Christmas in July [Thursday Think Tank]

Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels and LouLouThi Flannels

In recent years I've accepted the fact that I don't accomplish anything on time - at least not in my personal life.  I create a thousand To Do Lists...and yet...it just doesn't seem to happen!  I suppose no amount of writing something down is going to actually make you do it or, more appropriately in my case, give you the TIME to do it.  That said, I am giving serious consideration to the whole Christmas in July phenomenon.  I'm jumping on it and getting some of my Christmas To Dos if not finished at least started now...

One gift idea I've kicked around for awhile is making the girls Zig Zag Flannel Quilts using Anna Maria Horner's flannels.  In retrospect, I am grateful that I never started this project because now I will be making three instead of two!  Luckily, I have the stash to complete it and aside from backing I won't need to buy anything.  Bonus that I'm sticking to my budget!

Here is the simple piecing layout sketched out on my iPad using Penultimate

And then I pulled out my precious AMH bin [yes, that's right, I have a BIN dedicated to Anna Maria Horner deliciousness...and yes, I'm obsessed] and started pulling together three colorways for the three quilts...


After taking such a long break from quilting I've taken the time [during late night/early morning nursing] to review my saved quilt pins on Pinterest and favorites on Flickr.  What stood out most is the use of color in these saved favorites.  Combining fabrics from different collections or creating a focus on specific color themes are areas I have real challenges with.  I've decided I need to take more time creating color palettes in my work.  I usually devote more thought to the piecing layout and the quilting as opposed to the color.  Surprisingly, finding the colorways was really fun to do in this instance and I hope it is the start of a new trend for my quilt pieces!  

Just look at this fabric porn right here!

Ophelia Colorway

Livinia Colorway

Eulalia Colorway

Obviously who the colorways are intended for are subject to change depending on the whim of the very vocal Miss E...but based on their personalities this is how I think it should go down.  I'd like the quilts to be roughly between 50-60" so that the girls can grow into and use them for quite awhile.  I'm planning 6" blocks cut into half square triangles.  I'd love to complete all three in time for placing under the Christmas tree, the piecing is rather straightforward so I'm optimistic that I'll meet my goal...for once...

What do you think about my colorway choices - have a favorite?  More importantly, what are you brainstorming about these days?  I'd love to see!  Leave me a thumblink on the TTT Linky Party below...

- rebecca lynne

p.s. Thank you for the well wishes for Miss E.  It was a rough night trying to convince her to take her medicine...hopefully today will be a bit easier now that she's likely to be a tad more rational after sleep...hopefully...  Suggestions on how to convince a three year old to take "yucky tasting" medicine are being happily accepted in the comments below!

Feel free to rattle off anything that has been brewing in your creative heads. It can be anything, quilting, home improvement, fashion, crafting, DIY gifts, cooking...whatever you have recently thought "hmmm, you know what I should create" is perfectly appropriate for the Think Tank.  TTT is all about whatever you are currently brainstorming and would like feedback or encouragement on!

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