1 Family x 12 (Sept)

Honestly, my most favorite photos, the ones I return to over and over, or search out for printing, are these monthly family photos.  It takes less than 5 minutes to get everyone together, snap a few photos and move on.  They aren't always perfect, I often use my cell phone instead of my "real" camera...but you know what, I'm never sad that we got just one more photo together.  Here's to monthly family photos and one of most treasured family traditions.

A new quilt for us!

I started quilting in 2013 when I wanted to make a quilt for Abby using all of the fabric that had been gifted to her for her weekly photo project.  It wasn't long after I made her quite that Ryan started requesting a quilt for our bed.  It was less about him wanting something homemade and more about him saying our bedding was TOO HOT and he wanted something that didn't make him sweat.  Well, fast forward roughly 6 years and he's finally gotten his wish!

It's no secret that I love Liberty of London fabric.  Something about the bright colors and tiny intricate patterns just speaks my love language.  I started collecting (read: hoarding) Liberty of London a few years back because I wanted to make a lap quilt for our house.  In fact, you can see that quilt here.  Once that quilt was complete, I started rebuilding my Liberty stash without a real project in mind...mostly because I knew I'd find a use for it somewhere!

(I wish I'd moved the quilt to the shade so it wasn't so washed out...but I couldn't resist the warm sun and the bright flowers in my new Zinnia bed as a backdrop).  Fast forward to last winter when I started slowly cutting over 1300 tiny 2.5x2.5 inch squares of fabric to make this queen-sized sixteen patch quilt for our master bed.  The quilt measures 90x98 and is perfect for our bed.

It is light and summery and it makes me smile when I walk into our room and see all the bright happy colors smiling back at me.  Ryan loves it too!  It seems as if we've finally found a compromise on the bedding.  Just in time to switch over to the winter duvet (Winter is always coming...ha!). 

I've all but given up trying to quilt my own blankets anymore.  So, this one, went straight to the longer arm machine this spring and we've been using it all summer.  It just took me forever to get up the will to take it off the bed, haul out a ladder and actually photograph it for the blog. 

So - it's probably time for me to start thinking of something new to make.  I have a rule that I'm not allowed to start a new project until I've finished the current one.  It's all too easy to start hoarding projects or to start them and get distracted by something new and different.  So, one in, one out.  That's my rule.  I wonder what will be next??