Beginning A Quilt: First Steps

It's been quite a while since I started a new quilt.  Though I often buy yardage with the vague notion that it will be the inspiration for a quilt, I think that is really just an excuse for buying fabric!  Recently, I bought some Cotton + Steel prints at Quilting Connection in Ames and realized that I still had some of my very favorite typewriter fabric from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising collection in my stash.  I had a hunch that her new C + S prints would work perfectly with the older prints and guess what?  I was right.

How very thoughtful of Miss Miller to coordinate her collections!  I was also thrilled that she did those typewriters in black and white.  Because as we all know, one can simply never have enough typewriter fabric.....

When I saw the bright magenta & metallic silver print I thought I would just use the pink typewriters with them; but the green and pink together in the letter print on the left would work with both the aqua and the pink typewriters.  Serendipity.

I dug through my cubbies of fabric to unearth my cherished pink & aqua typewriters and delightedly piled them on my cutting table.  I am very good at making piles of fabric.  Not always so good at following through with the actual sewing!  This morning I took the time to make a "starter" quilt block and a few notes so I wouldn't forget my ideas.  Here's the block:

I tend to get tired of making the same block over and over, which is why many of my quilts are created with the improv-piecing method.  Also, I think many modern fabrics are too gorgeous to be cut up into little tiny pieces.  But these prints work well in blocks and this block is simple so they'll be quick to make. Once I start on a quilt, I do like to finish it sooner rather than later!

Putting the pink and aqua typewriters together on the cutting table brought back fond memories of one of the first quilts I made in 2013, and I don't think I ever got around to sharing it here before.  It was also one of the first quilts that I sold, but I did have a couple pictures left of the top:

I was, and still am, proud of this one.  Simple but sweet.  Really helped me hone my quarter-inch seam allowance skills--very important in making a quilt!  My quarter-inch piecing foot helps a lot with that too--but this quilt was made without one so it was more of a challenge for me as a newbie quilter.

I'll try to post the progress of this quilt as more blocks get made.