quilting contemplations

I've been hit with the quilting bug hard after the success of the baby quilt ... and honestly, I blame it on the satisfaction of hand sewing the binding. That feeling--the satisfaction of completion--gave me this overwhelming urge to dig through some piles of fabric, start cutting, and begin sewing another quilt right now. In doing my research for the baby quilt, I ran into a book that has only fed this urge. And I've been pouring over it, looking for inspiration for my next ambitious project ... making a light-weight, summer quilt for my king-size bed.



The quilts in this book are just simply stunning ... and really opened my eyes to the potential of quilting. I love traditional quilts, but I really don't want to make anything that looks too "grandma." The quilts in this book are anything but grandma!

This last quilt is my personal favorite ... but I realize that piecing circles is waaaay beyond my skill level at this point. Sigh ... someday. But it's led me to realize that I'm really drawn to quilts with diagonal lines ... For example, I've been lusting over Erin's string-x quilt for months now (she finished it last August). She provided a great, detailed explanation of how she constructed hers.

String X Quilt, by Erin at House on Hill Road

And this one, a gorgeous nine-patch and diagonal cross quilt by Wanda Hetrick that Jan at Be*Mused posted earlier this month.

But I'm also considering the zig zag quilt. Anna Maria Horner posted a great free pattern for one earlier this year. It's basically piecing a bunch of triangles, which I feel confident I could handle. But is it too Charlie Brown? Maybe if I went with a more complementary color scheme it would seem less busy to me ... but if I pick colors with little contrast, what's the point of piecing the zig zags?? Not so sure about this one ...

Folk Dance Quilt, by Anna Maria Horner

And pinwheels ... Material Obsession has some really inspiring customer quilts posted on their blog. I love how cheerful and bright these color combinations are.

Like this one ...

and this one ...


But honestly, that amount of fiddly piecing is beyond my skill level (and time and patience) at this point. I need something much more speedy if I'm going to finish a king-size quilt top before the arrival of the little bambino. So I'm seriously contemplating the diagonal cross pattern now ... I stumbled upon this great tutorial online for creating the blocks ... or the string-x quilt. The real question is ... which would be more fiddly and frustrating?