Obsessed?

What makes you say that?

I have been quilting up a storm lately. Seriously, all I want to do is stay home and quilt... all day long. Which is a slight problem when one has... you know, a JOB and all.

But here's what I've been working on.

Valorie Well's Stripes for my niece - the quilting is well underway. I'm doing straight lines down the brown side stripes and wavy lines down all the other stripes. It's easy, and I'm liking the effect, but because I'm quilting it much than I usually do, it's taking a long time. I usually skimp on the quilting part, only doing enough to hold down the pieces... but I've realized how much I love tightly quilted pieces, so I'm going to start doing a bit more.

And I've picked up a new (old) project. After being trapped in my apartment for 3 days by the approximately 2 1/2 inches of snow we got in 2008, I made my way to the fabric store to replenish my stash. I bought a bunch of bright & happy batiks to counter all the cold grey snow. Well, last week I picked up those happy batiks and took them from this:



to this:


and then, to this:

I don't usually like pieced blocks, greatly preferring scrappy one-patch patterns, but this pattern was perfect showcase for the fabrics. I've actually got the blocks all sewn into rows, and will probably finish up the top today.

The thing is, I'm kind of stumped as to how to quilt this one. I'm not even sure what color thread to use considering the high contrast between the white, the black & the colors. Maybe a grey? Any ideas or suggestions??

I've also started another new project, a wall-hanging made from the scraps of my Rubies & Diamonds quilt. This will be the first time I've made a quilt specifically for hanging on the wall - I'm going to make a sleeve for it and everything!


So, that's what I've been up to. As someone else mentioned, it feels like I'm making up for the year of no-quilting in Thailand, and it feels really good. Now that it's getting cold, I've pulled out several of my quilts, and I just can't tell you how happy they make me. I love the colors and the textures and the fact that *I* made them. Maybe I'm obsessed, maybe I've just really gotten into a creative groove. Either way I'm pretty happy. =)