A girl and her quilts

You probably think that The Middle is my favorite child because she's featured on my blog so much. While I do love her more than I can say, truth is, she's so enthusiastic about sewing that I want to continue to foster her love for it for as long as she'll let me - those teenage years will come all too quickly.

Several months ago, she asked if she could make a quilt for one of her babies. I pulled out a box of scraps and told her to look through them and pick what she wanted. She did such a great job coordinating her fabrics! We got her a little sewing machine for Christmas so we pulled it out and I showed her what to do. Then she pieced the entire doll quilt top by herself. Seriously, she's better at improv piecing than I am! (We'll have to spend a bit more time on consistent seam allowances though.)



She helped me quilt it and then I attached the binding.

Also some time earlier in the year, I did a demo on machine binding at one of our Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild meetings. I didn't have a quilt ready to bind at the time. I didn't want the binding to be for nothing so I put together a little doll sleeping bag/bed thing that The Middle can put a doll or two in at bedtime.

She picked the fabrics out for me.

I wish I could bottle up her energy and sweetness. We didn't make this blanket, but she takes it out of a quiet book my mom helped me make before I had any kids and she carries it around with some of her stuffed animals. She wanted a picture of her holding it like the others. Dang, she's cute!

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.

August/September Bee Blocks and Other Random Sewing

August was Megan's month in the Sew Beautiful Bee. She asked for Lone Starburst blocks. She sent a bunch of really bright fabric scraps and asked us to follow the tutorial found at the Six White Horses blog here. I loved, loved, loved making this block! I usually start to sweat a bit when asked to paper piece, but this one was very doable for me and I had a lot of fun with it. I'll definitely be making some of these for myself in the near future!

AnneMarie's turn was next for September. She asked for improv hexagon blocks inspired by Angela's block here. AnneMarie sent a bunch of Japanese import prints. It was fun to fussycut these fabrics for the hexagons.

While perusing Instagram, I saw Rae's maxi version of her Washi Dress and just about died. I stalked her blog for a couple days, anxiously awaiting the release of her pattern. I snagged one and quickly bought fabric to make a Washi Tunic and a Washi Maxi. Here's my "quick, honey, take a picture of my shirt with my phone" photo. I haven't tackled the maxi yet, but I am please with how the tunic version came together.

My older daughter is at the age where not only does she love to wear skirts and dresses, but she likes wearing things that I've made for her. I want to take advantage of that for as long as I can since I know all too soon she'll refuse to wear anything I make for her or even hint at thinking is cool, because of course anything Mom thinks is cool will be the complete opposite. Several Saturdays ago, she wanted to wear a skirt (of course), and I sadly, but not surprisingly, was behind on laundry. I pulled out some Heather Ross Crafy Chloe Pin People fabric and made a quick 10-minute skirt. My daughter's friend wanted to play, and when she got to our house, she saw me making the skirt for my daughter. She asked if I'd make her one too. I tried to hide my huge goofy grin, said, "Sure," and asked her what her favorite color is (pink). I finished my daughter's skirt, she got dressed, and the two girls went out to play. I then ran upstairs, found some pink fabric, and whipped together another 10-minute skirt for the friend. (I noticed she was wearing it yesterday when she came over to play...my heart sang!)

I mentioned earlier that paper piecing makes me nervous. But, I've really come to love English paper piecing (EPP). I've been accumulating supplies over the last couple months and decided it was about time I make a zippered pouch to store my paper pieces in. For this pouch, I cut two 10x10 inch squares from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Shining typewriter fabric and two 10x10 inch squares from Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley Lodge Lattice in Azure fabric, and used a 10 inch zipper. I boxed the bottom of the pouch, making the finished bag about 8 inches wide by 9 inches tall. It's the perfect size (for now), and it's great to have all my EPP supplies in one place.

Well, thanks for making it through that hodgepodge of a post. I have a couple more finished quilts to show over the next little bit. Have a good weekend, everyone!

September 11, the day after

So I meant to post this yesterday because it would have made better sense, but I was distracted by a sick baby.

September 11 is kind of a bummer day here in the states because of the World Trade Center attack. It's also the day I had my miscarriage a couple years ago. To top it all off, my bestie cousin started chemo yesterday for ovarian cancer. She had to have a complete hysterectomy and has not yet had the opportunity to have kids. She's only 32.

I found out she was scheduled for chemo a couple weeks ago. My mom is a breast cancer survivor (20 years now - go Mom!) and I remember her talking about how cold she'd get during her chemo treatments. So, I thought my cousin could use a quilt. Not only to keep her warm, but maybe lift her spirits and remind her that she has a lot of people thinking about her and cheering her on. To remind her to have

I pulled together a bunch of fabrics and cut 12.5" squares. Simple, big patchwork. I used fabrics from Lizzy House, Riley Blake, Tula Pink, Laurie Wisbrun, Momo, American Jane, Heather Bailey, Doohikey Designs, Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, Emily Herrick, and others.

For the back, I paper pieced "hope" using the wonky alphabet pattern from Kelbysews and added a DS Quilts print from one of her Joann's lines, a Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets print, and a Joel Dewberry print from Modern Meadow.

I quilted it in meandering double loops and bound it in a plaid from Play Ball from Riley Blake.

The quilt measures about 60"x60".

A few random sewing projects, part 2

Tuesday was my anniversary. The mister had to work late, so I thought I'd start a new EPP (English paper piecing) project just for me. I pulled out Katy's Spring Carnival printout and templates and set to work. I'm using some Joel Dewberry Modern Meadow fabric that I've been saving for a while to make a pillow or two for my new couch. Since taking this pic, I've changed my mind on the brown print. I'll be using white for those triangle sections.

Katy's teaching a class on this design at The Sewing Summit in the fall. I'm crossing my fingers that I can take it while I'm there.



I have also been brainstorming some ideas for baby quilts. Two of my sisters-in-law are having babies in the next couple months. One of my good friends is in the hospital right now on bed rest and as a precaution due to placenta previa. I'm thinking I'll make a giant granny squares quilt for her soon-to-be-born little girl using some charms from Kate Spain's Central Park line.



I bought a couple more quilting books as well. I really enjoyed flipping through these books. I've been a fan of Jacquie Gehring since I started quilting and I love how she and Katie Pedersen teach the techniques behind the quilts they show in the book, rather than just the pattern for the design. I think this approach is generally more helpful when you're trying to develop skills and a greater understanding of quilt construction.



I'm a new fan of Angela Walters. I've never loved the quilting part of making quilts, but I think Angela has done such a great job of illustrating how to go about expanding your quilting skills. I'm excited to try more techniques from her book.



And here's a little sneak peek of the quilt I finished last week. I was inspired by Angela's book and tried out a few new quilting designs. They certainly aren't perfect, especially when my nose was an inch away from the quilt, as Angela puts it. But, when you stand back and look at the overall quilt, you can see how I actually put some thought into the quilting.



I'll share more of this quilt next time. I'm off to celebrate my anniversary with the mister. Have a good weekend!

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!