Well, guys and gills, after quilting for clients for three years, I'm... not... doing that... now. I thought the transition outta the biz went well with my customers. I gave them a year's notice and let my frequent customers sign up for the months they wanted me to quilt for them. It worked out well. I limited the spots available each month and it was easier for me to handle life homeschooling my oldest son and working.
When I finished up my customer list at the end of 2015, I spent most of January cleaning and organizing my house. And by house, I mean my sewing room. I went through every tool, notion and piece of fabric. I decided to keep a lot of it, but I also threw away and donated a lot, too. The result is a welcoming space that begs to be sewn in!
Here are a few of the things I've made in the weeks since the cleaning job was finished:
Easy Addition pattern by Brenda Ratliff, appearing in the Quilts and More Spring 2016 issue.
And below is the second top that I've made. I've been inspired by the traditional Ocean Waves pattern for a really, really long time. I don't know what it is about MANY, MANY half-square triangles that I love. It's a blessing and a curse. They look so pretty, but they are legit time-consuming.
I'll let you in on a little secret. It's always bothered me how the Ocean Waves blocks are typically not arranged symmetrically. I get that it creates movement and interest. I don't know what it says about my personality that I just couldn't do it the same way. Oh well, I made it my own and that's what it's all about.
And at the risk of being a one-trick pony (making one element different), I couldn't resist adding an outlier block.
This is my own design/take on the Ocean Waves quilt. You can find more pics by searching the hashtag #oceanwavvesquilt on Instagram.
I think I have a quilting plan for it, I just haven't executed it yet. More to come on this one.