city quiltin'

Hello, City Quilt. I love you.

I have been wanting to work on a city quilt for years. I thought it would be a cathartic experience. I thought it would be good for me to spend some creative time and energy processing my urban home. And I love building and house shapes. They are just adorable and fun to work with.

This seed was planted years ago, but I kept putting it off. There were other projects I wanted to work on. Things I wanted to make for other people. And I wanted my city quilt to be just right. So I wanted some more concrete ideas before I began.

Last fall, I don't remember why, but I found myself in a fabric store wooed by fabrics that would be perfect for my city quilt. So, I bought them. And then I went back and bought more. And last Spring I sat down and started cutting out some buildings. And I hated them.

I packed up my fabrics and thought I'd give it more time to percolate. I had a list going of the buildings and vehicles and other details I wanted to include. And I had a final size in mind. And I really wanted fabric with text for the windows.

Then, last week, while I was working on a baby quilt for my friend, I got bit by the sewing bug and thought I would try again. I thought I would try sewing paper on the buildings for windows. And I decided to not worry about my final size until later. I just wanted to start.

This was my first building. I was experimenting with my process. With sewing paper on the fabric. And I liked it.


So this was my second building:

I wanted to make a school that represented the school I taught at. The school I taught at looks nothing like this, this is way cuter. But, I gave myself permission to take lots of artistic liberties.

This is our church:


And a row of stores.


I plan on embroidering names and whatnot on these cuties, so these are not finished pieces. But, you get the idea...