Speaking of Ugly.... and advice, please!

A few years back I found this beautiful hideosity...
I could hardly believe my eyes. I mean, the combination of flowers and ferns and swirls and curls -- not to mention COLORS -- It's just fabulous!


-- and large scale!!!

I put together this quilt top to go with it, figuring the crazy fabric would go on the back. It has very subtle curves and is just as crazy as the backing. Problem is, I got this far and couldn't decide what to do next! I was thinking I should do a skinny white border and a wider blue border, but I think the borders need to have subtle curves as well. And I just can't find a blue that I like with it!

What do you think?
And, who on earth is going to end up with this thing? It's not exactly pretty... but it is baby-sized.
I can't really give it as a baby gift, can I?

Here! Have a super ugly quilt that will likely keep your daughter up all night with its freakishness!

???? :o) ????

I ♥ Ugly Fabrics!

I'm not gonna lie -- I love ugly fabric! What is it about it? Well, perhaps it's the challenge -- to make something beautiful out of something completely hideous. Lemons into lemonade?
Perhaps it's because I feel sorry for the poor, unloved fabrics.

No matter what it is, I love ugly. It makes me so happy!

I wanted to share a few of the "uglies" I have in my ugly stash....

Brown, purple and orange... add in the PAISLEY factor, and you have a real winner!!


Ahhh... one of my loveliest uglies. I have a couple yards of it. Beautifully ugly.

Nothing like Cheetos orange plus green plus purple -- and hideous caviar-like circles! Woo!


Then there is a completely new category I like to call "What were they THINKING??"

Waaaaaaay too much going on here, and check out those COLORS!! Hee hee!!!

Paisley +sunflowers?? Not to mention all the other hideosity going on here!
Horrid!! I love to hate this one!

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?!!
I have no earthly use for this one, but -- oh my! -- I love it!!

And last but not least a full collection of fat quarters I purchased all together for one smashingly loathsome combination! It is, of course, heavy on the Kaffe Fasset, whom I truly ADORE. But there are a few other lovely pieces in there too. I just have to come up a fantastic quilt method for these ones!

Oh, and my favorite of the bunch? The weird circly things in the center left? That one is called "Fish Lips." Win!!

To see some of my finished ugly quilts,
CLICK HERE!

Linoleum Quilt -- CHECK!

I'm checking a few projects off my list to make some guilt-free brain space (and of course sewing space!) for new projects. Over the weekend I finished this quilt for my cousin Cara.

I LOVE THIS QUILT!! I so want one just like it for my very own!

The colors are just so vibrant and fun and happy -- and despite the individual "ugliness" factor of each of the fabrics, it really is a pretty quilt.


I even made a matching pillowcase -- French seams, and everything!


Next project to check off my list: One of the most guilt-ridden projects of the past 2+ years. Yes, that's TWO PLUS years!! The guilt quilt!!

The Linoleum Quilt

Okay, so it's not actually made out of linoleum... The colors are just so reminiscent of one specific familiar linoleum!

First, some background. My beautiful and talented cousin Cara is starting college in a few weeks. For her high school graduation/start of college present I decided I want to make her a quilt. Now, lucky me, she has moved from several states away to MY state -- and is living and attending school only an hour or so away from me! Yay!

Since she is now so close, I spoiled my quilt surprise and told her my plan. We agreed that it would be much more fun to shop for fabrics and plan the quilt together!

Yesterday the timing finally worked out such that we had a decent chunk of time to hit a few quilt shops. Here is what we came up with!

We started with the fabric that is fourth from the left. So fantastic and linoleum-y! Luckily we both seem to have an affinity for -- how shall we say -- "ugly" fabrics, so grouping them while together was extra fun!
(If you're interested, you can see more of my "ugly" quilts here, here, here, and here!)

We wandered and grouped and re-grouped. Three different times we considered adding orange, but it changed the overall look to much for our liking. Three quilt shops and a couple hours later, we had our fabrics!

We ended up with fabrics from SIX different lines/designers!

I've already started cutting -- and I cannot wait to start putting this baby together! :o)

Flashback Friday -- The "Original" Ugly Quilt

I've written about my ugly quilts before. Well, folks, this is the one that started it all!

I made this one about ten years ago. (Yikes! I can't believe it's been that long!) When I went shopping for fabrics to make this quilt, I had one prerequisite in mind -- they had to be UGLY. I went with mostly golds, greens and browns in the most hideous prints I couild find!

It's a fairly simple pinwheel block, but the instructions I had made it rather complicated with all the cutting. They had me cutting each triangle individually, rather than sewing squares together and cutting. Time-consuming!! Another reason I don't prefer following patterns unless I really know what I am getting into!

This is one of the few quilts I have that my grandmother quilted for me before she passed away. I used to send her a quilt top every month or so, and most of them were given away as gifts. I'm so glad I have a few that she quilted to keep for myself!

I've got a few more ugly quilts in the works -- one is a real TKO that I can't wait to show you -- when it's finally finished! It will leave you reeling......

Flashback Friday -- "Ugly" Quilt

I like ugly fabric. But it has to be the right kind of ugly. Take, for instance, this quilt. It is filled with fabrics that, on their own, are completely hideous.


With this quilt I challenged myself to make ugly look good. It was so, SO much fun to make!! The pattern was from an issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, and I believe it was designed by one or both of the ladies from Piece O' Cake designs. (Anyone know for sure?) I think the pattern was called "Tropical Blooms."

Anyway, I have had this one on the wall in one of my guest bedrooms for a while, but decided I loved it so much it needed to be where I could look at it more often. It is currently on the floor in the living room, and is the spot where JellyBean chills and does her tummy time.

This quilt makes me so happy!!

"Ugly" Quilt

I'm on a roll! Ever since I put together the Valentine-y quilt last week, I have been itching for more, More, MORE!! I dug out a charm pack of fabrics from one of Amy Butler's lines (I LOVE her fabrics and simply cannot resist buying them!!), and started going to town! It was another invent-as-you-go quilt, and I love how it turned out:

I only call it "ugly" because the combination is rather, well, INTERESTING. Consequently, no one else *I* know would love to have this quilt for their baby girl, so... Looks like my baby girl gets another quilt!!

Here's a close-up of some of the fabulous fabrics. And Kitty. Kitty is just CERTAIN that every quilt I make is for HER. She is a very quilty cat. She loves climbing under them and waiting for some unsuspecting passerby to get close enough for her to jump out at!