Christmas Baby Quilt

I decided to make a Christmas quilt for my baby granddaughter for her first Christmas.  I saw the "Baby Blocks" quilt in the most recent issue of BLOCK magazine, from Missouri Star Quilt Company, and decided to give it a try. 

My problem with the pattern, as it is presented in both the magazine and the tutorial, is that the directions that they give don't actually produce the quilt that they show in the pictures.  The instructions say to use 4 jellyroll (2-1/2 inch) strips of fabrics to make one single strip set.  Cut 16 2-1/2 inch strips from the strip set and use them to create the four blocks that make up the center of the star.  The pictures used in the magazine and on the tutorial use way more than just 4 fabrics in the center.  That makes for a different look in the finished quilt. 

I decided to make the quilt following the actual directions given.  I used two red fabrics and two green fabrics to make the strip set, alternating the red and green in the strip set.  The pictures below show the basic options I came up with for the center of the star using the blocks that one strip set would actually create.  (I am sure there are a few others that I didn't think of.)

 Four blocks with green corners oriented toward the center.

 Four blocks with each block oriented in the same direction.

Four blocks with the red corners oriented toward the center.

I like the look of the red corners oriented toward the center, so that is the layout that I decided to go with.  I am still working on getting it sewn together, and it still needs a border, but I thought I would share these layouts in case anyone else was interested in what it would look like actually following the directions.

Layers of Charm - Moda Extra Project

This month our extra project for the Moda group was the Layers of Charm Quilt Pattern from Fat Quarter Shop.  I used a layer cake that I bought a few years ago called Healing Hearts.  I picked out a nice red to coordinate with the fabrics.  I wanted a color that was in the fabric, but would also give a good contrast to all the fabrics.  It is a super simple project.  You just add a five inch flippy corner to 36 of the fabrics in a layer cake, then sew them together in such a way as to create the diamonds.  No border or anything.  Of course you could add one if you wanted to, but the pattern doesn't call for it.  It finishes 57-1/2 inches square, a nice lap-sized quilt.

Dance of the Dragonflies fabric quilt

When I went to visit my mother-in-law in New Jersey last month, I visited a quilt shop up there.  I bought some jelly roll strips and fat quarters in the Dance of the Dragonflies fabric line.  In the past, when I buy fabric while I'm out of town, I never actually make anything with it.  So this time, I wanted to go ahead and make something out of it.  There were 12 jelly roll strips, 4 FQs, 1/2 yard of one fabric and 1 yard of another fabric.  This quilt was the result.

A few more Moda blocks

This year our project for the Moda group was the Quilter's Patch quilt by Edyta Sitar.  I did a few blocks and then decided that I really didn't like making the quilt.  The instructions were bad, the pieces were small, the flower blocks didn't really look that great, etc. etc.  So, I quit making them. 

But since I had already made three of the flower blocks (delphinium, cosmo, and daylily) and the cat block, I wanted to do something with the blocks I had already made.  I dreamed up a much smaller quilt that will use the blocks that I have already made (some of them slightly deconstructed) and a few more blocks thrown in as well. 

This month we were supposed to make 3 flower pot blocks and the segments of the watering can that go in the border.  My alternate quilt design uses 8 flower pots and the watering can as a complete block, so I made them to show at the next meeting.  We were also supposed to do part of the rake and one other flower block, but I don't need them, so I didn't do them.  The only other blocks I need are the butterfly blocks.  I don't like the ones in the book, so I plan to make different ones, but I will wait until the butterflies are assigned before I make them. 

Once I picked the book back up to make these blocks I remembered exactly why I stopped making them in the first place.  As far as I'm concerned, this is an awful book.  I will never buy another book or pattern by Edyta Sitar again.

Scrappy Mountain Majesty

Our guild project for July was the Scrappy Mountain Majesty quilt by Bonnie Hunter.  I didn't finish it in time to show at guild this month, but at least I will have it for next month.  The original was done all in scraps, as you can imagine from a Bonnie Hunter quilt, but I decided to do mine a little less scrappy.  The blue is all one fabric and the yellows and oranges are 7 different fabrics, a quarter yard of each.

On the night of the guild meeting when we were given the project, my husband and I took a walk after the meeting and there was a really beautiful sunset.  It gave me the idea to do the quilt in sunset colors.  The dark blue and the sunset colors formed a split complimentary color scheme, that I thought would work out well for a little color theory practice, as well.  I got my trusty Color Play book by Joan Wolfrom, and headed to the quilt shop to pick the fabrics.  I wanted to be as true as I could to the split complimentary color palate. I picked tone-on-tone fabrics in blue, and orange through yellow and went to work.

I originally intended to use a different layout for the blocks. My first thought was to do the layout that she calls "Mirror Image Mountains", but when I laid the blocks out in that design it seemed too busy.  I rearranged them into this layout, "Zigzag Mountains", and I liked it a lot better.  Keeping the blue fabric together seemed better to me.  It looks a little less like mountains at sunset, maybe, but I still like it better this way.  My son, the graphic designer, says that it makes him think of the sunset reflected on water ripples, like on the ocean.  Sounds good to me.

I think it turned out pretty nice.  It is not the sort of thing that I normally do, but I am happy with it none the less.  I'm not sure yet what color thread I want it quilted in or what design.  But at least the top is finished.

Patriotic bag

I know that it is after the 4th of July, but I wanted to go ahead and make this bag anyway.  I figured that I can use it until the end of July at least.  I actually got the idea for the bag around the 4th of July, and I went ahead and ordered the fabric.  I didn't want to wait about making it, because I was afraid I would forget about it by the time next summer rolled around.  I tend to do that with projects, I buy the fabric, don't work on it right away, and then either forget about it or lose interest in making it.  I didn't want that to happen this time, so here it is, my new patriotic bag!

On the Go

I finished the binding on this quilt on our trip home from New Jersey.  It is the finished product of our "Little Apples" Moda extra project from a few months back.  I decided to call it "On the Go" because of the fabric with the roads and vehicles.  I plan to donate it to my church's blanket drive this year.  We give the donated blankets to the Child Advocacy Center here in town.

Charm Square Star baby quilt

This is a quilt design that I came up with to use the rest of my charm squares from the Checkerboard and Diamonds baby quilt.  It is a very simple star-in-a-star design using half square triangles (made from charm squares) and from charm squares trimmed down to 4-1/2 inch squares.  I think it will make a nice baby quilt for a little girl.  My cat, Dusty, is photo-bombing the picture.

The pattern is available here for free.  Enjoy.

Cascades pillowcase

I made this pillowcase from the leftover fabric from my Cascades quilt. I was going through my sewing room, trying to find project boxes to put my upcoming projects in.  I found that the leftover fabric from my Cascades quilt was still boxed up and hadn't been put into the main stash yet.  I saw that I had plenty of fabric left over to make a pillowcase, and since the quilt is a twin-size bed quilt, I thought it would be nice to have a matching pillowcase.  So today, I stitched one up really quick. 

I think that in the future I will try to remember to always buy enough fabric to make a matching pillowcase or two when I am making a bed quilt.  I think it looks really nice to have matching pillowcases on top of the quilt.  The trick will be remembering...

Jellyroll heart block

My latest quilt design idea involves jellyroll strips and heart blocks.  I wanted to test out my heart block design and sewing instructions on some scrap fabric before I cut into my jellyroll, so I made this sample.  I think it turned out really well.  The piecing went together quickly and easily, so I think the project is a go.

Moda Quilt Matching Pillowcase

I made a pillowcase to match my 2016 Moda quilt, Finding Mickey.  Ironically, I guess, the pillowcase doesn't have a Mickey Mouse to find.  It is made from the same fabrics as the backing and both borders, none of which was Mickey Mouse fabric.  I guess I should have used the Mickey Mouse fabric for the accent piece or the outer band, but I don't know if I had enough fabric for that anyway.  Oh well, it is a matching pillowcase, none the less.

Moda Extra Project - Latin Lady

Our extra project for our Moda class this month was the Latin Lady quilt by Villa Rosa Designs.  (It is also our guild project for next month.) I decided to do mine in Kansas Troubles fabrics.  It uses the majority of two charm packs.  I used two different charm packs - Favorites and Aunt Purdy's Parlor.  The yardage was from a different Kansas Troubles collection, but I don't even know which one.

I plan to piece the backing from 9 different Kansas Troubles fabrics and then quilt it myself on my home sewing machine.  I plan to use this quilt as an everyday sofa quilt to cuddle under.  I think it will be a good size for that at 51 x 64 inches.

Checkerboard and Diamonds

This is my latest design creations.  I am currently calling it "checkerboard and diamonds" because the center is like a checkerboard and it is surrounded by diamond-esque squares on point.  The center is made from a Moda candy (or mini-charm pack) of 2-1/2 inch squares alternated with white 2-1/2 inch squares.  The squares on point are charm squares, set on point with white half-square triangles.  The border is from yardage.  All the print fabric is from the Colette line by Chez Moi.

New quilted bag

I made this bag from fabric that I had in my stash.  It uses the same pattern as my Not Quite Giant Jellyroll Bag, except this time it is not giant and it doesn't even use 2-1/2 inch strips.  I also added a flap and button closure to make it more like a purse, which is my intended use for it.  I have to stop making bags with this pattern.  It really isn't fun.  I'm not sure why I decided to do it again.  Oh well, at least I have a new purse!

Pot holder swap

For our May meeting, my quilt quilt is having a pot holder swap.  Everyone is supposed to bring a homemade pot holder, and we are going to have some sort of creative way to swap them, not sure what that is going to entail.  I made mine out of an orphan block I had laying around.  It has a layer of regular quilt batting and a layer or Insul-bright inside to make it heat proof.

One of my quilting friends found a cute little picture on pinterest that says that there are no mistakes in quilting - only pot holders.  I think that is good idea!

Finding Mickey - 2016 Moda Quilt

Here is my finished Moda 2016 quilt.  I decided to call it "Finding Mickey" because Mickey Mouse is hiding in every row of the quilt.  It is pictured on my queen-size bed, but it is intended for a twin-size bed.  I finally finished the binding on it while I was waiting at the hospital for the birth of my first grandchild.  She was born a week ago, but I just got a day at home.  This quilt is a little more "boy-friendly" (I avoided using flower prints and pink) than my little granddaughter may want, but I also have a "girl-friendly" floral twin-size quilt that she can use if she prefers.

Moda Extra Project

I worked on this one Tuesday and Wednesday.  It is the extra project for our Moda class this month, Aneela Hoey's "Little Apples".  Well, technically it is a variation on our Moda extra project.  The original was larger (51" x 59-1/2"), used a whole layer cake, and didn't have a border.  I had half of a layer cake left over from a previous project and decided to use it (This one turned out to be 43" x 51-1/2").  I was planning to put the border on the whole time, but it really looked busy without it.  I think adding the border helped.  It isn't beautiful or anything, but I think it would make a good "dragging around blanket" as my dad call them.  Plus, since I wasn't going to do all the blocks for this month, I thought maybe I should at least do the extra project.

Moda quilt block for April

I really liked the way this block looked so I decided to make it.  It is the only one that I made of the 3 we were assigned this month.  I am not planning to make any more of the regular blocks for the quilt this year.  I just don't enjoy doing them.  I might try making one or two of them as larger blocks, but I just don't want to do any more toward making the original quilt.  I will figure out something to do with the blocks I have made already, but I am not going to slog through the whole quilt.  Hobbies are supposed to be fun, and for me, this quilt isn't.

More grand-mommy sewing!

Yesterday I spent my sewing day making cloth wipes.  My son and daughter-in-law are planning to use cloth diaper and cloth wipes on the baby once she gets out of the absolutely newborn stage.  The picture at the top is a dozen flannel two-ply wipes that finish at 8-1/2 inches square.  The bottom picture is three smaller wipes that I made with the scraps of leftover fabric.  They are 6 x 8-1/2 inches.  I thought they would make nice face wipes.

I pre-washed the fabric in baby detergent and hot water to preshrink it and soften it up.  Then I cut out 9 inch squares.  I sewed the squares together using a 1-4 inch seam and my walking foot, leaving about a two inch gap for turning it right side out.  I turned them right side out, and then top stitched about 1/8 of an inch or less from the edge all the way around to close up gap and secure the seam.  Hopefully they will work well.  Some things I have read say they need a few washings before they really start working well.

Some grand-mommy shopping

I did a little shopping yesterday for my soon-to-be-born granddaughter.  I didn't want to give the bag (featured in the previous post) away empty.  I hope the mom-to-be likes it.

Cat block for Moda class

I just barely got this one finished in time for class today.  I have been so stressed trying to get my assigned sewing done this month.  In fact, so much so that I didn't get it all done.  We were assigned 3 blocks for this month and I only did one.  I just am not feeling the quilt this year.  All the small pieces on so many of the blocks (not this one) are just not fun to work with.  I keep waffling back and forth on whether or not to continue with it.

Not Quite Giant Jellyroll Bag

Our project for this month's quilt guild meeting was the Giant Jellyroll bag from Shabby Fabrics.  We were told to go to the Shabby Fabrics website and print off the free pattern.  I did, but apparently, I didn't do it the correct way.  I clicked on "download free pattern" and it opened in the browser window.  From that window, I clicked "print."  It would seem that if you want the pattern to print at the correct size, you have to actually download the pattern and open it in Adobe.  Make sure it is set to 100% scale and then print.  So mine ended up a little less than "giant".  Not that it was really that big to begin with.  It would have been nice if it had been a bit bigger, like the original pattern, because I was making it for my daughter-in-law to use as a diaper bag, but I'm sure it will be fine.  Here is a picture of the inside with two nice, big pockets.

I think I might try again to make it with the right size pattern.  Not sure what fabrics I would use.  I think it would also be nice if you put pockets on the outside as well as the inside.  You wouldn't bother with jellyroll strips for the outside if you were doing it that way, though.  Unless you were going to cut the exterior pockets out of jellyroll strips.  That might work.  I would have to measure.

Green Day!

Here is the finished product, hanging on my living room wall.  I really like the color of green in it.  It is machine quilted with variegated green thread.  I went with the name "Green Day" because I like for my quilt names to have musical references and St. Patrick's Day is the day when everything turns green!

St. Patrick's Wall Hanging

Yesterday I made this cute little wall hanging for St. Patrick's Day.  This is a picture of the completed top.  I layered it up last night and quilted it today (on the sewing machine).  The binding it attached and ready to be turned, but I won't work on the binding until my next road trip.  But hopefully it should be ready to hang on the wall by St. Patrick's Day.

Lilah's Rose Garden

Here is a picture of the finished quilt that I made for my soon-to-be granddaughter.  Her name is going to be Lilah Rose, so that is why it has an "L" in the center.  The picture was taken today at the baby shower.  I still need to make a label for the quilt, but I am waiting until I can put her birth date on it.

Second Moda block

So many small pieces in this one.  The smallest patches are cut at 1 inch square.  If I was going to make this block again, I would scale it up two or three times bigger.  It would make a pretty wall hanging if you did that.  I'm not sure about continuing to make the blocks at the given sizes when they have all these little pieces.  It was not fun at all.

First Moda Block (Half of February assignment)

Yesterday I worked on my blocks for the Moda Class.  This year we are doing the Quilter's Patch quilt from Edyta Sitar's book by the same name.  I still have another block to do before we meet this month on the 15th.  It took all afternoon to make this one block.  There are so many small pieces.  This is a 12 inch (finished) block, just for the record.

I am doing mine in batik fabrics instead of the Laundry Basket fabric that the original is in.  I am trying to follow the same color scheme, though.

Valentine Place Mats

This month for our quilt guild project, we were supposed to make a heart table runner.  I didn't really want to make the table runner, because it was too big for the table that I use a table runner on.  So, instead of making a table runner I wouldn't actually use, I decided to use the elements of the table runner to make a couple of place mats.  I had to do a little figuring to translate it into place mats, but for me that is half (or maybe more than half) the fun.  The finished place mats are 13 inches by 16 inches.

I also did something new, for me, when it came to quilting them.  I free-motion quilted them using my regular home sewing machine.  I had never actually done that on a project before.  Anytime in the past, when I had tried it on a scrap, I always ended up with a snarled mess on the back of the fabric.  It has been a long time since I tried before, so I'm not sure what all I did differently this time.  But I didn't adjust the tension at all and I didn't drop the feed dogs.  I just put on the darning foot and quilted it.  I think it turned out looking really nice.  It isn't perfect or anything, but I like the way it looks.  You can see the quilting a little better in the picture below.

Lilah's quilt top

This is the finished quilt top for the quilt that I am making for my new grandbaby that is due to arrive on April 3rd.  Her name is going to be Lilah Rose, so that is why there is an "L" in the center of the quilt.  The "L" is machine appliqued.  The top is made of simple half square triangle blocks.  I put them together into 4-patch blocks, added the applique, then sewed the 4-patches together as a large 9-patch unit.  Really fast and easy.  The finished top is approximately 39 inches by 39 inches.

2016 In Review

Last year I finished 9 quilt and 1 quilted candle mat, made 6 quilt tops that didn't get finished (UFOs), and did a couple of small projects that weren't quilted items (some burp clothes and a Christmas ornament).  That makes 12 completed projects for the year, which is always my goal.

I suppose that maybe in 2017 I should try to finish up some those UFOs that I created in 2016.  But part of the problem with that is that I'm not sure what I want to do with them, which is one of the main reasons that they didn't get finished in 2016.  One of them, however, is currently at the quilt shoppe to be quilted, so it should get done this year with no problem.

I still have one project from my 2015 quilting to-do list that I have not finished - hand quilt something.  Maybe I will get around to that this year as well.  I do like hand quilting, but it just takes so much time.  I am thinking maybe I will do a pillow.  Possibly something whole-cloth with a nice quilting design.

Checkerboard & Squares

I call the pattern for this one Checkerboard & Squares.  I haven't actually come up with a name for the individual quilt yet.  It is machine pieced and machine quilted (by Front Porch Quilt Shoppe).  Melanie has asked me to write a pattern for it.  Hopefully I will get around to doing that soon.  The quilt finishes at about 42 inches square.  I used some of the extra jellyroll strips on the back to make the backing wide enough so that I didn't have to buy extra yardage.

Update: I named it Jelly Beans.

Grow! jellyroll baby quilt

I will be donating this little quilt to the Methodist Church where my quilt guild used to meet.  They always give a quilt to the babies that are baptized there.  I machine quilted it myself, quilting in the ditch around the two borders and in between the rows.  These are so quick and easy to make. They make great charity quilts or gifts. 

Watermelon Tourmaline quilt top

Here is my latest effort toward finishing up last year's quilting to-do list.  This top fulfills the "make a batik quilt" item on the list.  It is the quilt that I had in mind last year when I added that item to my to-do list.

The quilt pattern comes from Eleanor Burn's book, Quick Trip Quilts and is made from batik fabrics that I ordered from Keepsake Quilting's catalogue.  For a trip around the world quilt it was really fun and easy to make.  Even though there are lots of small pieces in the quilt, you don't sew any short seams.  It is strip pieced, of course, because it is an Eleanor Burns quilt, and it comes together really quickly.  I highly recommend the book if you are looking to make a trip around the world quilt.

The inspiration for the quilt was a trip to Maine that we took several years ago, in 2009.  When we were in Bar Harbor we went into a little jewelry shop where they had a lot of tourmaline gemstone jewelry.  Tourmaline is the official gemstone of the state of Maine.  They showed us some bi-color tourmaline that was popular, but expensive, called watermelon tourmaline that was pink and green.  I thought it was very pretty, but we didn't buy any.  Here is a picture of what it looks like.

I decided to make a watermelon tourmaline quilt instead.  It took me quite a while to get around to it, but I finally did it.  Well, I finally pieced the top anyway.  I still need to decide what I am going to do about the quilting.  Decisions, decisions. . .

Christmas Ornament

This year for our quilt guild Christmas party we are supposed to bring a handmade Christmas ornament to exchange.  I searched around on Pinterest and found this cute little Christmas tree ornament made out of yo-yos.  I searched through my Christmas fabrics and found several nice green fabrics to use, bought some jingle bells, beads, and ribbon, and put this little guy together in no time. 

I have a set of nesting biscuit cutters that worked really well for the different sized circles.  Five out of the seven yo-yos are from the biscuit cutter set.  I had to find a couple of bowls to make the larger circles because I wanted my tree to be a little taller.  It was really easy, quick and fun to make.

The Grandmother Sewing Begins

My middle son is expecting his first child in April, and she will be my first grand-baby.  We just found out last week that the baby is going to be a girl, so I can start sewing for her.  I found a pattern on Pinterest for a burp cloth that used flannel and chenille fabrics.  When I went to the quilt shop I bought some chenille to try it out.  I think it turned out good, but I kinda wish the chenille was a little thicker/closer together.  Before I make any more, I am going to let the parents-to-be look at it and see if they like the feel of the fabrics.  They love dogs, so I'm sure the flannel print will be a hit.

Bear in the Mountains - finished!

Here is the finished quilt that I made for our priest who is leaving us early next month.  I machine quilted it, quilting in the ditch around the individual paw blocks and around the mountain blocks.  I also quilted down the center of each mountain block to keep within the quilting distance requirements.  And I quilted in the ditch along the border seam.  As you can probably tell, I added a hanging sleeve to the back so that he can hang it on the wall (but that is my wall, not his).

Blue Roses

This is the quilt that I made in order to be able to have something quilted in the King Tut De Nile thread.  I saw the thread at the quilt shop and told the owner that I really wanted to make something that color so that I could have it quilted in that thread. 

When I saw this fabric I knew it would work.  The fabric is from the Christine line from Benartex by Eleanor Burns.  The top is mostly two charm packs with some yardage for the border and for a couple of 5 inch squares to make the diagonal rows work out right. 

The quilting design is Ribbons and Roses and the quilt finished 45 x 55 inches.  I don't know what I will do with it, but I think it turned out really nice.  Below is a closeup of the label.

Completed 2016 Moda top

Here is a picture of my finished top for our Moda class this year.  It makes a quilt for a twin sized bed.  I think it turned out fun and bright, just like I was hoping.  I am glad that it is finally finished. 

I don't know if I am going to do the Moda class next year or not.  The plan at the moment is to do the Gypsy Wife quilt.  I think it could be a neat quilt, but it also looks like a LOT of work.  With my first grand-baby scheduled to appear in early April, I'm not sure that I am willing to commit myself to that much work.

Bear in the Mountains

This is my latest quilt design.  I designed it as a wall hanging to give to my priest who will soon be leaving our parish for a new call.  His nickname is "Bear," he is originally from eastern Tennessee, and he loves the mountains.  So I designed a quilt using bear paw blocks and delectable mountain blocks to give to him as a going away present. My original design didn't have the bear paw blocks in the corners.  It was just solid blocks of the background fabric.  But I accidentally didn't buy enough background fabric to cut blocks that size, so I came up with the idea to add the bear paws and I think I like it better that way.

I will be quilting it myself, and I haven't decided if I will machine quilt it or hand quilt it.  I need to get it quilted quickly, as his last day with us is December 4th, so machine quilting is the most likely outcome.

And as something of a happy accident, I think it has a somewhat Native American feel to it, and he is also part Cherokee Indian.  I hope he will like it.

Moda Row for October and finished quilt center

The final row for our Moda quilt this year was the Mosaic block row.  It has 10 blocks at 6 inches each.  It really wasn't that difficult to put together.  We were also supposed to join all of the rows together, with the spacer sashings, and add the first narrow border.  Next we have to make 4 pinwheel blocks for the corners, and add them along with the final borders.  It is almost done!  Hurray!

Two from One!

These two baby quilts are made from the same jellyroll - Grow! from Me and My Sister.  I came up with the plan for the bottom quilt first, but it was going to leave several strips left unused, even with planning to use some for the binding and some on the back.  I figured out that I would have 13 strips left over, which was the perfect amount to make top quilt (I've made one like the top quilt before).  I pulled out the strips that I wanted to use for the top quilt and actually made it first.  Then I used what was left to make the bottom quilt.  In fact, one strip is partially in the top quilt and partially in the bottom quilt.

I'm really happy with how both quilt tops turned out.  They look very different from each other.  I'm glad that I pulled out all the darker purples and didn't use any in the bottom quilt. I really like the pastel look of the bottom one and I think the dark purple would have detracted from that.

Moda Row for September

This month our row for the Moda class was sailboats -- ten of them.  I can't say that it was fun, or that I necessarily like the outcome, but I'm definitely glad that it is finished.