Joseph's quilt

My younger sister (not so) recently had a son, which meant it was time to make him a quilt.  I love baby quilts - their size makes them quick finishes.

I mostly used the tutorial from Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy's Sliced Coin quilt along.  I modified it somewhat to make it baby quilt sized.

I've loved these whales since I first saw them, and when I finally saw them in person, it was over.  They came home with me just for this quilt.  I also included the Half Moon Modern polka dots, the cross-hatch from Echo, and stripes and argyle from Remix to go along with the whales.  I think it makes a cheerful combination.

Those awesome whales came back for the backing.

The stripes made a fabulous binding.

I kept the quilting simple, just some double echo quilting around the columns, with double lines in the middle of the columns and evenly spaced down the length.  One of these days I'll venture into the world of free-motion quilting, but not quite yet.

My little helper :)

Anyway, I love how cheerful the quilt is, and I hope its new little owner loves it too!

Details -
Size - 40" x 49"
Quilted by me
Baby quilt

Thanks for stopping by!  Now enjoy all the other amazing quilts!

Just Three for June and July

Whew - June was a busy month around here!  I'm pretty thrilled, though, that I was able to get some things done.  Nothing big, mind you, but still my sewing machine was certainly not neglected this month.

June

#1 - Make another skirt - Done!  See here for the rest of the story.  And, I've already lopped off the bottom, awkward tier and worn it out and about for date night with my husband.  Double done :)

#2 - Make and apron - Done!  I don't have any photographic evidence, but it was finished and worn for its intended purpose.

#3 - Work on something else - Done!  I started a snowball quilt For. Myself. using Kate Spain's first line, Verna.  Here's what I've accomplished so far.  When I bought the fabric two years ago, I loved it.  Now, I wish I had waited for Bonnie and Camille's Ruby line to come out (my current favorite fabric crush), but the fabric is still nice, and it's paid for while Ruby is currently still in the store.  Oh, well.  Maybe it's time to swap some of my Neptune???

July

#1 - Make a skirt for my daughter.  She's been dying for me to make her a skirt since I made mine, so it's time to get that done.  As an added bonus, she's only three and she's skinny, so it should be a quick finish.  Much less gathering than mine.

#2 - Work on something else - I could continue working on my quilt or start my husband's quilt.  Who knows.  But something fun.

#3 - Having fun - I'm taking my cue from Tracey here.  We're heading out of town later this month, and none of the kids are in school right now.  So, to be realistic, I don't have a lot of quiet sewing time for the next little while.  But, we've been blueberry picking, had a fun 4th, and the beach is calling us.  There will be plenty of time for sewing in the fall.

This past month was productive - I was three-for-three!  Here's hoping this month proves as productive!

Another skirt

Another week, another completed skirt.  It feels good to get something off my to-do list, particularly since I'm wearing this one next Wednesday.  Nothing like a good deadline to get me motivated :)

 I used this lovely fabric, from Anna Griffin's Honoka collection.  I hadn't seen it anywhere previously, but my LQS had it, and it seemed a great fit.

I used Amy's semi-famous tiered skirt pattern, modifying it by only making four of the pattern's five tiers and eliminating one of the fourth tier's five panels to keep the volume and weight down.  I am walking/pushing a handcart for twelve miles in this skirt, after all.  In hindsight, I should have used all five panels - there wasn't enough of a difference between the bottom two tiers, so there was almost nothing to gather.  But at least it will be a little less full and heavy, right?  Plus, when I get home, it's losing that bottom tier anyway, and I need to wear it in five days, so I'm just leaving it as is. 

Hooray for finishing something else up, and now on to making my apron for the same trek.  I'll be relieved when all my trek sewing is done, and I can get back to my comfort zone - quilts.  Even if it is the next Central Park Urban Lattice quilt.

Now, go check out all the other finishes at Sew & Tell Friday!

Just Three for May and June

In some ways, May didn't feel like a terribly productive month.  But looking back, I got more done that I thought.  Hooray!

May -

#1 - The Central Park Urban Lattice quilt - it's done!  The quilt part, at least.  The duvet aspect still needs a tiny bit of work, but I'm still thrilled that it's almost done.  You can read more about it here.  It's sitting on my dresser now, needing to go through the wash, and it still makes me happy looking at it.

#2 - Continue working on the second Central Park Urban Lattice quilt - that's a no.  I didn't even touch it.  I think I was still going through a bit of a quilt hangover from the first one.  While that quilt is lovely, an overwhelming amount of time went into it, and I'm having a hard time getting excited to do it all. over. again.  Maybe in July I'll start again.

#3 - Finish Joshua's quilt - it's done!  You can read more about it here.  He's been sleeping with the quilt every night and nap since I finished it.  Seeing your quilts in action is one of the better feeling as a quilter.  And that it's your cute-as-a-button little one makes it that much sweeter.

#4 - Make a skirt - it's done too!  You can read more about it here.  This Secret Garden fabric worked out so nicely, and as a bonus, the skirt even fits.  And I successfully put in my second zipper ever.  Whew.

#5 – And in a crazy, unprecedented bout of productivity, I actually snuck in a bonus project.  I know – I was floored too. A friend is having a baby shortly, and three of us got together and made her a baby quilt.  I pieced the top, Amy basted and quilted, and Teri bound.  I love dividing and conquering.  And this makes up for the complete fail on #2, right?

Whew!

And on to June -

#1 - Make another skirt - I have the pattern, fabric, and if everyone can stay healthy, I have a sewing date with Amy for tomorrow night to get started.  It's one of her semi-famous tiered skirt.  I'm very excited.

#2 - Make an apron - For the same pioneer trek for which I'm making/made the skirts, I need an apron.  Boring, but necessary.  Blah.  I'm thinking Kona Medium Gray with the fabric from the skirts for the pockets?  We'll see how motivated I get.

#3 - Work on something else.  It could be the snowball Verna quilt I just started for myself, a quilt for my husband, or the second Central Park Urban Lattice Quilt.  I'll be happy with progress on any of the above.

There it is - my month in review, and my goals for this month.  It seems I use my sewing machine more than I think.  And that's awesome.  

So what about you?  What are your plans for June?  And go check out all the other completions for this month!

Sew & Tell Friday

Like Amy, I've caught the skirt bug.  It's a fun bug to catch :)

I'm going on a pioneer trek later this month with the youth from our church.  Since ankle-length skirts suitable for walking around in ninety-degree weather while pushing a handcart are a little hard to find at Target these days, I got to sew.  I used this large paisley print from Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden line.  I figured I might as well use lovely fabric, especially when you find it half off.  And blue and yellow together make me happy these days. 

This skirt was a fairly simple one to sew up, even for someone who last made a skirt in middle skirt.  This may be my second zipper ever, which would explain why there are no close-up shots of the zipper, facing, or any other fiddly parts.  Thankfully, none of said fiddly parts are in any shape noticeable to the casual observer.  Whew.  And when I get home from the trek, I'm planning on chopping off the bottom twelve inches and having a fun just-below-knee-length skirt for the summer.  Hooray!

Next up is one of Amy's semi-famous tiered skirts using this fabric.  I'm excited.

Go check out all the other finishes this week!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival, Spring 2012

Double hooray!  One for Bloggers' Quilt Festival and one for *finally* finishing this quilt!

This quilt has been a WIP for a very, very long time (at least for me).  You can read more about its history here.  The short story is that it's for my niece, whose favorite color is purple.  Purple is not the easiest fabric to find in the quilting world, but Kate Spain's Central Park (one of my all-time favorite fabric lines) is amazing.  Seriously gorgeous. 

The pattern is from Cara at Me? a Mom?'s Urban Lattice Quilt-along.  I used Kona White and Medium Gray.  I adapted the pattern slightly, choosing to focus more on Kate Spain's stunning fabrics.  I followed Lee at Freshly Pieced's modifications.  While I do love math, it's nice when someone else does it for you.  I think it came out pretty well.

The back is two simple panels of fabric with triangles between, referencing all the triangles on the front.  My favorite pieced backs are simple and have something to do with the front.  Check and check.

The quilting is minimal, with echo quilting around the diamonds and lattices and alternating horizontal and vertical lines.  It shows particularly well on the back.

The binding is another simple one, using the blue cobblestone from Central Park. 

When I talked to my sister about the quilts, she mentioned that she'd be sewing buttonholes right into the quilts to enable her to attach sheets and use them as duvets in the winter.  I (inwardly) about died and then suggested that I'd try to figure out something a little more elegant (and not so painful!).

On the back of the quilt, you'll notice a gray strip that runs around the outside.  That sneaky gray strip has the buttonholes that allow the quilt to double as a duvet.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about finishing the quilt and with how well it turned out.  I hope my niece loves it too!

Thanks for stopping by, and go enjoy the rest of the quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

Sew & Tell Friday

Two summers ago, I was working on a quilt for a friend's little one.  We had had our youngest a few month's before, and I so loved that quilt that I decided to make one just like it for our little guy Joshua.  I cut the fabric out at the same time so that when some free time opened up to finish Joshua's quilt, it would go that much more quickly.  Fast forward a year and a half, and his quilt was still sitting undone.  And his second birthday is coming up next month.  Oops.  We won't talk about how many other quilts for other people I finished while his sat undone.  So this quilt got put on the fast-track, and I finally finished it this week.  Hooray!

I love all the blues and greens and the geometric shapes in the quilt.  He loves to find all his favorite animals.  Everybody wins.

The backing was simple - a panel of the green.  The fabrics are Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo in pool and Anna Griffin's Darcey line from a few years back.

The binding was also simple.

My favorite part, other than having something off the to-do list?  How much he likes his quilt. 

Now go check out all the other finishes this week over at Sew & Tell Friday!  Thanks for stopping by!

Just Three for April and May

I'm a few days late, but here's my Just Three for April accomplishments!

First, I wanted to finish this quilt for my niece. Clearly that didn't happen.  I've been waiting to hear back from my sister about a special request for the back of the quilt (it's going to be a quilt/duvet cover), so there is a good reason I didn't finish.  It just needs the duvet cover addition and the binding to be done.  And that will be finished this month.  Hooray!!!

The second quilt for my other niece actually did get started.  The paper blocks are all cut out, and all but fifteen (of eighty) have the appropriate lines drawn.  The gray strips are all cut out, and I've started cutting the white strips.  I'm going to count that as a success.  Double hooray!!!

The quilt for my son isn't quite finished, but I'm okay with that.  I really like to handstitch the binding on while watching TV with my husband (then it's a totally productive use of my time ;), but it's been busy around here.  Just a few nights to go, though, and then my little one will finally get his blankie.  He's excited.

So while none of my projects from April were finished, significant progress was made.  And I'm thrilled with that.

So what about May?  The list is going to look familiar.
#1 - Finish the first Central Park Urban Lattice quilt!  Really!
#2 - Continue to work on the second quilt - maybe finish all the blocks this month?  Or a quilt top if I'm feeling ridiculously productive (or my house stays ridiculously dirty)?
#3 - Finish Joshua's quilt.  He turns two in June, so I *have* to get it done before then.
#4 - Since #3 is sooo close, I'm going to throw in an extra one.  Our youth group at church is going on a pioneer trek this summer, and my husband and I are going as a ma and a pa.  We get to dress in somewhat-period-appropriate clothing while pushing handcarts and camping in the woods.  Yee haw.  Since ankle-length dresses are hard to find these days, I'm sewing my own skirts.  And since we're going at the end of June, it's time to get my sew on.  I'm a little scared - it's been since middle school that I've made clothes for anyone other than my daughter's doll.  I scored some of Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden Paisley in the turquoise and yellow half off at Fat Quarter Shop.  *Swoon*  It's going to be awesome.  And the best part is that when I get home from trek, I lop off the bottom portion of the skirt and end up with a cute summer skirt.  And my daughter gets a matching skirt with the lopped-off portion.  Hooray!

There's my list for May - it looks like it's time for me to go bond with my sewing machine!  Go visit Tracey to see the other Just Three folks and their accomplishments :)

Just Three update

So how is your Just Three for April goal going? I'm making headway on two out of three. Joshua's quilt is now quilted and just needs to be bound. He was sleeping with it in his crib until I stole it yesterday so that I could finish the binding. It's nice to know that project is already will loved, if still unfinished.

My other major project is the big Central Park Urban Lattice quilt. I'd made it through almost two-thirds of the quilting when I finally made it down to my LQS and purchased a walking foot for my machine. Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit I've been doing all my quilting with just a regular sewing foot. Anyway, I made the switch mid-quilt, and now I almost wish I hadn't. A walking foot is amazing! This is seriously a game-changer in the quilting department. My stitches are much more even, and the top isn't shifting or puckering. I love my walking foot. And the $25 price tag doesn't hurt either. The only downside is that now it makes me want to go back and revisit some of my earlier quilting. We'll see how motivated I feel.

I hope you're making progress on your goals too! Happy sewing!

A collaborative finish

So, if you've been over to Sew and Tell Friday at Amy's blog, you've already read about this quilt. We've been working together on a few projects of late, and the collaboration has been great. Read - we get to give people cute (in our opinion) quilts without having to do all the work. Hooray!
This was for a good mutual friend who's expecting Boy #3. I picked up the Riley Blake All Star fabric a long while ago, and it's been patiently waiting for the right projects. This was one of them. I had liked this quilt made by Cluck Cluck Sew awhile back, and Mama had pinned it as a favorite too. Great fabric + great pattern = a super cute quilt. I paired the All Star with Kona Snow.The back makes me happy too. I like a pieced backing, but it has to make sense in relation for the front. And this one does. At least to me.
So while I didn't completely finish this quilt, I did finish my part, so I'm counting it as a finish. I think I've seen some more growing bellies around town lately, so this may not be the end of Amy's and my baby-quilt-making days!
Go check out the other lovelies at Sew and Tell Friday and Finish it up Friday!

Just three

When I saw Tracey's Just Three for April challenge, I knew it was high time for me to get going. See, I've been working on commissioned quilts for my nieces. My sister first contacted me last May. But then we moved, three kids are time-consuming, and my old machine was begging to be thrown out the window. Seriously. That thing had a death wish.
Fast forward to October, and I get my mom's much-nicer machine while they're out of the country. One problem solved. After some initial I'm-so-nervous-about-paper-piecing jitters and dry runs that took about three months (along with painting our entire downstairs), I finally got moving in January. Oh, and did I mention these are twin-sized quilts and that there are two of them???
So, here's my Just Three -
#1 - Finish the first #!@& quilt. Like, quilted, bound, finished. Don't get me wrong - I think this quilt is sooo pretty. See? The problem is that it's just taking me forever. And it's taking me so long that I don't want to sew very much because I *have* to finish these before I can do anything else. So I need to finish.
#2 - Start the next #!@& quilt. I'll take any definition of start, including thinking about cutting fabric.
#3 - Finish this little guy's quilt. It was supposed to be a baby quilt, but he turns two in June. Oops. Do you see how excited he is about it? It's time.
So there are my goals for April. How about you? What are you working on these days?

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