family room quilts

a favorite family room activity

I make quilts to be used: read on, snuggled under, dragged around, built with, laid on, lived in. Loved. I do not make them to be hung on a wall and admired, or folded up on a chair, never to be touched. I do ask the children to be respectful and gentle-ish with my creations, but they are definitely made for use.

Right now, I have 3 quilts that camp out in the family room on the three couches. I made one of those quilts myself and the other 2 are store samples I bought from ETC, handmade by employees there. "Romance in the Garden" is also intended for this room and couch living once I complete it.

Out on a Limb

So far, there is one common thread among those quilts in this room: they each have the room's colors in it. I would like to say this is due to my decorating genius, but it's simply a happy happenstance at this point. My family room colors are red, blue, and green. My color scheme was based on my now 10yr old red Charleston Pottery Barn couches and a painting we purchased on an Anniversary trip in Kauai a few years back.

"Song for the Journey" by Dorsey McHugh

I painted the walls a barely-there light blue, pulled out of the water in the painting, to softly compliment and underlie the strong red of the couches. There are blue and green pillows on the couches and touches of all three colors all over the built-in shelving on the wall. The family room is our casual, hang-out spot, right off the kitchen, where we read together, roll around on the floor, build with blocks, have dance parties, sometimes homeschool, and just live, really. The quilts are meant to add a homey touch to the space and to be readily available for whatever they are called upon to do.

beach pow wow



None of the quilts are the exact colors already in the room, but I've gone more for shades of the color palette than a limited selection of specific colors.

Abbey Lane quilt

I look forward to the day where there are enough quilts in here for everyone to grab one during story hour or an evening by the fireplace.

Homey, isn't it, to have quilts everywhere?