New goodies

I have some goodies (meaning new fabric purchases) to report!  I also just took 3 quilts in to be quilted, so I'll be blogging about those soon too!

I got a half yard of each of the fabrics in the new Riley Blake collection "So Sophie" designed by Jen Allyson and Deena Rutter for My Mind's Eye.

What a lovely little stack!  Here's a link to all the swatches - I only got the pink and blue sets.  They are adorable and I'm excited about using them (of course, just adding this to the list of projects I have in mind!)  My favorite is the polka dots - so cute!

I also found some fabric to match my camper fabric (yay!).  A while back I found this cute camper fabric at a local quilt store and thought it was perfect for my family.  We have a camper and love going as much as we can between Spring and Fall.  So, I thought this would be cute to make a camping quilt with. It is from the collection "On the Road" for Robert Kaufman designed by Ronnie Walter.  Isn't it cute?

I found the "Fresh Meadows" collection designed for Exclusively Quilters on Fabric.com (which has great deals on fabric by the way).  I ordered the 2 leaf prints and the one with the brown background at the top of the photo below.  I've combined it with a yellow, green, and orange from my own stash and think the group looks great!!!

Now I just have to decide on a pattern for the 2!

It's a girl thing....

One of my favorite quilts to date is finally finished!!!  It took far too long - I started back in February or March of this year.  It wasn't hard to make - just took me forever to get it finished.  At least I got it done before the 1-year mark...phew!  I had a goal to finish a quilt top every 2 weeks at the beginning of the year.  I think this was the 4th quilt of the year - so, obviously I am not doing well at all in making my goal!

It's a hexagon quilt made from Girly Girl by Pat Bravo's Art Gallery.  I really like her fabric and have purchased a lot more since this!

I found this hexagon quilt along at Jaybird Quilts while I was on maternity leave with my youngest.  He was a colicky baby and was only content when I was holding him.  So, her blog was one of the first that I came across and it actually gave me the inspiration to start my own here (along with a few others: Cluck Cluck Sew, Simplify, p.s. i quilt, etc.)  It was a good way to pass the time - I spent hours browsing Flickr, reading blogs, and catching up on this "blogland" that I never knew existed before - all while sitting on the couch with my new little guy just praying that he wouldn't cry! :)  So, I've had this quilt in my head for over a year now!  It is amazing how many good tutorials there are out there.  I've got a list a mile long now, which continues to grow all the time.

I used Aqua Garden for the outside border and backing, and I used Berry Whispers for the binding.  I think that the bright pink frames the quilt well.  I purchased the fabric from I Love Sewing, a cute new quilting store in Fremont, Nebraska.

These photos didn't turn out all that well because it got too dark on me - I'll have to get some better ones sometime.  My husband helped hold the quilt for me in the backyard - and, as you can see from the little feet in the bottom - he had a little helper from my son too!  He has to be in on the action at all times.

I have it quilted at my local quilt store in a swirling design.  After I washed it, it crinkled up and became perfectly cuddly.  

I used 1 jelly roll to make this quilt + inner border, outer border, binding, and backing.  I followed Jaybird Quilt's Hexagon Quilt Along for the most part.  I sewed 2 jelly roll strips together and used the Creative Grids 60 Degree Double Strip Ruler to cut triangles all the way down the strip.  I was able to cut 12 triangles from each strip.  I used 6 of these triangles to make each hexagon - and some half hexagons on the sides. The top was sewn together in diagonal strips, and I used leftover pieces to fill in the gaps on the bottom and top.

It is approximately 48" by 66" finished size, including the narrow inner border and outer border, and after washing.

I'll have to set a new goal for next year - perhaps I can stay on-track....we'll see!  Here's to more time in 2012!  I'm already planning my projects......

French Roses WIP

Wow!  It has been a really long time since I have posted anything.  My regular job has been incredibly busy, so I haven't had much personal time.  This is what I have been working on though....

I saw a quilt made with this pattern at my local quilt store several years ago.  I bought several (way too many!) fat quarters at that time of Charms designed by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex.

I am using a pattern called French Roses by Heather French.  (I still found one for sale here and made by someone else here.)  It is a raw-edge applique method - so will look much better after washing!

I cut out shapes using templates provided in the pattern.  This is my first time not using a rotary cutter to cut everything out, but it didn't take as much time as I thought.  Just did it while watching TV for a few nights.

They take quite a while to sew together though.  And, I've been having a hard time finding enough time to get sewing done with the little kids. :(  Here's a close up on one:

I have 21 blocks down, and 21 more to go!!  I have modified the size a bit....I'll be making it 6 x 7 blocks instead to make it more of a twin size quilt.  I'm also using a variegated thread, which you can kind of see in photo above.  It matches the colors of the fabric perfectly and I really like it so far.  Also, because I have so many left over fat quarters of this fabric, I think I will sew together the fat quarters in a simple patchwork for the backing.  Hoping to get it done soon!!!

My Whirlygiggle Gift

I made this quilt for a good friend's new baby boy - another baby quilt! :)  I love this pattern and was excited to make something for someone using it...

I used the Whirlygiggle tutorial from Crazy Mom Quilts, except I didn't follow it completely.  I used a charm pack, so I ended up with smaller blocks.  And, I didn't create a template.  I just cut the charm square from 2" from the top on one side, to the other side at 2" from the bottom.  I had a lot of squaring up at the end, but it worked easily.

I bought some charm packs for Love U by Deb Strain from Moda a while back when I found out I was having a new baby boy.  Because each of the charm packs had both the boy blue and green fabric and girl pink fabric included, I picked out the "boyish" squares from 2 different charm packs.  I needed 2 identical squares to form each pinwheel block.

 

I was originally planning to do a solid white border to make the green inner border pop, but I didn't like it at all.  Just ended up looking blah - nothing exciting.  Here is a photo of that idea...(but, so glad I changed my mind!)

Instead, I decided to do a scrappy border with the leftovers.  It added so much more color and fun to the quilt.  Here's a close-up...

I love the owls and snails....very cute for a little one!  I used a flannel polka dot from the same collection for the backing to make it more cuddly.  I quilted it myself using a "kind of zig-zag" pattern, which you can see a little bit here.

It was so hard to give away...pretty selfish huh?  I really liked the way it turned out, but I know it will be very well loved, which is what I want.  

I used basting spray for the first time on this quilt too.  It made the process so much quicker - and, I avoided those annoying safety pins by doing it that way.  However, it was very sticky, and kind of frustrating because everything kept sticking to each other.  There is probably a better method of doing it that I haven't figured out yet though! :)

Circles

Another baby quilt for my son.....

I found some similar quilts on various blogs and Flickr, and decided to make one for my son.  I loved the circles, and found this Drunkards Path Block Tutorial by the Sometimes Crafter.  I also got inspiration from this Raw Edge Circle Quilt Tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew, although I decided against the raw edges (even though I think they are really cute too).

 The finished quilt measures approximately 40" by 50."  I squared each smaller block up to 5.5" when making the quilt - which means that each bigger circle square was 10" finished.

I used red, blue, and brown fabric from the All Star collection by My Mind's Eye from Riley Blake Designs, which I actually won from a local quilt store.  I also used additional pieces that I had on hand.  The brown polka dot backing is flannel, and the top is cotton.  After washing, it shrunk up quite a bit because of the flannel on the back.

These photos were taken in my parents backyard.  The weather is starting to get beautiful - can't wait for Spring!!!  He is enjoying being outside as well - as you can see! :)

Baby Animals

I bought the fabric for this quilt when I found out that I was having another baby boy.  I loved it when I saw it and decided it would make a cute baby blanket for him.  It is so hard finding cute little boy fabric - of course there is tons and tons of beautiful fabric for little girls.  I loved the animals....so cute!

I didn't finish it until he was already three months old (imagine that!), but he has been loving it since!  The pattern was inspired from the Urban Baby quilt pattern by Valori Wells.  I modified it because I didn't want to piece the backing fabric.

The finished quilt size was approximately 40" x 40", so it was a little smaller than the Urban Baby pattern.  The fabric used is Sweet Pea by Jackie Shapiro for Windham Fabrics.  I also used some white minky dot to add a some texture. 

I had it quilted at my local quilt store in just a normal meandering design.  I love the way it turned out though after washing.  

My little one has loved cuddling with it! :)

Welcome, Welcome!

I'm been reading so many inspirational blogs recently that share wonderful ideas, amazing projects, and the same passion for hobbies that I do......and so, I finally decided that it would be fun to document my projects in the same way.  I have been working on several projects lately, mainly blankets for my new son.  He's almost 5 months old now, and I am trying to get his baby blankets finished up!!!  Imagine that!  I'll post more about those soon....

In the meantime, though, here's some photos of 2 quilts that I made for one of my best friend's girls.  She recently had twin girls, so I couldn't make just one blanket (of course!).  I had to make two matching blankets for them!  I have two boys, so anytime I get to make "girlie" blankets - I love it!

Sorry the photos aren't the greatest....  I made these out of Moda BasicGrey Eva and Sultry fat quarters and used a solid off-white for the background.  I loved the paisley fabric on the back - it was my favorite print of those lines.  

The finished quilt was approximately 40" x 50".  I embroidered each of their names on the border so that they can keep them straight!  They weren't made from a pattern, just a compilation of ideas collected from all over flickr using the same box pattern.  It seems to be a popular pattern, but I really like it.

I delivered them to her shortly after finishing them and she loved them!  Hope the blankets get lots of love from her two little ones.....