Off The Rail

My, it has been such a long time since I have blogged about anything at all!   I'm not sure why or exactly when I stopped.  Life got busy and took many twists and turns.  We sold our long time home and moved to a condo (with truly wonderful sewing space!); our daughter got married; my mother was ill and passed away; we had our first grandchild; and we are now expecting our second!  So, life just got in the way.  I have recently left my part time job in a sewing studio and feel I can focus a little more on the kind of sewing I want to do, without being distracted by every new and exciting project or notion that comes into the shop! 

But, in the meantime, I have been doing some projects that are very out of my comfort zone.  The first was this sweet baby quilt for our expected grandson.  I remember being in a class with Cynthia Guffey once where she said that those of us who sew garments should not quilt.  She meant absolutely nothing bad about quilting, but simply that there are so many quilters out there who would be delighted to quilt for us but that garment sewers were fewer and further between.  I do agree, but I wanted to try my hand at it anyway!

The fabric is a Hushabye Hollow Jelly Roll by Lydia Nelson for Moda.  The pattern is a variation of an Off The Rail (which is sort of where I feel I've been, so how appropriate!!)  I quilted it myself using a walking foot and curved, organic lines very close together.  I actually liked this part of the project much better than the piecing.  There is a wonderful book called Walk by Jacquie Gering which goes into great detail on how to achieve beautiful designs with lines and a lot of practice. 

I definitely don't see myself becoming a quilter, but I enjoyed the experience which was truly a surprise to me!