Quilting Exploits

My first quilt ever, modified from an old magazine clipping.

I would never profess to being a quilter. I've made a grand total of four quilts in my life and only two of the four really qualify as projects that actually involved a lot of piecing together. I have yet to complete a quilt with any sort of quilting more complicated than stitching in the ditch. And I would love someday to create a gorgeous free motion quilt like this talented sewer does.

Sure I have a "Quilter on Board" car decal, but it was given to me for free one day at Fabricland. I think part of my reluctance to quilt is the design factor. I'm not a very creative designer - I can imitate a given design with a certain amount of success, but I'm definitely not the type of person for whom "inspiration strikes". Maybe I don't have enough quilting experience and experienced quilters surrounding me to inspire me to design anything more interesting than this:

One of my four quilts. One of two which were actually original designs.

My other hold up with quilting is strangely not the endless cutting/piecing/sewing, but the constant trimming and cleaning up of little ends of fabric and thread left hanging and fraying off of every piece that you work with. This pet peeve was never more clearly pronounced than with my last quilting project.

This design taken from www.cranstonvillage.com. The original pattern made a slightly larger than twin size quilt, and my final project needed to be a double size duvet cover, so some alterations had to be made. All those little railroad tracks? Sewn from strips of yellow and red fabric. Definitely a labour of love, made for a boy who is practically a nephew to me.

My own son's duvet cover is just two different fabrics pieced and sandwiched together (I know, for shame, a mother not making the effort for her own children :)

So I've been kinda detoxing from this last quilt and now suddenly I think I may want to try another quilt or quilted project. Both the projects I'm eyeing are from Elizabeth Hartman at Oh, Fransson! and both are potentially needed items in my house.

(1) The Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow

(2) Quilted Potholder

Both seem like small enough projects and both offer me the opportunity to try my hand at quilting proper. I'm kinda leaning toward number two cuz it's a much smaller endeavour and I do desperately need new potholders :) Any other thoughts or suggestions?