Finished Labyrinth Quilt

Next up is the Christmas quilt I made for my sister-in-law. We usually rotate through the adults in the mister's family so I knew well ahead of time that we'd have this particular couple for Christmas.

I asked my sister-in-law what colors she wanted and she requested brown and blue to match her bedroom. I had a fat quarter bundle of Riley Blake's So Sophie fabric that matched perfectly with what my SIL asked for. I added in a few more brown and blue prints and used the Labyrinth quilt pattern by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.



I quilted the centers of each block with a flower design that radiated out. In the negative space, I quilted meandering loops.

For the backing, I used up the rest of the So Sophie fabric I had along with a couple other larger brown and blue cuts of fabric.



The quilt measures about 70 inches square.

Finished Quilt for The Middle

Can I just start off by saying that I am so glad I finally finished this quilt?! I started this one two years ago. Normally, I'd say that's okay, but for this quilt it was way too long. A lot can happen in two years. The Middle has changed a lot; going from two to four (almost five) will do that. Thankfully, though, she still likes how her quilt turned out and I like that I could finally check it off my list.



When I first drafted this quilt design, I had just finished a baby quilt using Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape pattern for a friend. I had also just made Cherie's bee block using the Fat Cat dresden ruler. When I asked The Middle her opinion about her quilt, she said she wanted flowers. She chose this stack of Rainy Days and Mondays fabric that I'd had for a while and I thought the dresdens would make cute quasi flowers/umbrella tops. I love using graph paper to plan out new quilt ideas - it takes me back to my days of hand-drafting floor plans in my interior design classes - so when I merged these two ideas together, this is what I came up with.

The dresdens are machine appliqued onto Kona white. The sashing is a quilter's solid medium gray that I picked up from Joann's. The binding is the pink/red/green raindrop print from the Rainy Days and Mondays line, and the backing is just a solid pink flat sheet that I got from Target. I quilted the entire quilt in meandering loops. The quilt is a twin size, measuring 72" x 90" before washing.

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.

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".

Finished Oregon Beach Quilt

Back in June when I should have been working solely on my melon patch quilt (since the deadline was quickly approaching), I got distracted by all the pictures I was coming across of Lucy's Crab Shack on Flickr and Instagram.

This is what became of that distraction. I decided I needed a quilt to take with us to the beach.

Sometimes a quick and easy piecing job works wonders when you're sewing curves or involved in another more complex piecing project.

To make the quilt, I took a layer cake (42 10" squares), cut 3" squares of some Essex Linen in natural, cut the squares on the diagonal, and pieced them to opposite corners of each layer cake square. I wasn't precise at all, just eyeballing the placement of triangles. I also opted to limit them to the two opposite corners rather than all of them because I wanted an x-look rather than a snowball-look.

For the back, I used a blue plaid from the Play Ball line from Riley Blake. I think it goes well with the Lucy's Crab Shack fabrics and it was on sale (score!).

I used Patty Young's Running Stitch in Creamsicle and the plaid Play Ball print for the binding. I love her Running Stitch prints. They work so well as binding.

The quilt measures about 57x67 inches - the perfect size to warm up under while watching the fireworks at the beach! This was such a fun, quick finish. It reminded me that while I like taking the time to put a lot of work into a quilt, the quick and easy quilts can be satisfying too.

Zippered Clutch

My niece, L, has the misfortune (fortune?) of having a birthday the day after Christmas. At our Christmas Eve party, I brought some pillow covers that I wanted to get rid of so I drew names for the winners. L didn't win one, but her sister, A, did (who also has a December birthday). As I became an aunt when I was 5, I have a ton of nieces and nephews. Because of that, I rarely give gifts to each of them every year, but I wanted L to have something for her birthday since I had given something to A.

Enter the Perfect Zip Bags pattern...



L's favorite colors are red and black. Unfortunately, I don't often sew with red or black so I didn't have much fabric to choose from. Fortunately, my mom chose this Riley Blake Lost and Found fabric for her bed quilt, and I was able to use some of the scraps to make a simple clutch for L.



I pieced a bit of patchwork for one side and used batting for my interlining. Elizabeth mentions that the material used for the interlining will have a big impact on the bag's outcome. Since I used batting, the clutch has a softer, pliable feel to it. However, if I had used denim or some other stiff fabric, the clutch would have had a crisper feel to it.



L just started her second semester of college, so hopefully she can make good use out of this little clutch.



I'm looking forward to making some of the large bags in the pattern for organizing some of my kiddo's smaller toys. After seeing Heather's awesome first-aid bags, I had to add something like that to my list too.

AccuQuilt GO! Baby Tutorial: Halloween Table Topper

Hi, everyone. I hope for you Americans that your July 4th weekend is off to a good start, and that the rest of you are having a great weekend! My kids rode in a parade this morning, and then Monday will be full of another parade, a helicopter candy drop (my son's favorite), a BBQ, bounce houses and slides, and fireworks.

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As you can guess, I'm part of AccuQuilt's Blogger Program. I was graciously sent a new Accuquilt GO! Baby Fabric Cutter and three dies of my choice to try out. One of the dies I chose is the apple core.



I thought it would be a fun design to use on a little Halloween wall-hanging/table topper. If you're anything like me, you have good intentions of making stuff for the holidays, but then time gets away from you and you're rushing to finish. Since I won't have any sewing time for Halloween (or Christmas for that matter) with a new baby, I thought I better get a jump start on some of my plans.



So, here we go. To make the wall-hanging (that doubles as a table topper) above, you will need:

• 4 fat quarters of fabric of your choosing (you won't use the entire fat quarter, but 4 gives you a good variety of prints)
  
• 2 strips of border fabric, cut at 2.75/3 inches (width of fabric)
  
• PINS!
  
• batting
  
• backing fabric
  
• binding fabric
  
• AccuQuilt GO! Baby Fabric Cutter
  
• apple core die

Fold your fat quarter(s) to cover the die, getting close to all edges to eliminate waste. (I was able to cut through six layers of fabric without a problem. You only need to have four apple core pieces from each fat quarter.) Place the die foam side up, the fabric on top of the die, and the cutting mat on top of the fabric.

Enlist the help of little ones to see how easy it is to cut through the fabric.



On, my first cut through I didn't put the fabric as close to the edges of the apple core as I could have so I had a little more waste than I had planned. But it was still minimal and probably the same amount I'd get if I were cutting this shape out by hand. I've heard some people trace the die image with a Sharpie to help them see it better. I probably should have done that as I can see how it could help; although I didn't have a hard time seeing the outline of the shape at all.



Repeat the cutting process three more times so you end up with 16 apple cores.

Now it's time to pin! If you've sewn curves before, you may not need pins, but I still found them helpful. The apple core die has notches to help you see where to align the convex and concave parts of the apple core shape.



Insert a pin where those notches meet.



Next, line up one corner and pin.



Repeat with the other corner.

Your fabric will be gathered; it won't lie flat.

Now, just to be safe and ensure that your pieces don't shift as you sew them together, add pins between the left side and middle, and the middle and right side. (Tip: When sewing curves, it's always better to use more pins than you think you'll need.)

You're ready to sew! Piece your apple cores into rows. Then press them. I should have taken a picture of this part, but I didn't. For this shape, it's easiest if you press the convex parts of the apple core out and the concave parts in. Once your rows are pieced, sew them together to get a 4x4 layout.

Next, square up your block.

Add the border fabric to the top and bottom of the block, and then to the left and right sides. (Oops, I took a picture of the block sideways so my border is shown as being sewn to the sides first and then the top and bottom.)

Baste, quilt, and bind.

And put it on your table, or hang it on your wall.

I have to admit that when Carolyn contacted me to see if I would like to participate in AccuQuilt's Blogger Program, I was so excited! When the box arrived on my doorstep, I couldn't wait to check it out. Cutting is my least favorite part of quilting (and basting isn't much fun either), so any ways of easing that step is something worth looking into. I am looking forward to trying out the other dies I received, and I already have a list of other dies I'd like to buy!

If you're interested in some free patterns, click the image below to sign up for AccuQuilt's newsletter.

Stay tuned for a chance to win your own AccuQuilt GO! Baby and three dies. Have a great weekend everyone!

WIP Wednesday #33

So, I made a list yesterday of all the quilts I've started that are in various stages of [in]completion. After making the list and being really annoyed that I don't have all the time in the world to sew, I thought, Hey, at least I can blog about all of these and feel like I'm accomplishing something! So, I give you my works in progress.

Kona Challenge Quilt for SLCMQG

This is still on the DL since I have until August to finish this baby up. I have the top done except for an outer border and I'm really loving all the solids in the Brights pack we got.



Accuquilt GO! Baby Tutorial(s)

I've been working on a couple projects cut from my GO! Baby cutter that I'll be posting in July. The two items I chose to work on are both holiday related, so I hope that doesn't scare any of you off. If you stick around, it may be worth your while...say in a free fabric cutter and three dies of your choice!







Daughter's Twin Quilt

I haven't posted anything about this quilt yet. I started it a couple months back when we decided to get a bunk bed to move my kids into the same room so the baby can have its own nursery. I let my daughter pick the fabrics she wanted (Rainy Days and Mondays from Riley Blake). I combined an Oh Fransson design with Dresdens and I think it will look pretty spiffy in the end. Hopefully, I can put some time into finishing that by the end of July when we plan on moving the kids into the same room.

Sisters Quilts

I've also had two quilts in progress for two of my sisters for who knows how long. I'm making one out of HSTs (ugh!) in Blush by Moda and the other is based on this design from Film in the Fridge in a variety of grays and red and black. I really need to get on these because they have been waiting since last year!

Swirling Stars Quilt

I've had all twelve blocks for this quilt done for quite some time, but just haven't gotten around to piecing them together. Someday...

Sew Beautiful Bee Quilt

Here are seven of the ten blocks I received from the wonderful girls in my bee. I'm debating whether I want to make this into a 3x3 layout with one circle of geese block on the back, or if I should make two more blocks myself so it's a 3x4 layout.



Quilt Tops Needing Quilting

• Jellyroll sampler quilt top (from Momo's Odyssea line)
  
  
  
  
• Patching Up baby quilt top (from Momo's Freebird line) - I need to finish this before my baby comes.
  
  
  
  
• Orange and blue fish in bags quilt top (from Heather Ross' Goldfish in Bags fabric) - I've since added a border to this top so it really is ready to go.

Whoa.

I usually like having multiple projects to work on, but this list is out of control. Thanks to those of you who made it through that entire post. If you have any energy left, head on over to Lee's place and check out her WIP Wednesday linky to see what everyone else is working on.

Finished Monopoly Mixtape Quilt

I finished this Monopoly Mixtape quilt a couple days ago. I used Elizabeth Hartman's Mixtape Quilts II pattern (for purchase here). I initially planned on making the Favorite Songs layout for a 47x47 quilt. Since I decided to make the quilt at 9 at night, I opted to leave out the sashing and just sew the 6-inch blocks into rows and columns. That way, I had a finished quilt top by the time I went to bed. Omitting the sashing left me with a 36x36 quilt.



As this is for a new little baby-to-be, I wanted to try quilting with a flannel backing to make it softer. I thought it would be really shifty, but it was surprisingly the same as with a cotton backing.



I like how the quilting adds another type of texture to the flannel.



I still need to work on getting a consistent stitch length as I'm quilting. For some reason, I just want to move the quilt fast and I have a hard time slowing down.

To save time, I trimmed the backing to about an inch and a half and then turned the edge over and then over again to self-bind the quilt. I did this a few weeks ago on a quilt my brother-in-law asked me to bind for his wife for a surprise Christmas gift. The corners didn't turn out as well as I would have liked on that one and I wanted to see if I could figure out how to miter them properly. I think it worked well this time. It certainly helped that the flannel I used wasn't shifty.



I think the quilt came together nicely and I think my friend will like it. She's having a girl, and since it's her first, she's really excited for all things pink. I'm not a huge fan of "baby pink" so I thought I'd add a little brighter pink to her nursery.

The only unfortunate part of this quilt is that I finished it before making my practice dresden plate. I think that flower would have looked so cute sewn onto the back of the quilt.

I'm really starting to hate this winter light for taking photos.

The mister has complained year after year about how much he hates the winter months for photography. I didn't really understand what he meant until this year. In the early summer, he showed me how to use his Nikon and I think I got the hang of taking decent pictures outside so I could photograph my quilts and other projects. But now that the weather has changed and the light has gotten darker (the snow doesn't help either), I'm finding myself resorting to taking pictures inside with the flash. Plus, I've had a killer cold the last few days so my laziness has won out in the photography department. Anyway, that's why the following photos aren't that great.

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I'm in my first virtual quilting bee this year, the Sew Beautiful Bee. January is Cherie's month and she requested Dresden Plates. I hadn't made them before and opted to make a practice block to make sure I got everything right. I haven't decided what I'll be doing with this block. Kati had a great idea of keeping all the practice blocks for each month and then putting them together in a sampler quilt. I really like that idea, but I used leftovers from the baby quilt I finished yesterday so I'm not sure how well it will blend, color-wise, with the other practice blocks I make. I've toyed with the idea of turning this into a mini quilt for My Favorite Little Quilt Swap, which is currently in its second round. (The deadline is January 31.) Or, I can always turn it into a pillow or something to go along with the baby quilt. I dunno. We'll see.



Here's Cherie's finished block, using Soul Blossoms. I ended up using a blanket stitch to attach the flower to the background fabric and wish that I would have just used a straight stitch. I used a straight stitch on the circle and like how that looks better than the blanket stitch.



I've been anxious to finish my Far Far Away 2 Kitchen Windows quilt. I got all the pieces cut and the blocks laid out.



I decided to use Kona white for the window panes because I think it adds enough contrast to the muted color palate of the FFA2 fabrics. I really like how Ashley at Film in the Fridge used white to frame her FFA2 quilt and opted for the same contrast in mine. I also saw Lee's Lattice quilt today and I'm really thinking of scrapping the Kona ivory I was planning on using as the sashing and getting some Kona stone instead.





Two blocks down, 23 to go.