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! :)

My Beautiful Halloween Butterflies

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. :)

Halloween Album

I started this Halloween mini album (8x8) last time I went to the Scrapbooking B&B (last year) and finished the last two pages this past time I went. :) I have decided to just pick one picture of my kids on Halloween and make a costume-themed scrapbook page and just stick it in this album, rather than creating a Halloween LO each year in their regular scrapbooks. :) I like this method and it's working for me. If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge to show some of the detail. The last two are my favorites. I have decided that I am going to pick the best picture of the kid from now on rather than trying to get a full-length shot like I did for the first couple pages in the album--makes for much better scrapbook pages! LOL! :) Thanks for looking and for any comments!