Quilty Aspirations

I often drool over photos of gorgeous quilts online, though I myself have never been very good at putting fabrics together. I made this quilted table runner with matching napkins three years ago, but I drew all my fabrics from the same collection (Valori Wells Karavan), figuring that would be foolproof.

Then last week I read a great post at Stitched In Color where Rachel took her readers through her fabric selection process, step-by-step.  It was fascinating.  I realized that, while I very well just may not have a knack for pairing fabrics, I definitely do not spend enough time on it.

We are on vacation right now, and today the stars aligned.  Rachel announced a fabric mosaic contest, and I was stuck inside with a napping infant and a sick toddler while my girls were down on the beach with family.  I spent about 90 minutes making two mosaics.  The theme is "almost primary, as in primary colors."  I spent the bulk of my time on the second mosaic, and I really love how that one turned out.  So much so, that I am seriously considering trying to turn it into a quilt.

For the first one, I focused more on colors than on prints. I ended up with more of a rainbow effect than a primary colored one.  I like it, but looking at it compared to the second one now, it definitely looks a bit more krafty than I think I actually like.

This is the one I spent most of my time on.  I had it in my head that I should avoid using multiple color ways of the same print - and yet, as you can see, I did it twice! Turns out I really love the Alison Glass Handcrafted line - I could not leave out any of the pluses or the flying geese.  I particularly love the chartreuse pluses in the bottom left hand corner and the storm geese in the top center.

The contest is open through August 18, and winners will be chosen by popular vote! Go make your own mosaic or just check out the beautiful mosaics people have put together. And if you like mine, they are #24 and #25 in the linkup ;)