Crazy is as Crazy does

This is one of the craziest weeks for me.  I have kids home a day and a half, we spent all yesterday morning at the dentist.  I have Christmas quilts that must get done.  I am leaving for Houston in 3 days for a week. And what I am thinking about doing??...(insert lobotomy) I am busy spying a new quilt to start.  Yes, I know.  You all remember that I have my falling leaves quilt started (the quilting that is), and my floral applique quilt is all done, just waiting it's turn in line for the longarm.  Maybe the printed bug has bitten me, who knows.  Hold on and that will make more sense.

This is my client Carol's quilt (above).  The photo is from the Jax Quiltfest last month, where we earned a 1st place in the duo category.  I quilted this last spring.  It was a real challenge because I wanted the quilting to show since it was going to show, but since it is about 100 modern prints smacked down on the 74" canvas, I had my doubts that I could pull it off.  Must have done something right though :-)

After completing the quilting, I decided I'd pitch the idea to Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine for their "Challenging Quilts" article segment.  They loved the idea.  The article has just come out, in the magazine that will be at Houston next week too!  Here's the opening page.  You'll have to wait for your copy to see all the great photos of how I transformed this busy and colorful quilt, which many quilters might prefer to E2E, into a winning show quilt.

So with that introduction, the fact that I have dug out some very busy prints of my own should be no surprise.  Truth be told, I rarely buy fabrics and use them immediately.  As a quilter (and I am sure many of you understand this to your core), I am a bit of a fabric hoarder.  I had bought the green Martha Negley (top left) yardage and the coordinating orange/peach fabrics probably 3-4 years ago.  I think I found them for $3 per yard at Mardens, a local salvage-type store.  And then time passed and I had absolutely no idea what I'd do with them.  

Then I got another busy quilt from Carol.  This one, though does have lots of white and will be stunning when quilted.  And then I had the bug planted in my ear.  I want to play with the elongated hexagon design.  This happens to be the pattern that she used, but her's are not all done in a kaleidoscope fashion.  It is an Inklingo design, but I cannot use this because every piece is fussy cut.   After cutting out enough pieces for a few blocks, I realized how very many repeats and different prints it takes to get a good look.  I picked up 4 more of my older faves from Phillip Jacobs from Jackie Kunkel's shop, and have one waiting for me in Houston from another.  I think I have a good variety of colors, but won't know til they are cut!  I will definitely do mine different from Carol's.  I have champagne silk to use as the setting blocks and sashings.  I have to have a plain backdrop to really quilt the heck out of this.  The colors and prints are great, but alone they are just too much for me to create a competitive show quilt for the machine quilting shows.  The combination of these with the silk will be perfect.  

Crazy?.  Yup, without a doubt.  I have a couple of these to take on my trip.  I will hand piece these.  I love the hand work, and without an applique project, this will be good.  See you when I get back from the greatest quilt show!