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 :)