a scrapbook quilt

I'm plugging away on my list (here).  One of the items for the living room is to make a new throw for the sofa.  This is crucial, because my dog lives on the sofa.  I have a plain cotton blanket that I use to protect the slipcover as much as possible, but, let's just say, the slipcover, even though washed regularly, is no longer show room fresh.  Therefore, I've been using a decorative throw to hide the stains when guests are expected:  i whip off the plain white one and throw on a decorative one.  For most of the year, the throw was a piece of black/white/gold foral that I had quilted on to a jersey sheet to make a vintage looking throw.  It went well with my graphic black/white pillows.  However, I've been feeling the need for change, so I moved the black and white to the guest room and brought back my old faux raccoon pillow covers.  I needed a new throw, so I decided to kill a few birds with one stone.

I've been trying to improve my sewing skills.  I also have a stash of fabrics I've been saving for one day.  And finally, I've been handsewing at night while watching tv with my partner in order to curb my late night snacking.  Having project definitely distracts me from eating, and I certainly don't want to stain my projects.  Therefore, I decided to make a quilt for the throw out of some favorite fabrics.

At this point though, I had to save me from me.  One of my issues with hobbies, including sewing, in the past is that I try to ignore the learning curve and jump directly into a project that is too complicated for me, leading to frustration and abandonment of said project.  I didn't want this to happen with the quilt, so I ignored my inclination to try a complictated pieced pattern and keep the fabric squares in roughly the same size as the remnants.  I used some quilts from Anthropologie as a quide. 

quilt available at Anthropologie

The back is made from left overs from a project (the print is so big that I had to buy a massive amount to make matched pillows--i did not have enough to match the back of the quilt, but it's busy enough I don't mind):

 

 

 

 The quilt ended up being a fun scrapbook...it has fabric from a lot of my more recent projects:  my kitchen curtains, my bathroom curtains, my window seat, a client project, and an old ottoman slipcover.  I love the way it turned out. 

 

My recovered piano bench:

My kitchen curtains:

My bathroom curtains (the photo is washed out, but I swear they are there:

My window seat: