Sometimes it takes me a while to get into a fabric line, and I think that might have been the case with Anna Maria Horner’s Honor Roll. I bought just a fat eighth bundle of the line and wasn’t immediately sure I could see myself using it. Then suddenly a week or two ago I felt it needed to be a quilt, right away (and right away grabbed another bundle while I had the chance! — I snagged the last one from Llama Fabrics, but looks like you can still grab bundles here at Westwood Acres).

I started with most of the prints from this line and added in a few additional prints that had the same sort of vibe – there are some older Anna Maria prints, a bunch of Denyse Schmidt (they seem to play so well together, no?), some Cotton + Steel and a few others.

I wasn’t really sure what these would become, but having just finished up with my churn dash quilt, I started in with a few itty bitty churn dash blocks. I’ve shared a few sneak peeks over on IG, and as you can see, it’s turned into a bit of a medallion quilt. I’ve been having such a good time auditioning fabrics while trying to decide what to add next. Hope to have photos soon!

Also on the cutting table — these lovely double gauze fabrics from Jones & Vandermeer. I can’t resist buying double gauze fabrics – they’re so soft and perfect for quilts or clothing. The top aqua print and the bottom anchor print are new Sevenberry prints (nicely priced for double gauze, too!), the black gingham is a Robert Kaufman reversible double cloth and the third from the left is a new print by Tomotake Muddy Works.

I can’t decide to go the quilting route or clothing route for these – some days I look and can picture another 16 patch Liberty quilt (from Alexia Abegg’s Liberty Love book) paired with either the gingham or anchor print, but at the same time I’m loving the thought of a double gauze Linden (thanks to a few I’ve seen on IG recently…). The jury’s still out, and they’re still sitting on the sewing table, but hopefully I’ll make a decision soon!

(hey look, more snowy ice photos — I have to take advantage while I have (willing) helpers!)

Long (long!) ago, I made the blocks for this quilt. I just took a look back, and in December of 2013, Hawthorne Threads sent me a bundle of their new solids, Hawthorne Hues. I made up several fun blocks incorporating all those great solids and blogged about them here in June (I feel badly about how long it takes me to use some of the fabrics I’m so generously sent!). Anyway, their fabrics are wonderful – really nice to sew with, and I had a lot of fun putting together these blocks. They’re inspired by painted oars I saw in a magazine around that time (Crate & Barrel, maybe?) — [Nope, cb2 – here’s an image of the inspiration]. I love the nautical feel, and it was a fun challenge to come up with designs that fit that feeling.

(flowers, hearts, stars, oh my!)

I made up a bunch of blocks and then was totally stumped by the layout and sashing. That post from June shows I was looking at Robert Kaufman Essex yarn dyed fabrics as an option, and I think I toyed with a number of colors of Carolyn Friedlander’s crosshatch print. When I pulled the blocks out again after our move, I was no closer to an answer, so I ordered a bunch of additional sashing possibilities but still couldn’t commit to one (good for those shops I ordered from, not so good for my wallet!). In the end – mainly just to get it off the design wall – I went with the black cross hatch print by Carolyn Friedlander, one of my first options. I did get to use one of those other sashing options for backing, so all is not lost.

Now I’m stumped on how to quilt it. It’s been basted for several weeks now and remains pinned to our bedroom carpet, making it a challenge for Morgan to get to bed. I’m hoping I figure it out and get it finished in time for boating season!