Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, to all the Mamas out there!

I am so excited to share with you my sixth quilt of the year! I made this for my mom using Moda's Make Life fabric. I love the bright colors of it, and my mom had also shown an interest in the fabric as well, so I thought, I might as well keep it in the family! ;) My mom says she loves primary colors, probably stemming from her many years as a kindergarten teacher. :)

I did a simple design using the Make Life layer cake, jelly roll, and a basic white jelly roll. I used leftover scraps of the Make Life jelly roll for the top and bottom borders.

I also used leftover scraps of the layer cake to add to the back. I added a picture of me and my mom and a personal message on the back as well, using printable fabric sheets. Sorry, I'm not zooming in to that pic. ;)

This was my second time doing free-motion quilting, and my first time doing it over the entire quilt. I did family handprints in some of the blocks, as well as a meandering pattern all over. I have to say, it does get easier, and I'm very glad for that!

I also made some dresses for my nieces to wear to church today, so they're dressed nice for their Mama. :) Actually, I was supposed to have these for them on Easter, but I came down with a really bad cold. I used pattern M6020 from McCall's... my first time using a pattern. I was so confused! But, I made them in about a day and a half and I'm pretty happy with them. :)

I did change things up from the pattern a little bit. I used a lace trim instead of a fabric ruffle on the bottom (the lace is actually sewn onto the lining). Also, instead of hemming the top skirt, I added a white trim. I felt if I were to hem the skirt, it would be too short and show too much of the lining.

Anyways, that's what I was up to this past week! I hope you all have a lovely Mother's Day! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Quilt Number 5 Completed!

My 5th quilt of the year is finished! I plan on taking this with us on our trip to the beach. Something about this fabric made me think it belonged on a beach somewhere. I fell in love with the beautiful blues and greens, then when I added the white sashing, I loved it even more! :)

Here's the back. I like adding a little bit of the front design on the back, so I added some leftover blocks I had. Then I found this idea for rock pockets! Since I knew I was going to take this quilt to the beach, or on a picnic, I figured the rock pockets would be a great addition to help keep the quilt down in case it is windy!

This was my first time trying my hand(s) at free-motion quilting (man, were my arms sore after this!). I recently purchased a darning foot for my machine and tested it on mini quilt sandwiches before I started on the big quilt. Since this is going to be our family quilt, I wasn't worried about messing up too much. I also used the blocks as "practice blocks" so I could try different things as I was getting used to free-motion designs. Here is my version of "meandering" or stipple quilting.

I also saw this idea, and thought it would be so fun to quilt our "handprints" on our beach quilt. Again, I tried it out on another small quilt sandwich before I did it on the big quilt. It was a little more difficult, but not too bad. I cut out our traced hands on parchment paper, then pinned them to the quilt where I wanted them. I then quilted around the paper. If you accidentally sew through the paper (as I did), don't worry. It easily pulls away from the stitching since the needle perforates the paper. :) The above handprints are mine and my son's.

I tried a few different designs on different blocks. Here is a big spiral/coil. I didn't feel like using a bunch of patterns, or drawing on my quilt beforehand, since I really just wanted to get used to the feel of free-motion quilting and see what works best for me. I also did some "outline" quilting of some of the blocks with bigger prints on them.

Here's a close-up of a rock pocket. I can't wait to use this quilt at the beach! :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I said "quilt number 5"... It's not because I forgot how to count...

I made another doll-sized quilt in April, available in my Etsy shop.

I currently have 5 quilts in progress right now. Three quilt tops are done, one quilt is sandwiched and in the process of being quilted, and two other quilt tops are started.

I am also participating in Craft Hope Project #7, beanbags!

I'm making alphabet and number beanbags using a panel of letters and numbers, and some leftover fabric from my son's quilt. I thought these little bears were cute, and they teach words as well as letters. The beanbags will be helping to teach orphaned kids in Liberia. If you want to help out, the deadline is May 15th (fast approaching). You can find all the info needed here, or at www.crafthope.com. I also have a beanbag tutorial here.

Have a great week, everyone! :)

Quilt Number 5 Completed!

Back in Business...

Well, between my son, myself and my husband... we had been in the sick house for about 2 weeks! We are finally feeling much better and I'm back at my sewing machine. There were so many things I was planning on making in those past 2 weeks, but I just had to take it easy. It seems like every time I get sick, it's the worst ever! Anyone else feel like that? Man, this was a bad one! Anyways, I've re-opened my Etsy shop, but I'm still trying to add more stuff to it, while simultaneously working on a million other projects. I'm making some progress with some quilts. I've added another quilt to my to-do list before May. I'm being a little selfish, and I'm making a quilt to take with us to the beach! I saw this fabric and thought, "that just looks like it belongs on a beach somewhere". So, here's what I'm working on...

I just love this fabric! It is Whimsy by Pillow and Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics. I think the blue, green and white reminds me of pretty Mediterranean tiles near the water. I was originally just going to sew all the giant 9" squares together as a patchwork quilt, but then I bought a jelly roll of white and once I put it in between the "tiles", it just made all the colors pop out! I am so in love with this quilt so far! I only have a couple of rows done, but I am so excited to see the finished product!

I am also making progress on my sister's quilt top. Two rows done of this pretty fabric with the signature blocks. It should be really easy to piece together since they are also large blocks. Love it! :)

And, I've been cutting lots of squares...

...and rectangles...

I'm preparing for 3 more quilts that I'm going to make for May, June, and July. One of them, I can't show you because it is going to be a surprise for a certain someone who occasionally reads my blog. These other two are going to be gifts. The first set of cut squares is using Moda's "Love U" line of fabric. I will also be using the panel that goes with it, and probably just some simple patchwork around the panel. My sister requested one for her friend who is expecting. The second set of cut rectangles is for my sister, who kind of got to choose her fabric. I pretty much saw this fabric (Moda's Blush by Basic Grey), and thought of her. She loves brown with blues and pink. I'm planning on making a garden brick wall style quilt with this fabric.

Oh yeah...

...and I finally finished this one for my hubby. Boy am I sick of looking at this thing! He loves it, of course, even though it is a bit "girly". It keeps him warm when he sleeps, and that's what matters. He requested a fleece backing because he doesn't like the feel of plain cotton fabric on his skin. Picky, picky... :) So, I didn't use batting with this one. It would have been way too thick for him... and my sewing machine! It was pretty easy to finish. I just used a simple chocolate color fleece.

Can you believe I'm working on 5 quilts at the same time?! Am I crazy or what? I'm also working on something else for some very special kids. Will post about it soon! Have a great week, everyone!

Back in Business...

Projects...

Just wanted to share a couple of projects that I've finished or are works in progress...

The first was a child's apron for our friend's little girl. She just turned 5 and is really into helping her mom in the kitchen. I have never made an apron before, and didn't have a pattern, but I figured it shouldn't be too hard. I was so glad I had this fabric on hand. It's called "Farmer John's Marketplace" by Fabriquilt. I also used some scrap red and black fabric that I had on hand. I love the bright colors and how real the fruits and veggies look! I thought it would be the perfect fabric for an apron. And, since fruits and veggies make up a rainbow of colors, I thought it would be fun to make the fabric pieces into a rainbow design on the apron.

I also added a little personalized pocket in front and a small loop for a dish towel along the waist.

The back has some other scrap fabric of eggs, and I folded the bottom of the apron to make it a little shorter, but it can be easily let out later as she gets taller. I sewed some velcro on the top neck strap and left long straps for the back tie straps. Our friend loves the apron, even though it is still a little big (oops!), and she even wants me to make her a matching one! :)

I'm not sure why this photo won't rotate to vertical, but I guess you can just tip your head sideways... ;)

Here is my favorite block from the start of Quilt #4. As I had mentioned in earlier posts, this will be a wedding signature quilt for my step-sister and her new husband. I am still waiting on a couple more signatures, but I have sewed most of the blocks. I absolutely love that the person who signed this block also drew a pretty flower and winding "vines". It practically matches the fabric! I can't wait to piece all the blocks together for the quilt top! I am so happy to be working on a new quilt, and I just love this fabric too! I also love that these are really big blocks (13 inches each), so it will make it super easy to put together!

I have also been making some capes for little boys. So far, I've made one for my son and one for my nephew. My niece is having a princess party, but there will also be little boys (princes) there too! Since I helped my sister make some tutus for the girls, I thought the boys might enjoy wearing something special too.

They'll be more like superheroes, I guess, but I think they'll have fun with the capes. :)

I'm thinking of adding aprons and capes to my Etsy shop once I open it back up.

Projects...

Quilt #3 Progress...

Okay, so I'm counting this as quilt #3 for the year, since I'm already behind. :/ Technically, it will be my third quilt, since I made one for my son, and one mini quilt before this. I didn't want to have to count the mini quilt, but I have been so busy, that I haven't had much time to quilt! By the way, I sold my mini quilt in my Etsy shop, and I was so happy that I had sold my first quilt (mini or not...)! :)

Yes, this is a very belated Valentine's Day gift for my husband, but he doesn't mind and we both feel that Valentine's Day should be celebrated every day of the year. :) My husband is very excited to use this quilt! This is just the top, so I will have one more post to show the completed quilt. My husband requested a fleece back to the quilt, so I'm waiting on his special order fabric to come in. :) The back will be a simple chocolate brown color fleece. Can you tell my nine-patch blocks are "X's" and "O's"? What a pain that was! I sewed them all separately, which is much more difficult than sewing strips, then cutting. Sigh... Oh well, at least I've learned something from this! After I finished sewing the nine-patch blocks all around the panel, I was sick of them! But, I didn't feel the quilt top was big enough, so I just did a simple patchwork border around my nine-patch blocks. Anyways, I am SO happy I've completed at least the quilt top! I'm basically halfway done with this thing!

I've also started my step-sister's wedding signature quilt blocks, and I'm SO excited to finish her quilt top! Especially since they are nice big 13" blocks (so easy!). Her wedding was this past weekend, and it was beautiful! I ended up with 27 signature blocks (hmmm... odd number), but I'm hoping to get at least 3 more (from people who didn't sign) for an even number of blocks. Otherwise, I will just have to draw some cute pictures on 3 blocks or something! :) I would hate to leave them blank...

I'll post more pics soon!

Quilt #3 Progress...