Palais Royale

 I like designing my own quilts and trying to create something out of the box that’s me and unique. This project is one of those, inspired by my travels. 

In 2019, we took our oldest two girls to France to attend a wedding. The wedding was in the south, so we started our trip there and ended in Paris. One of our stops in Paris was the courtyard at the Palais royale where we relaxed for a bit before dinner one day. In the courtyard, they have some permanent modern art installations, including fountains with a pyramid of stacked metal balls, and rows of striped pillars. Some are only inches tall and others are nearly as tall as I am. I’m sure there is a method to the order but it’s not immediately discernible. We spend a while walking around them, taking pictures on and with them, and enjoying our evening. 

One day while I was brainstorming quilt ideas, I thought of these pillars and started playing around with a design. This is where I landed. It’s really big, but it was tricky to get the blocks smaller with the same proportions, and I like big quilts anyway, so it’s okay.

Housewarming Quilt

My brother moved from Utah to Kentucky about six years ago. I can't remember exactly...it's been a while, and I feel like it was around the time my twins were born. They rented a home for a while and then were able to build a new home because they hadn't found anything they liked well enough to buy. It wasn't their first home purchase; they had owned a home in Utah. Still, we had just finished building our own home and I was excited for them to have a new place of their own. They came out to visit shortly after moving in, and I decided it would be perfect to send a housewarming quilt back with them. I wanted it to be a simple design, but I love big quilts and so I aimed to make it a large throw. It ended up closer to twin, but that's okay. 

I decided a simple house block would be perfect. I picked a neutral palate of colors, and, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, used it as an excuse to use a lot of prints I liked, but didn't love or want in my stash any longer. I like them all, I promise! Some I like very much, like the navy floral, that's a favorite. Some I love but I can't seem to figure out how to use them. Maybe because I don't usually make large blocks like this. And I do like them all together. It feels very primary color to me, even though I used green instead of yellow. 

I had recently reconnected with a former neighbor who also happened to move to Utah County (I grew up in Salt Lake County), and who I hadn't known was a sewist and quilter. She now works at a sewing machine/quilt shop near my new home, and I bumped into her there. She does long-arm quilting and so I thought I would try her services out. She did a great job and finished it more quickly than my usual long armer, who is quite busy now (because she's good!), but it was more expensive than I hoped for and I wasn't overly thrilled with it. Nothing set it apart from my go-to quilter. I don't go to that quilt shop often, mostly just for thread (they carry Mettler and a good variety of serger cones) and Tula Pink fabric occasionally. They have eclectic fabric: lots of traditional and juvenile, and then Tula and Kaffe. It's very odd. And it always takes FOREVER to check out. Their computer system is ancient. And slow. And doesn't always work. So I avoid it. And she is getting ready to retire so I think she has scaled back her hours. I actually haven't seen her there in a year or so, now that I think about it...maybe she's already quit. In any case, I still continue to use my go-to quilter.

So, here's the large quilt I made for my brother! He said they loved it, I gave it them in person when they visited since they drove, and that save me massive amounts on shipping. I backed it with minky because, minky. But that made it HUGE and heavy. I'm so glad I didn't have to ship it. 

Housewarming, quilted by Ruth Ann LeBaron, completed February 2021, gifted July 2021.

San Francisco Quilt

Designing an original quilt is always satisfying, even if it's difficult. I love to find inspiration in travels, and often take pictures of inspiring patterns or designs. Often, nothing comes of them, but sometimes I make it work. This quilt pattern is one that marinated for a while before I figured it out, and then it marinated longer still as I tried to decide on a color way. I use Electric Quilt 8 software and I tried out all kinds of colors, including a more traditional quilty look with different colored blocks. In the end, I love the dramatic colors I went with and the focal blocks. I used Alison Glass Kaleidoscope solids and the texture is fantastic. 

The inspiration for this came from a long weekend in San Francisco. I wanted to name this quilt Sausalito because that sounds like a better name, but I couldn't bring myself to since I knew full well I hadn't seen it in Sausalito. We were walking around, and I can't remember what neighborhood, and I saw an amazing antique grate on the side of a house. It was fantastically intricate and interesting and instantly knew I wanted to make it into a quilt. But, it took a while. 

I finally made it during the pandemic and I just adore it. I backed it with navy winky and it lives in our theater room and it's just perfect.

Right now, it's currently on display at the Springville Art Museum for their annual quilt show. I love going to their quilt show every year. It's an eclectic mix of mostly traditional quilts with some modern and art quilts mixed in and it's not overwhelmingly large, so it's just enjoyable. I entered a couple quilts a few years ago and didn't realize that when you enter a quilt in a show, they give you feedback when you pick up your quilt. I did NOT love receiving the feedback. I'm not a show quilter, it's just fun to see your quilt hanging in a museum! I swore I would never do it again. 

But I guess my trauma has worn off, because I went ahead and entered again. I like entering original designs and I just decided I'm not going to read the feedback. I'll let my husband read it and tell me the good parts. :)