Summer Quilt Bucket List

Spring has finally come to us here in Northern Michigan and it's come in with a bang - 80 degree temps today!  I'm so excited for winter to finally be melting away from us.  While it has been a long winter, it doesn't feel like it's been a hard winter - just a typical winter here in the Mitten State.  However, I am so ready for summer and I am especially looking forward to this summer because for the first time ever, we will be living in a home that we own!  haha Yup, my husband and I are finally joining the ranks of home owners.  I'm really looking forward to being in a home that we can truly make our own.  Plus the house has a big deck and a fantastic yard for the boys!  I'm looking forward to many beautiful summer days outside with my two little boys.  

The month of May is going to be a busy month around here for us as I attempt to pack up the house and get us ready for the move with the "help" of these two little cuties. Also, we are taking a 5 day trip to New York with a stop in Western New York to drop of the boys with my mom while my husband and I drive out to the Utica area for a cousin's wedding.  We are hoping to get to spend a few days with my folks after the wedding and get a chance to celebrate our baby's 1st birthday while there.  .....  All that on top of moving!  haha oh well - it's either all or nothing for us and this trip was planned and committed to back in January.  Anyways.... all that to say, I don't think I'll get to do much sewing over the next 4-6 weeks let alone any quilting.  While I have been busy with a lot of sewing for the months of March and April, I haven't gotten to do much quilting which is my true love when it comes to fabric and sewing.   While I pine away for my sewing machine as I'm buried under moving boxes, I thought I would take a chance to make up a wish list of quilts that I would LOVE to make this summer.  This list contains mainly larger quilts that I want to make for myself just because the fabric is beautiful, the pattern simply cannot be ignored, the desire to try a new piecing or quilting technique, and because obviously, one cannot have too many quilts.  So here in no particular order in which they might be made is my bucket list of quilts I want to make this summer (wish me luck!):

Indelible Rocky Mountain Puzzle Quilt (Queen size):
First up, I've had this lovely bundle of Indelible fabric by Katarina Roccella sitting on my shelf for about 6 months now. 

I bought it the intention of making a queen sized quilt for our bed.  I was inspired by this Rocky Mountain Puzzle Quilt, and I've even worked out the quilt math.  Sadly, this quilt was put on hold until I got through Christmas sewing and then on hold again until after I got through craft fair prep sewing and now on hold again until after the move.  I definitely want to get to this quilt this summer!

Wild & Free Ducks In A Row Quilt (Long Throw size):
The second quilt I want to make this summer is based off of this quilt.  Becca of Bryan House Quilts just released a new quilt book called Modern Rainbow and this quilt is from a pattern in that book.  I have been hording a fat quarter bundle of Wild & Free fabric by Maureen Cracknell that I got back in November waiting for just the right quilt for it.  This quilt is it!

However, I'm stumped on what color I want to use for the background on this quilt.  I want a solid color and I don't think I want white.  I decided to finally break down and purchase my very own Kona color card the other day. 

Certainly out of these 303 beautiful colors, I can pick one that will be the perfect background fabric for this quilt. 

Utopia Molehills Quilt (Long Throw size):
The third quilt I want to tackle this summer is called Molehills.  It is a brand new quilt pattern just released by Latifah Saafir.  It is the first quilt pieced from curves that I've loved so much as to be willing to actually learn how to sew with curves! And bonus Latifah is hosting a quilt along for this marvelous pattern!  Added incentive to work on this quilt for sure!

I figured since I was jumping out of my comfort zone by tackling a curves quilt, I might as well get really out of comfort zone and pick a palate that I wouldn't typically go with.  For a while now, I've been seeing different projects pop up on Instagram using Utopia fabric by Frances Newcombe.  It's one of those fabric lines that initially intrigued me and has slowly grown on me to the point that I actually really like this fabric line.  A lot of the prints in this fabric line are not prints I would typically pick, but as a complete collection, I have developed a serious fabric crush.  So when I saw the Fat Quarter Shop run a sale on a half yard bundle of Utopia, I just had to get it and turn it into a Molehill Quilt!

Botanics "Yet To Be Determined" Quilt: 
This fat quarter bundle of Carolyn Friedlander's Botanics line has been sitting on my shelf for a while now since I snagged it off an Instagram destash sale.  While this bundle isn't quite the entire Botanics fabric line, there are still so many beautiful prints and colors just begging to shine in a beautiful quilt.  As of right now, I have three or four different ideas of what I could do with this bundle, but nothing seems quite like the right fit.  I'm determined though to keep looking and hopefully this summer settle on one.

Modern Maples Twin Size Quilt: 
Ok, so honestly this quilt has been on my some day, maybe might make list for a while now.  It's one of those quilts that I really like but it just has never been on the top of my list to make. 

 

Well that changed this past weekend when I was pulling together fabric to make a mini quilt for a swap I'm in and the fabric pull just screamed fall quilt and whats a more perfect fall quilt (that is NOT a Halloween quilt) than a maple leaf quilt.

 

 I added in a few more colors from my stash and cut out a twin sized quilt while I was cutting out the fabric for the swap quilt.  It ended up being exactly what I needed to work on this week - simple cathartic piecing.  I got 6 of the 30 blocks all pieced before I ran out of the background fabric with which to make the stems.  Naturally the fabric had to be special ordered from JoAnns but I'm sure this quilt will stay high on my list to get done soon.  

Quilty Projects for my Mom: 
One of my biggest cheerleaders and fans of my sewing and quilting has been my mom.  I've made here a few quilty things as Christmas and birthday gifts which you can see here, here, and here (at the bottom of the page).  Anyways, she recently asked if she could hire me to make here a wall hanging and several sets of place mats.  Talk about being a major supporter!  We haven't settled on what exactly I'll be making for her over the coarse of the summer, but I do hope I can convince her to consider some of the adorable quilt blocks out of these two books by Lori Holt.  I think my mom would really like them, and I always enjoy sewing up any pattern written Lori. 

Whelp...sounds like I've got plenty of sewing to keep me busy this summer in between settling into our new home, enjoying the beauty of Northern Michigan with my family, and all the other ADD sewing and DIY projects that I'm sure will pop up.  I girl can dream, right?