Out of Quilts

Well, I've done it.  I've finished my quilt queue.  I'm all caught up.

(But, I guess if you look in my sewing room closet and see the handful of quilt tops without sandwiching, I guess you could say different.  Stay out of there.)

For the past six months, I've been cranking out quilts nonstop.  I've made quilts for friends, for charity, for family, for myself.  I've tried all kinds of techniques and designed a few myself, without a pattern.  I went from never seeing a walking foot to buying a sewing machine labeled the "Quilters' Edition"--times have changed!

I am, and always will be a garment sewist, first and foremost.  It's what started me down this rabbit hole and it's still what drives me when I buy fabric or plan projects.  But quilting crept in and stayed, and even after I messed up a few times (my mother is reading this and I'm sure she's thinking, cut your selvedges!), I kept at it.  I tend to have a persistent personality, and I like to try all sorts of things, whether or not I like them.  I thought quilting would be a fad, and in fact, I wanted to do it to make a t-shirt quilt for my brother.  Those shirts are stacked in my sewing room closet.  (Not next to the aforementioned quilt tops.  They're in a bin.)  I got too distracted by fabric lines, layer cakes, charm packs, and basting pins to ever even start his quilt, much less give it to him for Christmas or his birthday.  Maybe this year?  Hopefully?  I wandered into quilting and ended up running away with it.  But now that "must-do-everything-right-now" attitude I've had feels like it needs to take a couple breaths and take a look at its life.

While I did just finish a huge quilting project that I'll detail in a few weeks, and I have my do.Good stitches bee coming up, I don't have other quilting plans on my horizon.  I like the thought of getting back to dresses, skirts, and blouses.  I've bought a ton of fabric for these projects over the past few months and just haven't been able to get to them because of quilting: since Christmas, I've made four baby quilts (three have been backed, bound, and presented, the fourth is waiting for me to learn how to use my free-motion foot) and a full-size quilt, as well as bee blocks.  It's only March!  I love the thought of just sewing for me again.  I love to sew for others and really enjoy it, but it's far less pressure just focusing on me.  Besides, I buy all this fabric, just to give it away?  I don't think so.

So what can you expect from me in the coming months?  Well, I have a few projects to show before summer, and I need to design a quilt for my bee in April.  I'd also like to explore my introverted side and talk about guilds.  And I have so many books!  These books need reviews!  I also may have a few guests popping up, if all goes well.  I won't be silent!  I'll just be less patchwork-focused and my wardrobe will look great.  That's worth it, right?

In keeping with this theme, I completed something from Liberty Love: the Michelle My Belle dress!  It sewed up wonderfully.  I love that book!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  What did you work on?  I'd love to know!