Tag Archives: baby quilt

A field study of triangles.

Posted on by
Reply

I put this simple quilt together with some Anna Maria Horner Field Study (a current favorite, if you can’t tell!) and solids from the Little General and I love it! Especially under the red bud trees just before sunset.FS Triangles FS Triangles I quilted it at Eileen Quilts in a bubble design and backed it in the butterflies, one of my favorite large scale prints.

FS Triangles

I bound this one by machine.  I don’t like it as much as a hand stitched one but the binding has begun to come off on a couple older quilts of mine, what with the heavy wear of having two dogs that like to pull quilts from their places.  Hopefully machine sewn binding will stand the test of time and I’ll keep getting better at it.

FS Triangles

I’m excited to say that this quilt is available for sale at the Little General! Hopefully the first of many, Gina is graciously showing and selling some of my quilts made of fabric from her beautiful shop.  If you’re in or around Winston Salem, be sure to stop by!

It’s Blowy Out There.

Posted on by
1

Blowy I finished piecing and basting this a few months back and finally got it quilted.  I rarely name quilts but a friend had said it reminded her of the wind and that sounded better than “half square triangles arranged randomly” :)

BlowyBlowy

After the mini I made for Tara, I wanted to do more straight line quilting. I did a spiral echo design in the white areas and while I’m still not totally confident in my straight line skills, this was good practice. The back is pretty puffy in the un-quilted parts, but I’m really happy with how it came out!

BlowyBlowy

It’s backed in more scraps, bound in Flea Market Fancy seed print in grey, and labelled.

Blowy

I was so happy to take photos in the park on my block, pinned to a dogwood tree.  Happy spring!

Some quilts.

Posted on by
Reply

I spent a lovely and snowy weekend in Roanoke with Lindsay and Ursula working on a few quilts.

 I took two with me and finished up a third one while I was there. I left behind a feather pillow (made from Anna Maria Horner’s block pattern found here) as a gift to Lindsay for all her help and willingness to let me use Ursula.  And of course, for her friendship.

For Connor.

Posted on by
2

For ConnorRemember this quilt?  The guy I made it for is having a baby next month, Connor, and the first-time grandmother commissioned me to make a quilt for him.For Connor

It’s based on Oh Fransson‘s Baby Roller Rink pattern from her book “Modern Patchwork.” I pulled blue and green scraps and bordered the strips with FreeSpirit solids.  It is backed in a Denyse Schmidt fabric from JoAnn’s and some scraps, quilted in a meandering square pattern with pale green thread, bound mostly in Madison from Happyland, and labeled.For ConnorFor Connor

I was excited to take photos of this quilt on a train up the tracks from my work.  I’ve wanted to do a photo shoot there for a long time and a train was finally sided at just the right time.For Connor

I hope Connor and his parents (and his grandma) love this quilt for a long time.

One down, one to go.

Posted on by
5

I was a part of the Hand to Hand Market in Greensboro yesterday. There was a good turnout including some friends that came by to see me. It wasn’t quite as successful as I hoped but I had a good time and people seemed to like what I make. Special Friend Ian hung out iwth me for a few hours which I really appreciated.I am glad that I don’t have to sew frantically for the next two weeks to prepare for the Krankies Craft Fair.  I am going to make a few new-to-me things in that time, which I’m excited about.  Hopefully I’ll sell a couple quilts, too!

In my craft fair preparation, I finished two quilts last week, two that I had started a long time ago and am so happy to have finally finished!

This quilt started as one of a pair, a boy and girl version, but the first one was finished almost two years ago and I sold it at last year’s craft fair.

I used the grey, green, and blue colorway of Denyse Schmidt’s Hope Valley along with Kona in navy and charcoal. It’s backed with Valori Wells’ rose flannel, a strip of scraps, and my label, and it’s bound in a green solid from my stash and a few more scraps.

I quilted it with an orange peel pattern in navy blue thread, one of my favorite designs.  It’s a little wonky since I wasn’t really following any lines but it works.

Little Bits is a quilt that was one of the Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts projects I’ve been doing with Cait this year (read the first post here).I was going for a more sophisticated look on the front and more playful on the back.  I pieced in a label, quilted it in a swirly pattern with pale green thread, and bound it in a black plaid.These two were part of a basting spree I went on last week so I still have two more to quilt and I think I’m going to try something new on one of them.  I pieced in labels reading 2012 so I have to finish them by the end of the month!

Finally: Sewing Summit, a gift, & a quilt

Posted on by
1

It’s been so long since I’ve made myself sit down to write.  It’s so hard to make the time sometimes!  I have a lot to catch up on.

Sewing Summit this year was fun.  It wasn’t as great as last year but I had a great time traveling with Caitlin and getting to wander around the city a little bit more than last year.

Class registration was a bit of a mess this year so I got 7 lectures and one hands on, a class in which I made a maxi skirt.  It was taught by the lovely Leanne Barlow and the skirt was so easy and is so comfortable that I want to make many more.  I loved Mena Trott‘s class on a handmade wardrobe and I’m so inspired to keep sewing clothing and to one day fill my whole closet.

Funny story: the one person I really wanted to meet at Summit was Katy from I’m A Ginger Monkey.  We crossed paths a couple of times but never really introduced ourselves.  A couple days after I’d returned home, she tweeted at me that she, and a girl named Laura, has a girl crush on me and that she was nervous to talk to me because she thought I was way too cool.  I couldn’t believe it!  I totally though she was the cool kid!  It bums me out that we didn’t both put our anxiety aside and talked to each other!  We could have been best friends!  Oh well; we will continue on in the internet world and one day we will meet again.

I left Salt Lake City so inspired and ready to sew.  It’s been hard to get myself into the studio but I’ve made a couple things.  My dear friend Rose wrote to me recently saying she’s beginning to do some embroidery.  She is in a band that tours a lot so I made her a travel embroidery kit with my favorite Aneela Hooey fabric and some sparkly linen.

There is a needle book with pockets for 5 embroidery thread spools and a pocket in the back, a pincushion (using the pattern from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts), and a bag to carry it all in.  I went with kind of a weird color scheme but I’m loving the green Chicopee print with the grey.  I hope she likes it!One of my favorite little details is the pull tab of a book with an elephant on the cover :)

I also finished a baby quilt that I was supposed to have completed a long time ago.  I really hope to make commissions a larger part of my work but I need to get better about sticking to deadlines and communicating (including saying no sometimes).

They wanted trees to be part of the design and I had a hard time coming up with a way to create that and still stick to my aesthetic.  When I saw this quilt kit at a shop, I thought I had the design.  I bought the Lotta Jansdotter’s Belle collection but not wanting to to be too Halloween-y, I added fabrics (including some of Denyse Schmidt’s Chicopee, Lizzy House’s pearl bracelet, and Amy Butler, to name a few) on the pattern adding a few other fabrics until I came up with this, which I love.It is 5 by 6 blocks measuring 50″ by 60″.  It’s backed with an assortment of fabrics from the front, quilted with a meandering pattern in pale grey thread, bound in Belle’s scattered dot in charcoal, and simply labeled with one of my little tags. I also whipped up something I had seen on Pinterest a long time ago.  I used some red vinyl I’ve had for a while and covered my Moleskine notebook I use to design quilts and make lists.  I love it!

LMP+QG July: Little snippets quilt

Posted on by
2

I began writing the post for July’s LMP+QG project on the 16th of this month, having just finished the front, back, and binding, way ahead of schedule.  Then I was hit with two weeks of sickness and I went from being ahead of the game to behind, once again.

Each month my friend Caitlin and I make a project from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts.  You can see past projects here.

Caitlin and I decided that this month’s quilt would be small, which made for a pretty quick baby sized quilt.  I wanted to work completely from my stash but I didn’t have any yardage of solid so I went with this small dot that I’d used in this quilt.

For the back I used a Lizzy House Castle Peeps print and lengthened it by using the same technique from the front to make larger pieces with the same black prints.

The front is really minimal and sophisticated while the back is more playful.  I’m not sure if they really work together though, or which one I like more…

I have no idea how I’m going to quilt this but the binding is made from the bias print plaid and a couple more snippets of green.

Be sure to check out Caitlin’s beautiful pillow!

For Silas.

Posted on by
3

I am all about spreading the quilting love.  When my friend Ashley mentioned that she had a quilt all cut out but that she didn’t really know what to do next, I really wanted to sew with her and see if I could give her some guidance.  That, combined with a mutual friend from church that is having a baby in May, we decided to make a baby quilt together.I was inspired by Handmade by Alissa’s Queen Baby Quilt but we made ours with log cabin blocks.  I grabbed my scrap bins of blue, green, brown, and grey/black and we went for it, making two each.  We then surrounded it in Kona cotton in slate (love that color!) and I threw together a back and quilted it in straight lines that walk around the blocks.I thought that simple would be easy but as it turns out, all that negative space was hard to deal with!  The basting had to be redone a couple of times and shhhh… there’s still a few puckers and shifts in it.  But a good run through the washer and dryer does wonders!Erin and her husband Austin are excited to welcome their baby Silas in just a couple weeks.  I met them through my friend and coworker Philip, and now we all go to church together (occasionally) and are in a small group.  They are so very, very graciously letting me live with them right now in a time of transition.

I don’t always get very personal on my blog but things in my life have changed a lot in the last few months.  I ended a long term relationship and am learning a lot about myself.  I’ve been surrounded by wonderful friends and I am especially thankful for Austin and Erin’s support, their prayers, and all their encouragement.

So back to the quilt, Ashley and I finally gave it to them at a picnic this week and it was received with many squeals, hugs, and thanks.  It was just the reaction we were hoping for.

The front, as I mentioned, is scraps set in Kona cotton in slate.  It’s backed with more scraps and a geometric print I bought at JoAnns a couple years ago, which coincidentally, Erin made curtains out of at the house!  I quilted each block with a square spiral in different color thread and echo quilted the blocks with walking lines in a pale blue/grey thread, it’s bound in Amy Butler’s oxford stripe from the Belle collection, and simply labeled.

I can’t wait to show off pictures of their little guy bundled up in this quilt!

A quick finish.

Posted on by
4

I finished a quilt top last night!  I have a commission on my design wall that I’ve had for way too long. It has proven to be the most challenging project ever, actually.  I finally took the leap and started sewing things together a little Wednesday night but yesterday, feeling stressed about a lot of things, I needed to work on something quick and easy.I had the pieces for this top cut out months ago, right after I finished the girl version of the same design.  At that time I had run out of the dark grey and couldn’t find more yardage of it.  It wasn’t until I got the Kona color card in Jeni‘s class at Sewing Summit that I figured out it was charcoal and ordered some more.  I only had to cut a few more pieces out and then was able to piece the squares into rows and the rows into a top.  It was just the nearly instant gratification (only about 3 hours of work!) that I needed.Now to get the rest of it put together.  And work on that daunting quilt…