Quilt Bug

So, I think I have the quilting bug. After an excellent sewing session with Christine on Sunday, I got half of the strips for my Quilt-a-long sewn together. It was so much fun and a lot easier than I remember the last two quilts being - possibly because my sewing skills have improved a great deal since then. If you've read my previous post about my project list (also now shown on the sidebar to the left), I've already put two more quilts on it! I got awesome fabric from my fellow teachers at work that I'd like to turn into a quilt and then I also bought some fabric to make something for the baby that I think needs to be a crib quilt.

Here is where I run into a dilemma. I am a novice quilter, so I don't have a huge idea of how to plan this out. Since I already have the fabric, I am somewhat limited there. I think the sock monkey quilt will be fine (I mean any kind of quilt made with really cute sock monkey fabric is going to be really cute by default), but its the other fabric that concerns me. I have considered doing an Irish Chain (mostly because I've done it before - see photo at top - and I have the instructions!) but I'm not sure that would work for my fabric selection. I have another book that has a few patterns in it that I like - namely the Basket-Weave pattern and the Five-Strip Fence Rail pattern. I think either of them would work for my fabric selection.

Here are scanned in photos from my book - yes, its vintage. :)

Basket-Weave Pattern (this is shown in a crib-size)


Five-Strip Fence Rail Pattern (this is shown in a queen/full size, but I would make it smaller)


So I think my next step will be to settle on a pattern, then look at how much fabric I have versus how much I will need. I think I like the fence rail pattern for the fabrics I have, but the instructions call for like 20 different fabrics and I only have 5. I wonder how it would look if I just used the 5 I have? I should probably do this soon since I may have to supplement what I have and I want to make sure the awesome Asheville Cotton Co. still has it in stock!!

Wow, thanks for helping me hash that out, blog!

Updates to come....