Family Sampler

I am crazy. Just know that now. For what I am about to say is, if not crazy, then a little nutso. I have dreamed up a plan to create quilts for myself, my mother, my grandmother, and my sister-in-law. And not just any quilts, oh no, that would be too easy. I am creating sampler quilts in 5 different color combinations. Each quilt will have the same blocks, just different colors. Each block is 9" finished square. Not too bad so far, but I haven't said how many blocks I plan for each quilt. I don't do anything halfway, and I want these quilts to bind us and last for years to come. So I have planned for each quilt to be made of 72 blocks. Yes, that is 72. 9 rows of 8 blocks each, each one a different pieced block, ranging from traditional blocks to modern stars to a few I designed. I have mocked-up each quilt in the different color range I have chose for each person. 

For my grandmother: 

She loves browns, tans, and blues. I also added dark red to break it up a bit. 

For my mother: 

This one isn't a great representation, as it is supposed to be made of 30's fabrics. My mom loves 30's fabrics, so I tried to create a mock-up of general colors and will then create each block based on those tones. I will also add in more white than is shown, to create a softer looking quilt. 

For my sister-in-law: 

She loves blues, and after questioning my brother, I also learned she likes greens and purples, so I added in lime green, green, lavender, and deep purple to this quilt, along with a grayish white to bring it together. Her quilt will have a lot of more modern prints and feel to it. 

And lastly, for me. I haven't yet chosen which iteration is my favorite, so for now I'm doing both, which results in a total of 5 quilts. Here are my two color options: 

I also love blue, but I love the brown, teal, blue colors together. This quilt will also include a lot of prints in those colors, and a few solids to create some clean space. 

And, lastly for a total different take on this quilt: 

Rainbow! I also love rainbow quilts. This quilt is inspired by the City Sampler quilt from Tula Pink in the organization of the colors. This one is all solids, no prints, in the hues shown above. It takes 12 different colors (the two yellows don't show up very different in this picture, but you can tell a difference in the fabrics). 

I have bought most of the fabrics for these quilts over the last few months, in planning to make something for the women in my family but not yet knowing what. I have also pulled a lot of fabrics (especially the solids) from my stash. I hope to have the tops for each quilt pieced by the end of the year (I told you I was crazy). We'll see what happens!

I haven't told anyone (other than my husband) what I am doing. I hope that by writing about it on here it will keep me focused so I can get through the blocks. This is also on top of any smaller baby quilts that I am planning or have been asked to make (which so far numbers 3). Here's hoping to a productive 2014!