Doll quilt adorables

Have I told you how excited I am to be a part of DQS8? Oh, yes, I believe I did. Well, I wasn't quite prepared for the level of participation that swappers...ummm....participate!! I can barely keep up with all of the witty banter, limerick-writing and good-natured teasing that is going on over in the DQS Flickr group. I am loving it, don't get me wrong. It's just that I'm not sure I'll be able to tear myself away from my monitor long enough to actually MAKE a quilt. It is really fun getting to know all of the quilters behind the Flickr i.d.'s and also comparing what everyone finds inspiring. In order to help our partners figure out what to make for us, we've been asked to create an 'inspiration mosaic'. Here's mine (are you out there, partner? stealthily lingering over a steaming mug of tea?)

(if you want to see any of these photos individually, click on the mosaic to go to my Flickr page where they are linked to the original photographers)

You can learn a lot about what a person likes in fabric by viewing their mosaics. Some are over the (full) moon about circles, some are super into rainbows, others like traditional blocks. As you can see, I am completely drawn to wonky piecing, bright colours, happy stories, stitchery, free-cutting and apparently, birds and trees. I think those last two things mostly because a lot of 'picture' quilts in the Doll Quilt Swap photostream do include trees and birds.

I am a 'taught quilter', which means I took classes to learn how to quilt. In those classes, I learned the technicalities of quilting: how to square up fabric, cut with precision, piece with accuracy, press to the dark side and bind with mitered corners. I think I am drawn to the wonky (like my beloved Gees Bend quilts) because I find them incredibly difficult to do myself. As a certified perfectionist, busting out of learned behaviour is really challenging for me. I blogged about my first real free cut quilt here. I want to do more and DQS8 might be just the therapy for me.