Baby Isla's Quilt

With the exception of the batting, I made this quilt from scraps in my stash. The log cabin squares are made with Kaffe Fassett and Alexander Henry fabrics and the back is a natural muslin. I wanted the squares to be big to use up as much of my fabric as possible and to be easier to put together. The large white squares in the center of the log cabin blocks give it a fresh modern twist. I had the perfect name for this quilt and then forgot it! So as of now, I am calling it "Cotton Candy Squares".


I quilted it in a large meandering pattern and bound it with my leftover blue dot fabric. This quilt measures about 42" x 42" square.


My machine seemed a little off when I was stippling - I had a harder than usual time making equal stitch lengths when using the free motion but overall it turned out very well without any unexpected puckering in the back or unusual stitches.


This quilt is going to be sent to England for baby Isla (pronounced "eye-lah") to enjoy as soon as I wash it. Isla was born this week! I hope she likes it.


I'm also sending her a set of four double-sided flannel bibs since they've been indispensable for William.

Good 'Ol Summertime Mini Quilt Swap

This is the mini quilt I made for my swap partner (who is still a secret). It's a Dresden plate pattern that I made in yellows for a sunflower. I downloaded the template for Dresden plates from Eleanor Burns' website, Quilt-in-a-day, for free. (Thank you Eleanor!)

It measures about 20" by 20". The center of the sunflower has circular quilting in dark brown thread to look like sunflower seeds and there's some decorative stitching on the petals. The rest of the quilt (the green background with mini sunflowers) is stippled in a meandering pattern. AND I used only scraps from my stash since I'm still on a fabric diet. I need to sign the quilt and put a fabric sleeve on the back then it's ready to ship to Canada.

I hope my swap partner likes this one. From her website I learned that she does appreciate the vintage patterns but this turned out to be not as traditional looking as I had planned it to be.

Organizing my fabric stash

We've completed another part of our house so I've finally been able to unpack some more boxes from my old craft room. I have to say that I have so much fabric I should be ashamed of myself! I definitely need to use it up before buying anything new. Making scrappy charity quilts helps. I have two WIP charity quilts that I'll need to finish this month and a baby quilt that's nearly done. I'd like to find another local charity that I could donate a quilt to for the holidays or perhaps donate to our library to auction off at a fundraiser. Our little library desperately needs the funds to be able to move to the old train station they are renovating, which is much larger than the basement below the bank they currently inhabit. I like thinking that my work is going directly to someone in my community.

I'm also restricting myself for fabric choices for the "In the Good Ol’ Summertime Mini Quilt Swap" I joined to use only scraps. I know I want to make a simple sunflower using the old-fashioned Dresden-plate pattern, so it's a good thing that the quilter I will be making it for enjoys vintage and traditional quilt styles.

Drooly monster bibs

Every baby goes through a drooly monster stage when their teeth are coming in and my poor William is among the drooliest of all. I'm tired of changing his onesies four times a day to keep the drool off his skin so I started using ultra-absorbent double-sided flannel bibs. They work very well but he's going through two a day, which is far better than having to change his shirts. Still, I keep running out. Today while he napped I made him a pair of choo-choo train bibs. They are sized just right for him and the flannel really does absorb more than plain cotton without soaking his shirt beneath.


I top stitched them and used velcro closure in the back. Two isn't enough though. I'll have to make at least four more to keep up with the rate of his drool flow!


And look who woke up from his nap just in time to model a new bib...

"Surf's Up" quilt

I'm calling this quilt "Surf's Up" because the turquoise reminds me of tropical ocean waters that are so clear you can see exactly where the continental shelf drops off, the white is for the finely powdered sand, and the loud red floral fabric is for the Hawaiian shirts and surf boards that most likely match the tourists' sunburns. I started this quilt one night after a stressful day with the kids as a way to unwind and relax before bedtime. Instead of finishing one of my WIP, I just wanted to sew, sew, sew those quarter inch seams without thinking about much else. It worked like a charm!

I had no plan in mind when I began this quilt...I simply grabbed a handful of turquoise squares I had cut months ago and paired them with some white 4" squares I also had cut ages ago and started sewing. When the quilt top wasn't large enough to be useful after I ran out of turquoise, I started in on the red, which I had left over from the "Lemonade Stand" quilt top I just finished (it's not yet quilted).

The quilt is crib size so I'm adding it to my collection of quilts available for the babies my friends are expecting this year. I like to have quilts on hand that friends can choose from because I'd rather they pick something they like and will use than something I made for them that they don't like or will never use. It doesn't hurt my feelings if someone doesn't like something I make (I don't like some of what I make!) but it does if someone doesn't tell me the truth.



The batting is pieced and the backing is pieced. This quilt used up all of my turquoise, all of my white, all of my white thread, and all of my red floral fabric as well. Ahh, it feels great to run out of something!



From a flat non-textured quilt top...



To a lovely crinkled textured quilt. I LOVE that step!



I quilted it with bright turquoise thread, which was fun. I like using colored thread since I have too much of it. I intended to make a wave pattern but I ended up having another stressful day and just wanted to "quilt" so the pattern is the more familiar meandering. I'm not sure about my color choices, but I think I like it...somehow they do seem to go in a "surf's up" kind of way.

Sneak peak

Here's a sneak peak at my current project:



I'm halfway through quilting it, my favorite part, so I should have the completed work to show soon!

Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap - Quilt Received

Look at the beautiful work that arrived in the mail for me today for the Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap!



Mini-quilt by Barbara Moore.

I love the traditional quilter's fabrics and the hand appliqued design. This quilt is a nice mix of traditional and whimsical. The sweet blue bird (state bird of New York) is great and I really like the unique shape of the flowers too. Also, I've never seen a quilter sign on the fabric sleeve before but I think this is a great idea that I'll plan to do on my next mini-quilt swap (and as soon as I find my fabric pens). Thank you Barbara! I love it.

Quilting works in progress

I'm so discouraged with my nine-patch quilt that I've been dying to complete it. It is going to charity and the purpose was to use up my fabric scraps before I bought anymore and to make a bright quilt for a good cause. I suppose I've met those goals but I don't like the quilt top very much.



I will probably piece the backing as well to use up more scraps.

In the meantime, I decided I wanted to work on something quick and easy. I'm using some Alexander Henry lemon fabric and a variety of others, mainly from JoAnns in this coin quilt. It's crib size. I'm calling it "Lemonade Stand".



Of course, my clever daughter saw my favorite fabric in it and said,

"It looks more like your lemon poppy seed bread; maybe you should call it "Lemon Poppy Seed" instead."

Maybe I will...

Brown paper packages tied up with string

Today William received a cute crew neck sweater from my friend Jess. It's hand knit in Rowan's all seasons cotton. I love the slate grey and can't wait for the next chilly day to see William in it. I've always been a shoe and sweater girl! If you're on Ravelry, you can look up Jess's other amazing knits under her name "midwifejess".

Jess also remembered big sister who received a beautiful sundress. She was very happy to model it right away. Jess also sent some tea biscuits cleverly shaped like the letter "T" so of course we had to have a tea party in Savannah's new sundress. Jess is also expecting a baby this year so I am adding a baby quilt to my list of projects.

I also received two interesting fabrics from Elizabeth in Holland who sent them as a surprise thank you for the baby fabric squares I sent her last month. She's making a surprise baby quilt for her sister's baby with fabrics from all over the world. Can't wait to see it!

Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap

Today I finished my mini quilt for the Spring Blooms swap. I changed my mind about a dozen times when it came to what I was going to make. Partly, I was anxious about having received a professional quilter to create for when my skills are more novice or intermediate level in the quilting department and partly, I was just occupied with other things; work, books, garden, recovering, baby...

In the end I decided to just play around and see what comes of it. I made a quilt that is totally "me", playful and imperfect with Kaffe Fassett and Martha Negley fabrics that I love and to me scream "spring". I quilted it with a meandering stipple.

I did use one new technique - I've never made yoyos before and I made two this time for the funky flower and its center. I also don't use applique very often so I hope it turned out well enough.


My favorite part is the tree. I love trees. This one is fun because the fabric I used had an enormous lettuce or cabbage print on it, so I fussy cut it out to serve as the foliage. There's a hole in the tree waiting for new tenants.



Maybe this bird lives there.



Tomorrow I package up and send out my mini-creation. I'll update this post on Friday with a link to my quilting partner's website so you can see her amazing quilt artwork. Until then, it's still a secret!