Breeding Like Rabbits: Two Finished Baby Quilts

It seems like everyone I know is pregnant right now. Or just had a baby. It also feels like I've made more baby quilts this year than in the two previous years that I've been quilting.

First up is a quilt for my friend and neighbor, Amy. She is due to have a little girl in a week and a half. Some people who are expecting girls are in one of two campgrounds: "I love pink" or "I hate pink." She's in the "I love pink" camp (hot pink to be exact). I just so happened to have the perfect girly hot pink fabric waiting to be made into a simple patchwork baby quilt.



I received a fat quarter bundle of Joel Dewberry's Heirloom in the Sapphire colorway for Christmas last year. I love the colors, but tend to shy away from making overly girly quilts for myself/my home because I want all the quilts I make to be equally loved by my family. Since there are two boys in the house, I wasn't sure a quilt with this fabric would be loved as much. So, I was really happy to cut some of it up for this quilt. And, I still have plenty of fabric left over for some more girly projects, maybe a couple patchwork skirts for my girls.

As luck would have it, I happened to have a hot pink bed sheet on hand, which I used for the backing. (I know I'm lazy when it comes to making backings, but that's something I'm going to try to work on in 2013.) I used the sheet for the binding too, but added a few small pops of Heirloom. I straight-line quilted on both sides of each seam. It measures about 36 inches square.



Next up is a baby quilt for another friend who's having a boy mid-December. I made a quilt for her daughter when she was born as well. This time I used a couple charm packs of Riley Blake's Super Star. I forget sometimes that the amount of fabric in precuts varies by manufacturer, so I added a border to make this quilt a bit bigger. It measures about 34x39 inches.



I used this dusty blue solid (Kona, but I'm not sure what color) for the backing and binding, adding a few more pops of Super Star for fun. The quilting is organic straight-lines on both sides of each seam.



For those of you in the states, I hope you have a safe Thanksgiving weekend! I'm trying to decide if I want to brave the crowds and pick up some Pellon batting (major sale) at Joann's today.

Tracking Fabric, February Bee Block, and a Giveaway!

***Giveaway closed.***

I decided to start tracking my fabric this year, so as of December 26 (the start of my fiscal fabric year), I've been keeping a spreadsheet of all the fabric that comes in and out. It's only February 7, and I've already stashed over 17 yards of fabric! I've used 7 yards and will have a lot more once I finish a couple quilt tops that are pretty much done. I just can't believe that my fabric purchases over the last month and a half have added up to 17 yards!



It's been a good exercise for me to start seeing how much fabric I'm buying, the money I'm spending on that fabric as well as on shipping, and seeing how productive I'm being by pushing fabric out. You can tell I'm a dork because I get excited to update my spreadsheet whenever a new package arrives.

Until today, the only thing I've been able to do with fabric for the last week or two has been tracking it with some occasional petting here and there. I started my new work schedule, which allows me to be home by 12:30 three days a week. After a few chores (I gotta earn my play time, right?), I made this block for Emily.



Emily wanted us to make these offset square/rectangle blocks using Joel Dewberry's Heirloom line. She gave us free reign to put anything we want inside the framed rectangle. I opted for rectangular string blocks. I used Kona Sage for the X and border and I really love how this block turned out.

Now for the giveaway. I've changed my plans for my Figgy Pudding Christmas quilt and want to give one of you the Swoon pattern I bought.



If you'd like to win this pattern, simply leave a comment. The giveaway will be open until Saturday afternoon/evening MST, February 11 and then I'll draw the winner. Good luck!

Voile Infinity Scarf

My best friend is a big scarf wearer. I wanted to try this infinity scarf pattern to make her a scarf for Christmas. I got a half yard each of Oval in Fuchsia and Tile Flourish in Garnet voile from the Heirloom line by Joel Dewberry and made two scarves, one for me and one to send to my friend. They were so easy to put together. In fact, I got one of them sewn on Monday morning before my girls woke up!