Blush Baby Quilt

I made this little baby quilt after my friend Shannon had her second baby, a girl. :) I finished it a few weeks ago, but just gave it to her this morning, so it's safe to post on my blog now. I took a Blush charm pack from Basic Grey by Moda and separated out the browns and reds and then purchased yardage for the borders and binding. I quilted it minimally because I was running into puckering issues, but washing it concealed all manner of sins. :) Thanks for looking and any comments!

Pink & Brown Baby Quilt

I started this quilt months ago, but just finished it yesterday morning because I got to meet the new little baby yesterday. :) Nothing like waiting until the last minute! I think it turned out pretty cute...the fabrics are adorable. The binding isn't perfect, as usual, but didn't give me too many fits. I just quilted 1/4" in either side of the seams and it came together pretty quickly once I got going. I had time to wash and dry it and the finished size after shrinkage was 30X39, so not too bad for a car seat or play mat quilt. There is low-loft Warm & Natural batting and it's a good weight for spring and summer. Thanks for looking and for any comments! :)

Baby Blanket

My friends had a baby boy on Monday and I made this pieced blanket yesterday since I was going to see them at a New Year's party last night. I took a charm pack and sewed together three giant nine patch blocks and then cut them in half top to bottom and side to side, which left me with 12 smaller blocks (this is called a disappearing nine patch). I then sewed all of them together in a strip, bordered it with blue swirly fabric, and backed it with a cozy baby blue flannel, which I sewed first right sides together until it was almost closed, then turned it "inside out" (which really made the right side of the flannel show and the right side of the blanket top show) and then stitched a 1/4" border all around the edges to close it up and finish it off. That way I got to avoid binding it, which is (for me) the worst part of doing a quilt. Best of both worlds! :)

Baby Quilt

I made this baby quilt for my friends who are having their first baby--I gave it to the mom-to-be at her shower yesterday, so now it's safe to post on my blog. They didn't find out the gender, so I made it gender-neutral. I think it turned out pretty cute! :)

Ava's Napper Quilt

Because I apparently like to have a TON of unfinished quilts lying around my house, I started and finished this quilt top on Saturday. Ava will use it for her "napper" when she goes to daycare after preschool one day a week. :) I adore the fabrics, which I purchased from a great website--Hawthorne Threads. If you click on the bottom picture, it will enlarge and you can see a closer view of the fabrics. :)

Getting there on Ava's Room!

Over the weekend, I bound, washed, and hung up the mini quilt that I made for Ava's room a couple of weeks ago...I LOVE it! :) Her room is so bright and cheerful...almost finished now...when I am finally done, I will post all of the pictures.

Mini Quilt Decoration

Okay, so yesterday I attached the 3" wide white borders to the edges of Ava's big quilt and then I started procrastinating, looking at the Flickr picture group "Fresh Modern Quilts." I did a search for "mini quilts" and THIS and THIS came up, so I decided to procrastinate further on the big quilt and whip up a mini to decorate Ava's room. :)

The little quilt on the clothesline came from scraps that I cut off of the edges of the big one in order to square it up...I just sewed four of those little scraps together into long rows, pressed it, and cut it to size. I cut the dress, heart, birds, and sun rays freehand and used my Sizzix for the sun's circle. The sun, heart, dress, and tiny quilt were all attached to the aqua dotted material BEFORE quilting...when the mini quilt is washed, the edges will curl and fray up a bit, as in THIS example. This technique is called "Raw Edge Applique."

I used Michael Miller's Ta Dot Aqua for the backgound, Jenean Morrison's California Dreamin' for the mini quilt and heart, Kona White for the birds, Legacy Fresh Fusion "Spring Plaid" for the dress, and Keepsake Calico "Gold QBQ11" fabric for the sun.

The quilting includes a straight stitch about a 1/2" in along all of the outer edges, the clothesline, and the birds (I decided I needed some quilting up in that right-hand corner, so I added the birds last--I think it adds a cute touch), so the back is kind of a mess, but you aren't going to see that anyway! LOL! :) Now, all I have to do is bind it and then I am finished!

Anyway, thanks so much for looking and for any comments..I am pretty pleased with it and am so grateful for the very talented people who created my inspiration pieces. :)

Quilt Top Mostly Complete

I just need to add white and/or aqua borders to round it out to twin-sized. :) Yay! We primed Ava's room today--it's going to be a light aqua color and I can't wait to see everything finished. I will post pictures, of course. :)

I Have Crafting ADD

I think it might be this way with a lot of crafty people, but I can't just focus on one craft project at a time. I currently have two sewing projects going on right now and three more waiting for me. I discovered the wonders of Charm Packs (basically pre-cut fabric squares from an entire designer line of fabric) and have purchased five charm packs since then. I have started the sewing on only two of the projects so far. This one pictured is going to be a throw quilt for Gracie. I also have the top sewn for a quilted bed runner for my mother-in-law in yellows and blues. I have another charm pack waiting for a throw quilt for Ava as well as 16 fat quarters that I need to cut for a twin-sized quilt for Ava's big girl room in really fun, bright colors. I even made a mock-up in Photoshop on how I am going to place the squares for her twin quilt.

Why can't I just finish one project before moving on to the next one? I have always been this way and I just can't explain it. Oh well, as long as they get finished eventually! :) Back to this throw quilt for Gracie, all I have to do is join the nine rows together and add some off-white borders and the quilt top is finished. I think I am going to practice free-motion quilting on this little throw. I LOVE the look of free-motion quilting (stippling, in particular) and I haven't attempted it yet, but it will be quite an accomplishment if I can pull it off. I have been watching a ton of tutorials on YouTube (WONDERFUL resource--I have learned 95% of my quilting skills from YouTube!) and it doesn't look as complicated as I always thought it was.

Anyway, better wrap this up. Thanks so much for looking and, as always, thank you for any comments! :)

Another Quilt

Little brown-eyed assistant not included in gift. LOL! ;)

My friends had their baby (the ones who I made the little fox under the tree frame for) last week and she now is in the NICU for a diaphragmatic hernia--due to have surgery to repair the defect this week. I went to Hobby Lobby over the weekend and got the fabric to make this quilt. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. This one is also full of mistakes (especially on the binding), but the seams for the blocks lined up way better for this one than my doll quilt experiment from two weekends ago. :) I really love the fabrics (all from the same line except for the binding, which came from Wal-Mart).

Please pray and/or send out positive thoughts for baby Eva this week and through the next couple of months that her hernia is fixed easily and that she has no troubles with feeding and reflux.

As usual, thanks so much for looking and for any comments! :)