Whale of a Tale baby quilt top

This past weekend I had an itch to make a quilt.  It's been entirely too long, and with two friends just having babies in the past month, it was good timing!  I wanted something simple that I could put together in one or two naptimes, so I took to pinterest for inspiration, and came across this quilt and knew it was just perfect.  I for one believe you can never have too much chevron or herringbone in  your life so  this quilt fit the bill.



I did a little stash shopping, and dug out this Ann Kelle whale print, one of my favorite kiddie prints.  I picked out a few other blues, greens and yellows that coordinated, and got to cutting!



A naptime and a half later this quilt top was born.  I just love it to pieces, and if I ever have a boy myself, I think this is the inspiration for his one day nursery.  So bright and bold, and FUN!





I'm hoping to get this basted and quilted this weekend, so it can be off to its new home for lots of baby snuggles!

First quilt top of 2015!

I'm proud to say my first quilt top of 2015 is completed!  And January isn't even over yet, I'm giving myself a big pat on the back here.  And more so, the actual quilt is even complete, I'm just waiting on some decent weather to get back outside and snap a few pictures!  We luckily missed the brunt of the blizzard of 2015, being in Pittsburgh, we got about 6 inches or so yesterday and that was it.  I know I'm probably crazy, but I sort of like getting those huge snowstorms!  Yes, call me nuts, but I'll never be sad about a free snow day :-)



There is absolutely nothing that I don't 1000% love about this quilt, its just so pretty and girly, and reminds me of warmer temps and summer.  I mean if its not going to snow enough to get me out of work, then I'd rather it be 80 degrees and summer.  #amiright???



This quilt is destined for a very good friend who just had her third baby, and after two boys, now has a baby girl to dress in pink and wear pretty dresses and headbands!  I wanted this quilt to be almost too sweet, as I'm sure little baby A will have PLENTY of Tonka trucks and Matchbox cars in her life, with those two older brothers of hers.



I cut into my Far Far Away bundle and fussy cut a few of my favorite prints, including the unicorns, Princess and the Pea prints as well as a few frogs and snails, and paired them with pretty oranges, yellows and pinks from my stash to put together this super sweet baby quilt.





I'm also playing around with my new camera lens Santa brought for Christmas, a 50 mm f/1.8 prime lens, I think I'm getting the hang of it, at least for stationary objects like quilts, but having a trickier time with moving subjects, like miss Nora who is on the go 100% of the time, usually climbing on something or other, so if anyone has any great tutorials they've come across or resources, I'd love to hear about it!



As soon as I have a good day to snap some pics, I'll be back with the finished quilt, and can finally get this quilt off to Miss A so it can be properly snuggled with all that baby goodness.  

Great Granny :: Quilt Top

Happy holidays!  Is it just me or is anyone else completely shocked by the fact that in 2 weeks Christmas will be over.  I of course love gifting handmade gifts, however my "to make" list seems to be growing daily, while the number of days until Christmas are dwindling.  I'm fairly confident I'll get it all done, starting with this quilt that will be given to a friend for Christmas.  I'm certain she will absolutely love it, so I'm pushing to get it finished.



I have had this quilt idea in my head ever since the first granny squares quilt I made back in 2012.  Nora uses the original granny almost daily, and I always think "I really want to make an adult sized version of this baby quilt," and that's saying something, as I really do not tend to repeat quilt patterns once I've made them the first time.  I'd much rather play with a new design, than something I've already done.  So to have this niggling voice egging me on to make another for the past 3 years  is really saying something.



There is absolutely nothing that I do not love about this quilt.  In fact it will take much self control not to hoard this one for me and actually gift it to said friend.  I cut into my half yard bundle of Modern Lace that I purchased from Dragonfly Fabrics  and I don't think that there could be a more perfect marriage than this pattern and this fabric.  Just the right amount of vintage traditional charm with just enough of a whimsy modern touch.  It's love.



I upsized the individual squares to 5.5" unfinished (5" finished) and assembled in the same fashion that I did here.  Lots and lots of chain piecing.  And I can happily say I only had to seam rip one row after I sewed it backwards!  Win.



The goal is to get this guy basted this weekend so I can get quilting during Monday's nap time, wish me luck that I'll have a finished quilt to show in the next week, and happy holiday sewing!

Woodwinked baby quilt top

I'm still on my baby sewing kick, and figured it was high time to get a quilt top put together!  This is for my husband's sister and her baby boy.  I was talking to SIL and asking about nursery colors/themes and she's not a super "theme-y" person, and told me they weren't planning on doing a whole lot with the nursery.  She wasn't giving me much to go on, so after much prodding for any details to give me some direction, she said she liked "woodland creatures."  I almost started laughing, as what were the chances that the previous week and had I just ordered a half yard bundle of Woodwinked from Cindy at Rose Room Quilts!  

I've had a triangle quilt on my quilty bucket list for some time now, and though this would be the perfect layout for these fabrics.  I ended up throwing in a few fudge dots from It's a Hoot and yellow pearl bracelets, and those were the perfect additions to help balance the colors.    

I didn't use any sort of special triangle ruler or template, and just used my long 6" x 24" quilting ruler that had a 60 degree marking on it to cut my triangles.  The cutting went incredibly quickly by stacking 4 or so prints on top of one another.  I cut my triangles to measure 5.5" high, so they finish at 5".  Just the perfect size to show off those adorable owls, mushrooms and leaf prints.



I love that this quilt definitely reads "boy" but there isn't one blue fabric in the mix!  I'm digging the cooler fall temperatures right now also, and these fabrics made me want a pumpkin spice latte, like now.



I'm thinking of backing this with some grey minky for a super soft and cuddly feel.  Basting in on the agenda for the weekend, and hopefully will have a finished quilt to show soon!

Mixed Tape Side B

Making quilt backs is usually my least favorite part of the quilting process.  I take that back.  It might sit just behind basting as my least favorite part.  I think its because once I have the top pieced, I just want to get quilting!  Quilting, particularly free motion quilting, is hands down my favorite favorite part of seeing a quilt through from fabric selection to stitching down that last inch of binding, and any step in between (I'm looking at you quilt-back making and basting) is just standing in my way.



This quilt back is different.  Possibly because I'm looking at is more of an alternate quilt front.  When I opened Pandora's box of quilt bee blocks I have stashed away to work on Side A, I knew I wanted to incorporate as many blocks as possible into one quilt.  Consider it an epic bee quilt of sorts.  When I planned this quilt, and found these 12 blocks, I instantly knew I wanted those to be the back.  And I wanted them to have a border of white, with a small color border, and then lots of white negative space.  And offset to the bottom left.  Yes this quilt back vision was quite specific.



Now that this quilt back is pieced I am itching to get this basted and get quilting!  Unfortunately it will probably have to sit for a little while, but hopefully soon it will see its turn at my machine!

Mixed Tape Side A quilt top

I cannot believe how long it has taken me to actually turn these blocks into a quilt top.  I received all of these blocks as part of the 4x5 modern quilt bee, from various hives, and I'm embarrassed to say that these blocks started rolling in in October of 2011 that's almost 3 years ago!  Yikes, well I suppose better late than never, but I'm really kicking myself that  I didn't do it sooner, because I am LOVING this quilt top!  The colors are just so calm and serene.



This quilt top came together completely on a whim.  I finally had the urge to sew something, and instead of pulling fabrics and starting something new, I just wanted to sew NOW.  Enter entire closet full of WIP projects in various stages of completeness.  I actually have about 6 bins of various bee blocks that are in need of sewing together, and these ones were speaking to me.  So I literally just threw them up on my design wall and started sewing the blocks together.



If I wanted to be picky, I probably should have spent a little time nit picking over the layout, making sure the more dense color blocks were interspersed better with the blocks with more negative space, but I sort of love the randomness and how all the blocks really play nice with one another regardless.



Nora totally gives this two thumbs up, or at least a quick wave hello while she's practicing her mad crawling skills.



I have grand plans to turn this eventual quilt into a mad quilt bee block extravaganza, so we'll see how that turns out.  I dug into another bee block bin and started throwing blocks up on my design wall to get sewing for a quilt back (hint hint, for Side B).  Nothing better than a reversible quilt, and one made from more than 30 quilty friends?  Just awesome.



Yes Nora, I agree that this quilt top rocks.  Girls got good taste at 9 months old, I tell you!

quilting guy style

I'm in the midst of tackling something that in my 4 years of quilting I've never attempted...no its not some super complicated technique or pattern...its quilting for a man.  In looking back, I feel like a bad wife or something, I've made a quilt for just about every female family member (and many friends) I can think of, yet never thought to make the hubby is own personal man quilt!  Rest assured I'm not breaking trend now, the "man quilt" I'm working on now is for my brother, hopefully the hubs won't be jealous.  

So in conversation one day, my brother happened to mention getting a new duvet cover for his bed.  After getting over the shock that my brother A. knew what a duvet even was and B. had not one, but now a second cover for it, I tuned back into the conversation of him commenting that it was very warm, and while nice in the winter, he was thinking he'd need something more lightweight for the summer months.

I am still slightly astounded that these thoughts even run through his head, because somewhere in my mind he will always be my little brother doing little brother things  like being annoying and immature, yet I am brought back to the present and reminded that he is now a 29 year old grown man with a good job, living on his own, and thinking about things like duvet covers.

Anyways, when he mentioned needing a lighter weight comforter option for summer, I immediately offered my quilting services and said I'd happily make a quilt for him.  Which I am more than happy to do, of course.  Usually after a day or two of racking my brain for quilt ideas, I quickly settle on a design and fabric selections...only this time I couldn't.  I knew my brother would likely spare my feelings and say he liked whatever I made, but I wanted something that he would be happy to display on his bed day after day, and not just feel obligated to use it because I made it for him.



I knew I wanted a simple, clean design and "manly" fabrics. That weren't hunter green and deep red that belonged in a hunting lodge.  Easier said than done.  I scoured all my favorite blogs and of course Pinterest too and just couldn't decide.  I happened upon Kati's Modern Meadow quilt she made for her bed way back when, and my mind started churning.  I checked out the tutorial she used by Oh Fransson!  And liked where it was headed.  I wanted something with more symmetry than the original, and started to play with the design in EQ7 until I was happy with what I saw.  



I really like the nice clean feel it has with lots of negative space and a very "non complicated" piecing style.  I had been racking my brain for fabric selections, and kept coming up with nothing.  I happened to stop in a new LQS on my way home from work one day, and stumbled upon Simply Style and Simply Color by V and Co. which had lots of navy, grey and deep lime prints, and thought "hey, this could work!" I started digging further and found the entire line of Pearl Bracelets and picked out the Navy, Verbena and Mustard-y yellow colors, and finished off my fabric pull with a random green comma print, and this quilt top was born!  I knew I wanted the grey Timeless Treasures sketch print as the main background fabric, which they didn't carry, so I ordered a whole bunch and got to cutting and piecing!  I have to say this was probably the easiest quilt top I've ever pieced, and the largest also, measuring 90" x 102"!



I tried out a new (to me) basting method, which I'm crossing all my crossables that it works out and I don't regret it when it comes time for quilting!  I'm hoping to get this big guy quilted soon, as the weather is finally getting nicer, and I want my brother to be able to use it!  I'll report back on how the basting method works out when the quilt is completed!

something quilty

Someone alert the media!  Something crazy has been going on in my sewing room, to the tune of finishing a quilt top!  I think my machine was in shock, as I'm sure it has been feeling neglected over the past few months, but it certainly felt great to get behind the wheel and stitch away.

I'm still learning how to fit everything into the day, it's certainly been an adjustment to find a balance between baby, home life, work life and finding time for recreational activities like sewing.  I had been used to having huge chunks of time to sit at the sewing machine and stitch to my hearts content, and that's just not the case anymore.  Instead its more like maybe 15 minutes here and there.  I find myself often avoiding working on a project knowing that I only have those couple of minutes, but I need to learn to take advantage of any time I can, and be okay with the fact that a quilt top may take 2 weeks to put together now instead of 2 days and thats ok.  Oh that pesky learning curve.



Anyways, during naptime yesterday I was able to stitch the last few seams and sneak outside for a hot second to snap some pictures, and good thing I did as we are in the midst of what seems like the gazillionth snow storm of the year!  Although I guess I shouldn't complain, as the eastern part of the state is getting 10 times what we have gotten today!



My mom asked if I could make a quilt for a work friend of hers expecting a little boy.  She gave me free reign on the design and only requested I use blues, greens and grey.  As those colors are huge chunk of my stash, it was fun digging out my favorite aqua, lime and grey prints for this baby quilt.  I really love how the lower volume grey/white prints sort of blend together with the lighter aqua and lime prints and let the bolder prints sort of pop off the background.



This plus layout as been on my "quilts to try" list for sometime now, and I'm happy to report I only needed to unpick one seam for sewing a row together backwards!  This pattern really is timeless, and would look great in any sort of color scheme, so I'll have to keep this in mind for future baby quilts.



If this craptastic weather keeps up and were kept inside, Nora does make a great sewing buddy while Bella makes a great "baby sitter," so perhaps we'll find some time to hole up downstairs and get this quilt finished!

 
of course Bella (the dog) is 100% supervised when near the baby, but she sure does love her "little sister"!

patchwork pretty:: a quilt top

I just can't seem to stop!  This little lady of ours is going to have more quilts than she knows what to do with when she's born, but you know what?  I'm really ok with that.  I have been eyeing my bundle of AMH voiles that I picked up from Westwood Acres and trying to decide on a quilt layout for some time now.  I knew I wanted something fairly simple to let the gorgeous prints be the focus, but nothing I came up with seemed to sit just right.




While perusing my blog list one day, inspiration struck as I read about Rita, of Red Pepper Quilts' postage stamp quilt!  I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do with these prints, just random enough to perfectly patchwork-y but not overly done so that the prints are really what stands out.  I followed Rita's tutorial, cutting my strips at 3" to end up with 2.5" finished patchwork squares.  This quilt came together quite quickly, and I even have enough strips left over to make a second quilt, with fabric to spare.  A very good friend of mine is also due in October, about a week before our little pumpkin is slated to make her arrival, and I think she will just love a quilt like this for her little lady too.



I am debating how to quilt this.  I am thinking something nice and simple, perhaps echoing the seam lines 1/4" on either side.  We will be headed to the beach soon for a family vacation and I'm toying with the idea of basting this and taking it with me to hand quilt with perle cotton thread.  I've done a little hand quilting here and  there, but nothing as large as an entire quilt, I'm afraid I'll get half way through and then abandon ship, and these fabrics are too pretty to end up in the WIP pile of abyss never to be seen again.

What do you think??  Try out a little hand quilting, or stick to what I know (and what I know I will finish)??

ziggity zag

I have had this quilt top in pieces on my design wall for what feels like eons, and it feels great to finally turn it into a quilt top, and not just any quilt top, but one for Baby Girl!  Aside from a few receiving blankets and burp clothes, and my granny square quilt I've had tucked away for this "hopefully sometime" baby, this is the first quilty sewing I've done for our little lady, and it just makes me smile thinking of all that baby girl cuteness playing on quilts that mama made for her :-)




As soon as we found out we were having a girl, I knew I wanted to make her a quilt using this Joel Dewberry Notting Hill fabric in the magenta color way.  All of those pinks and oranges just scream girly girl to me.  I went with a half square triangle layout using print on print HSTs and print paired with white HSTs for this fun zig zag quilt.  I love that the print zig zags are wider than the white, and these prints play so well together that they all sort of blend together into one when looking from afar.



I am thinking I want to back this in fleece, as I love how soft and cuddly my Scrappy Trip Along quilt is.   I may put this aside for a little while though, as the thought of doing anything with fleece while we are having temperatures in the 90s every day this week makes me cringe (and sweat) just a little, although perhaps I should get to basting while I can!

Ring Toss quilt top

This past weekend was the hubs weekend to work, and as I had zero going on in the way of plans for myself, that meant uninterrupted hours of sewing!  It was a gorgeous weekend, so I felt guilty spending all my time hunkered down in my sewing room stitching away, so I definitely took advantage and spent some quality time out in the sunshine as well.

It's been feeling a little monotonous lately, sewing away downstairs even when I'm working on something I'm excited about, so my new way to pass the time while stitching (especially when doing things like chain piecing) is to take advantage of our Netflix subscription!  I don't know why  I didn't think of this sooner, but it really helps to pass the time when doing repeated tasks, such as paper piecing those arc portions.  My latest guilty pleasure is Gossip Girl.  Nice and mindless which is perfect for passing the time!



Now back to this quilt.  I've decided to name it Ring Toss, for obvious reasons, and I'm super pleased with how its come together...except for one thing.  Take a good hard look, can you tell what is wrong?  I can even sing that Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things is not the same..."  Argh.  Have you spotted it yet?  Yep.  The lower right corner circle is pieced with a different color linen!

When I started working on this quilt, I knew I didn't have nearly enough background linen to finish an entire quilt, but I was a bajillion percent sure it was Essex Linen in Natural.  So I pieced the first block with what I had, and ordered more and waited for it to arrive.  When the postman came with my package, I didn't even think to double check the color against what I had.  I was that sure.  So I went about my merry way, and it wasn't until I pieced the entire quilt top that I spotted my error.  Now I would still swear to you that both of these linens are Essex Linen in Natural, however due to my lack of solids labeling, (and pregnancy brain) I certainly could have been mistaken, or perhaps a dye lot difference?  Can that happen with linen?  Anyways, I'm leaning towards the former, but its frustrating none the less.



On the bright side of my oversight, I've decided that I am going to put together a pattern for this quilt in multiple sizes, so I figure I will need to reconstruct a block anyways to take step by step photos.  At least the out of place block is on a corner, and should be relatively easy to seam rip and replace.

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw I spent a good bit of yesterday morning doing lots of quilty math and fabric calculations, as I have lofty goals to have this pattern ready for the Bloggers Quilt Festival, which begins next Friday and runs through the end of the month!  I realize this would be exceptionally speedy, but we'll see how quickly I can work.  I'm finally getting the hang of EQ7 which is tremendously helpful for template purposes, but I'm finding a few quirks in the software which are proving to be a little bit of a headache.  Once I get a feel for things, I'll be back with a full review.