Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Simply Retro Quilt #1 - Swell in Hello Darling

There are a lot of reasons I began this sewing journey through Camille Roskelley's Simply Retro book. Most of them fall in the "fan girl" category. Other reasons include simple things: She makes awesome patterns, that are easy to follow, even if you are new to this quilting game. Her fabric is GORGEOUS. AND there are so many quilts on my list, I need a focus; a place to start. 

The first quilt in her book is Swell. I have seen several versions of this quilt. Check out #swellquilt and you can see for yourself.  One of my favorites is this one by @windyrisepatchwork. I love April Showers, but add that green and I fall in LOVE. 




I had a plan for Swell from the get go. Hello Darling. Because, Hello? This pattern is also perfect for a jelly roll. I also went with a patterned background instead of a solid. This is Firefly from Hello Bear by Bonnie Christine. 


I may have had some "assistance" while cutting fabric.


Always. Always. Always the hardest part for me when it comes to "scrappy" quilts is the randomness of being scrappy. I think my mind wants to make it uniform, so scrappy is hard for me. I've heard of people just putting their material in a bucket and pulling it out. Maybe I should try that next time...




The quilt went together very quickly. The only way I deviated from the pattern was that I didn't add the second border. I didn't have any Hello Darling yardage to work with, and I really just liked it this way. In all honesty, one thing I'm not to keen on when it comes to quilts --- Borders. I feel like it takes away from the quilt somehow.

Now - this one has been quilted and bound and ready for it's new home. I came up with an awesome plan for these quilts. I'm going to give them away. As a surprise. This one will make it's way to it's new owner freshly washed, wrinkled, and crinkled in just a few weeks.

We all have a TON of quilts, so I just knew these quilts would get a special home for some pretty special people! I mean, I can't really keep ALL the quilts. I can make them ALL but I can't keep them all.

(Since I don't trust the Brasil postal system, I have to wait for a carrier to deliver i.e., my mom is visiting next week, so she will take it back with her and mail it.)