Garden Quilts

Now that the weather is turning cooler and things are slowing down in the garden, my mind wanders to other pursuits. I want to start a garden quilt. I have lots of fabric just waiting to be turned into something beautiful. How about you? Do you like to quilt? Have you ever made a quilt? You don't have to start out big. You can start with a mini quilt or a wall hanging.

I've included some quilting ideas for motivation. 

 You can piece together things you'd find in a garden. Be creative and make your own design or find a pattern that you like and add your special touch.

One year I took a class on how to make a crayola quilt. Coloring is relaxing and coloring on a quilt is fun! You could find some coloring pages of veggies, fruit and/or flowers and make your own unique crayola quilt .

 This is a flower garden pattern with a Log Cabin flair. I love the look of the Log Cabin quilt with the red square in the middle. That is the heart of the home. You can pick some really pretty floral fabric or veggie fabric and make "garden" rows.

Check out this link to learn more about making a log cabin flower quilt .Here's a little more history on the log cabin pattern.

 This is another example of a flower garden quilt. Lots of little patches that can either be floral or vegetable prints. Quilting is like cooking for me. I can take a basic pattern or recipe and add my favorite things to make it personal for me. I love reds, greens and golds, so I like to use those in my quilts. What are your favorite colors?

Here's a cute fall mini quilt . Imagine this being your garden layout with all of the brilliant oranges,  golds,greens and browns of fall.

 Follow this pinterest link to see simple projects like Christmas mug rugs for that warm cup of hot cocoa.

 Here's a mini quilt version with appliques. I love to add appliques to my quilts. I prefer hand work to machine sewing. There's something so personal about sewing by hand. I like to machine sew the basic design and then embellish with my own touch.

Mini quilts are fun to make, especially if you are a first time quilter.  

This is Grandmother's Flower Garden. It's a hexagon pattern and possibly at bit more difficult than just sewing patches together, but still fun and rewarding.

Click on the link to read more about the history of Grandmother's Flower Garden and other quilt patterns.

Here's a picture of a wall hanging a made a few years ago. I found the basic pattern in a magazine and then added one panel of some favorite words to a hymn that I like. I chose my favorite colors and got to work. The tree was original, too. Hearts and kind words just seem to go together.

Take the time this season to make a garden quilt. It is something that will last long after the garden has gone to seed.