling one of my blocks), I am excited to keep going on this process. I will try to get some pictures  my blocks posted later today. For most of today Jack and I will be up in Seattle cheering on the Seahawks - so pictures must wait until after that. GO HAWKS!