Gifts for a Baby Shower

The mister's cousin is having a baby next month. I pieced the top of the baby quilt for her baby back in November, but put it aside to work on other projects that I had to get done in time for Christmas. I pulled it out again to quilt it in January. Then, I finally put the binding on it last week so it would be ready for the shower on Saturday.



Megan's favorite color is green so I used the green on green dot from the Make Life line for the backing. The finished quilt measures about 36" by 45" so it should be a good size that can grow with the baby.



Megan's also a kindergarten teacher, so I thought it'd be fun to use some Dr. Seuss fabrics to make her a diaper and wipes case.



With more green fabric on the back and flap, of course.

WIP Wednesday #12

Hi all! Are you surprised to hear from me? I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything of substance on this blog. Truth is, I haven't made a ton of progress on many projects lately, just little bits here and there. But, I do want to show you what I've been working on, and since these are all in progress, I figured I'd link up to Lee's WIP Wednesday for the first time.


Ongoing projects

First off, I quilted the quilt for my cousin-in-law's soon to be little bundle of baby joy. (They opted to not find out the gender, but this Make Life fabric lends itself well to boys and girls.)



I started off by quilting horizontally and vertically through the one-inch sashing strips, then I quilted diagonally in both directions through each square. I didn't mark the quilt, so the lines don't perfectly intersect in some places, but that's just fine by me. I think the overall look is fun. I have some leftover Make Life binding from my Life Is What You Make It quilt, so I just have to make a bit more binding and then this quilt will be ready for that last step.



I also got my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt top pieced except for the outside border. I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of the entire thing, but I will soon (or at least after these blustery, bitter cold days are behind us).



The binding fabric I ordered finally came yesterday so I'll be able to work on finishing the quilt soon. I went with Kona sage (misleading name in my opinion as it looks more blue than green), and I love how it looks with the colors in the quilt, especially up against the Kona stone, which I used as the sashing. I just need to piece the outer border for the top and then piece the backing. I plan on using some of the Kona sage to sash the three extra kitchen windows for a bit of contrast on the back. It'll be nice to see how this one washes up when it's complete. I really like the weight of the FFA2 fabrics, which gives the entire quilt a heavier feel that I love.



New projects

The last project I want to show you is what I started for my partner in round 3 of the Urban Home Goods Swap. She mentioned liking Hope Valley as well as being happy about a new sewing machine cover. I've never made one before and thought it'd be a fun item to tackle. So, I called around to see if any local shops had some Hope Valley left, and it just so happened that one of them had some charms at 30% off, plus additional yardage. Score! I brought it home and went to work.

I used the Fat Cats Easy Dresden ruler on the charms and then pieced them like so. I had to offset the seams though so they would line up properly. Here's one end of the cover with a bit of hand-stitching inside the striped piece.



And here's the other in case my partner wants to turn it around. I'm thinking I'll make it reversible too so she can put the side facing her with the colors that match her mood - bright and cheery with the purples and oranges, or subdued and somber with the blues and grays. I have another little item that will go along with this cover, but I want to keep that part a secret.



To follow along with Lee's WIP Wednesday format, here are the rest of my stats.

Finished quilt tops (currently in limbo as I don't have plans to work on them anytime soon): 2

Patching Up Quilt Top

Jellyroll Sampler Quilt-Along Quilt Top

In progress with lower priority (for some reason): 3

Dresden plate pillow

HST Blush quilt

All Star 2 bed quilt

It's a little bit of a downer seeing how many projects I've started before finishing others. I usually like starting new projects while I have others in the works, but for some reason, it's really bothering me right now. I want to have a big burst of energy (oh, and time too) to knock out as many projects as I can. We'll see how this month pans out as it's the last one I have before returning to work at the office. =( Wish me luck.

My Favorite Little Quilt Swap

There's this swap on Flickr that I signed up for that's a bit different from traditional swaps. It's called My Favorite Little Quilt Swap. How it works is everyone who wants to participate makes a mini quilt and then emails photos of the quilt to the administrator. After all the quilts have been posted (deadline is December 3), we vote for our top 10 favorite quilts. The more votes your quilt gets, the more likely you are to get a quilt higher on your list of top ten. Make sense? Anyway, I wanted to participate in another swap and thought this would be a fun one to use some scraps. Not only did I want to use scraps, but I wanted to do minimal cutting. Here's what I came up with:


When I made my Life Is What You Make It quilt back in the spring, I had lots of little squares and strips left over. I used them to make 16 mini log cabins for the center. I added a border in Moda Bella Snow and then another larger patchwork border in some charms cut in half lengthwise. Easy peasy.


With my huge to-do list, I opted not to add a binding. I was tempted to stitch something on the back, but had to nix that idea since I didn't have much time to devote to this mini quilt. I did, however, add a couple tabs for hanging the quilt if the recipient is into that sort of thing.


For the quilting, I stitched diagonal lines through the corners of the log cabins. Then I did a decorative stitch in the white border and a different decorative topstitch around the edges.

Quilt stats:
Fabric: Make Life by Sweetwater; Moda Bella Solids in Snow; goldenrod fabric from Joann's
Size: approximately 16.5 inches square
Quilting: straight-line grid; decorative stitches
Top pieced: November 6, 2010
Backed, basted, and quilted: November 16, 2010

Another Baby Quilt

Megan, if you're reading this and don't want to see your baby shower present, please stop reading this.

Back when I made my first baby quilt, the mister's cousin wanted it. I told her I would make one for her when she had a baby. Well, she's pregnant with her first and we're having a shower for her on Thanksgiving. I pulled out the Make Life charm packs I had bought to make her quilt and decided that I wanted a different design that would allow for a bigger quilt. I asked if we could do a different design and she said sure. So, I went for a simple patchwork quilt with about one inch strips for the sashing. I'm hoping to get it basted tonight so I can start the quilting. Afterall, Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. Ack!


Thanks also to all of you who commented on my cathedral windows pillow. I wanted to reply to each of you, but time got away from me I hope you'll all know how much I really appreciate all the pillow-love sent my way.

Finally Finished: Life Is What You Make It

Sunday was a great day! I got so much sewing done. At my family quilt bee on Saturday (more on that when I get the pictures from my sister - I forgot my camera!), I didn't do a ton of sewing on my own projects as I was busy helping others or letting others use my machine. So on Sunday I wanted to make up some of that time. I finally finished my Life Is What You Make It quilt. And just in time for Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival, and I'll have something to contribute to Amylouwho's sew & tell this week too!








This quilt measures about 67 by 84 inches. I opted to use a wavy stitch in parallel lines about an inch and a half apart for the quilting. I really like how it turned out. I'm learning though that the "quilting" part of quilting is not my favorite because of how time-consuming and awkward it can be. I love the look of it and feel that the scrunchy look is what makes a quilt a quilt, so I guess I just need to keep practicing and hope that I improve my technique over time.


And here's the back.


I did the binding a little bit differently this time. I made it 2 1/4 inches wide instead of 2 1/2. I definitely liked the smaller binding, but it was a beast when I got to the corners. Two of them I had to stitch by hand because the bulk wouldn't fit under the foot. I also found it helpful to make the binding ahead of time - not at the beginning of the process, but after the quilting was done. In the past I've pieced the binding, pressed it, and added it to the quilt all in one night. But this time I made the binding the day before and then wound it up. Then, the next day, all I had to do was pull out the roll and get to work binding the quilt. I think I'll do it this way from now on.


I really love how this quilt turned out. I was starting to get sick of looking at this fabric for so long and on a few separate projects. But, now that this quilt is finished and put to use (first time snuggle on the couch with the mister last night while we watched the LOST series finale), I love it as much as I did when I first saw it. Thanks Missouri Quilt Co. for the quilt idea.

Quilt Story

I'm being featured today on Quilt Story. If you have a minute, head on over and check it out. Heather and Megan saw my Make Life baby quilt and thought it would be fun to hear the story behind it. After all, every quilt has some sort of story, right? They created Quilt Story and will feature a new quilt mostly every day.

The Process Pledge

Sometime last week while I was perusing the World Wide Web, I came upon R0ssie's blog and read about her Process Pledge. I decided this would be a great way for me to document my quilting processes.

Basically, the pledge deals with talking more about how you go about making your quilts (choosing fabrics, design inspiration, decisions made along the way, etc.) rather than just showing off a finished quilt and doing a little write-up about it. I especially wanted to do this so I can learn more about photography and get in lots of practice by taking pictures of each quilt-making step. The mister is an amazing photographer, so I make the excuse that I don't need to be. But, there's nothing attractive about a quilt when the picture of it was taken by a novice. The challenge for me lies in the time of day I do my sewing. With two kiddos underfoot, I don't quilt until they're in bed, which means less natural light. I'm still brainstorming how I can overcome this so I can capture more in-process shots, but I'll be sure to discuss all these challenges and the solutions I come up with along the way.

I've started two new quilts while finally finishing my Life Is What You Make It quilt. It's in the dryer as we speak. Over the next couple of days, I plan to talk about the finished quilt, our family quilting bee day, as well as some process posts about the two new quilts I'm starting.

And, here's just a cute picture for you. My little three-year old makes a great baby quilt model, don't you think?

Wrapped in Make Life baby quilt.

This week's sewing review

I had so much fun with the giveaway this week, but reading all those comments and entering in giveaways myself really took it out of me. And I've got some sort of cold to boot! Needless to say, I didn't get much sewing done this week.

I managed to make a nametag for our quilt guild meeting last night that I was actually rushing to get done Wednesday night. I needn't have stressed though because I was the only one who remembered the assignment for the month.


I used some Make Life scraps and opted to hand stitch my name. I'm not really pleased with the way it turned out and will probably redo it for next month. There wasn't enough contrast between the black thread and the blue fabric. I ended up writing my name on the back with a Sharpie just so my name would at least be visible somewhere.


The rest of my sewing time this week was used on verifying my instructions and diagrams for making a square in square block. My sisters, nieces, and a cousin are getting together tomorrow so I can teach them how to make a quilt. I thought it would be a piece of cake because I'm a technical writer by profession, but it was a little tricky to make sure I had all my measurements right and included every step (even the little things you don't think about when you're a step above beginner).

I'll make sure to post about our family quilting bee day. But for now, I'm off to get rid of these annoying highlights I got done a few months back. Wish me luck that my hair will return to its natural dark brown color...

Quilting finally done

I spent the evening last night finishing the quilting on my Life Is What You Make It quilt. I know what you're thinking, She isn't done with that quilt yet? Sheesh, she must be a slow poke! And you'd be right. I started this quilt a couple months ago. My quilting time is limited and although I had a few evenings I could have spent sewing/quilting this week, I just wasn't feeling in the mood. It's funny how I can go days without sewing while other times I feel like there aren't enough days in the week. I have to say though that I'm starting to get sick of looking at Make Life. I'm ready to start using new colors and patterns. I bought some more fabric to make another Make Life baby quilt for my cousin, but since it's a gift for her baby and she isn't pregnant yet, I can put that off for a little bit and come back to it after I've had a break.

I'm trying to decide if I want to turn all those strips into the binding (so as not to waste any fabric - I hate wasting pretty much anything), or if I should just give in and buy some more fabric that won't take as much time. The mister thinks I should just get over it and throw those strips away, but I'm not sure I can do it.

In other news, another cousin asked me to teach her how to make a quilt, so we're having a family quilting day. She picked out the design she wants and I wrote up the instructions and drew up the diagrams of the blocks. Our big quilting day is in a week and a half. I'll post the instructions and diagrams here after that.

Don't forget to tune in this Monday (May 17) for a chance to win some great prizes.

Oh, and thanks for voting for my ugly quilt. I took second place!

Sew & Tell: Make Life Baby Quilt Is Finished!!!

Holy smokes, a quilt started and finished in eight days! Granted, it was a very small quilt, but I am so impressed with myself for finishing something in a relatively short time frame. You have no idea. That never happens.

The binding for this baby was nearly the death of me. I must have just been missing my sewing mojo this week because I struggled with the binding and then with piecing block 5 in the jelly roll quilt-along.

Here are a few shots of the finished binding, pre-wash.


Those mitered corners are a little less than stellar.


After the quilt came out of the dryer. It's amazing how much washing really does hide so many of my free-motion mistakes.



Despite a request to gift this quilt (sorry Megan, but I will make you one just like it when you have a baby), I'll be keeping this for baby #3 (that's not an announcement...just thinking ahead). I like how it turned out way too much to part with it. Maybe once I have more finished quilts under my belt I'll be able to make quilts and then give them away. Someday...someday.


If you're interested in participating in Sew & Tell Fridays too, visit Amylouwho's blog and link up your projects with the rest of ours.

Oakley's rag quilt and Make Life baby quilt update

A friend of mine had her second baby yesterday, a little girl named Oakley Jo (isn't that cute?). I had some flannel left over from my daughter's rag quilt so I brought it out last night, cut it up, and made a rag quilt for Oakley.


I didn't have enough full size pieces so the back is made up of some rectangles instead of just squares.


Once I finished the rag quilt, I finished practicing free motion quilting on my Make Life baby quilt.


Although it looks a little scary in some places, I'm pleased with the overall result.



Especially because it's starting to have that scrunchy look that I love.


Tonight I plan to piece the binding, which will be the green dots and white paisley. Then I will finish quilting my Life Is What You Make It quilt and get to work on piecing the binding out of these babies...Yeah, I know. I'm a glutton for punishment, but I can't bear to waste any of this fabric.


I'm sure I won't get to it tonight, but another friend sent me this fabric from Portland to make her a bag, but not a Buttercup bag. She serves as the Relief Society President in her area and needs a BIG bag to carry all her Church stuff around. I'm excited to try my hand at a different style. Cross your fingers that it'll work out.