Planning: Rustic Hillside House Quilt

Jul 26

Jul 26 Planning: Rustic Hillside House Quilt

20 Mins- A Day, Planning is Half the Fun

New Year's Eve 2013 I made a resolution to be creative at least 20 minutes a day. Like many New Year resolutions, it worked well...for a while. You may or may not have noticed that my last blog post was June 13th. Wow. That's just too long ago. As July ends, the next few months become really hectic for me with preparing for our church's annual Christmas Cantata. Besides perfecting the music (I accompany on piano), I also prepare recordings of all the parts for choir members to listen to and practice along with at home. All. The. Parts. 15 songs x 4 parts + variations of part combos (SATB, SA, TB, etc.) It's a lot, but I enjoy it.

So...I'm going to try to bring back the 20 Minutes A Day idea, because let's face it, I'm not getting anything done and I have a slew of quilts I need and want to make. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, join me for 20 minutes of creativity every day. Or at least 4-5 times a week ;)

P.S. Thanks for sticking around while I've been absent!Let's talk about a new project!There's a cute little quilt that's been all the rage the past couple of months on Instagram. Hillside Houses by Pretty Little Quilts is the cutest thing I've seen in a while. I'm always late to the party, so I missed out on the real-time quilt-a-long. But, I'm finally getting ready to start a quilt of my own.

I love everything about the color in the original design, but I really don't like to copy a quilt color for color. Several of my relatives recently visited Norway (the homeland of our ancestors) and I was inspired by the photos they shared on Facebook as well as the one below.

I typically like very vibrant and clear colors, but there was just something about these slightly weathered houses that spoke to me. So, for this quilt, I decided to step out of my box and use grunge fabrics. Believe me, this is a huge departure for me. The pattern comes in three different sizes and I decided on do to the wallhanging size that will hang over my piano keyboard.

When you download the Hillside Houses pattern (did I mention it's FREE on Craftsy?!) There's a coloring sheet to download as well. I like to rearrange my colors and try different options A LOT, so I imported the coloring sheet into my graphic software and recreated the shapes. That way I could change the colors with just a click of the mouse.