Daisies and more

I'm trying to figure out this whole free-motion quilting thing. I feel like I'm totally off somehow, maybe I just need to keep practicing? I have this quilt for a friend's baby (a girl after 2 boys). I already showed it to her, so it's okay to talk about it. =) The entire thing is basted together, just waiting for the quilting and binding. I made the top and back in an afternoon. It was inspired by this quilt by AmandaJean. (By the way, if you haven't been by her site, go there now, seriously. I love her choices of fabrics and patterns.)

My friend, Laura, loves daisies! I had found some daisy fabric and made her a receiving blanket with it. Then I got an invitation to a shower for her. The shower was a couple days before my baby sister's wedding. The budget was tight, due to tux rental, gifts, etc., and while I knew she would understand the lack of a gift, I really wanted to bless her. Laura is one of those people who is quick to encourage you, but is totally ready to give you a kick in the butt if you need it. In other words, she is a very honest person and doesn't hide who she is inside. Laura has been such a godly example to me as a woman, a wife, and a mother! (She is also a quilter.)

So anyways, back to the quilt. I called Chris (my very handsome husband) and told him he got to choose a gift. Option #1: I spend the day cleaning the house and I leave as soon as he got home from work to buy a present on the way to the shower. Option #2: I spend the day sewing and make a quilt out of scraps and fabric I had in my stash. He thought about it (the house needed cleaning...mostly the kitchen) and went with option #2. (He knows how relaxing sewing is for me and I was pretty stressed out that week...I love my husband!) So I pulled out the fabric and went to work. I would love to quilt daisies on each large square, but first I have to learn how to free-motion quilt. Oh, and that baby was born almost 3 weeks ago, so I'd better get this done before she's too big for it! Did I mention that in addition to daisies, Laura is a sucker for polka dots?Here's what half of the squares on the front look like. The back was pieced in 3 sections with the pink/white and white/multi-colour fabric. The purple makes me think of Van Gogh.

Receiving Blanket Tutorial

A friend had her baby yesterday. I didn't get her quilt finished in time. I'm trying to figure out free motion quilting. So instead, I brought her a couple large "receiving" blankets. Not sure what else to call them. These have become my standard gift for new babies. Someone made me one when my son was born and I loved it. It's plenty big enough to cover a nursing mom and will completely cover an infant carseat, without dragging on the ground. Plus, the two sides are different fabrics, so you make one side the "ground side" and not worry about a clean place to set your baby at the park, church, a friend's house. And they are quilting-type 100% cotton, so the blanket folds up small enough to fit in a diaper bag, purse, even a winter coat pocket. So far I've been able to avoid making any identical to one another (one side may match someone else's blanket, but the other sides will be different.) And you can make them affordably...I hunt remnant bins and sales and try to keep the total fabric cost under $5.

Here's how I make them:
1. Take 2 yards of fabric (preferably different prints/colours) and place them face-to-face. (If one fabric is considerably darker than the other, you may want to pre-wash, otherwise, I just throw them in the wash before delivering them. I also like to square up the non-selvage edges ahead of time.)
2. Sew a straight stitch around 4 sides, leaving a gap large enough to turn the blanket right-side out. I like to leave a 1/2 inch seam.
3. Trim corners so they don't bunch up inside blanket.
4. Turn blanket right-side out and press.
5. Hand-stitch the gap closed. (Your blanket could be done now, but I prefer to do one more thing.)
6. Using a decorative stitch and fun-coloured thread, top-stitch around the entire blanket. (The 1/2 inch seam will be sewn down in this step, minimizing the pulling and bunching up of the edges in the laundry.)

First completed quilt

A little background on this one. My mother-in-law had 2 sisters. The 3 sisters had 2 sons each. So, no girls born into the family for a whole generation. Most of the boys got married and a couple started having kids. Well, two of them did (actually, their wives did, but let's not get too technical, shall we?). There were 4 boys born between '01 and '06 (one of whom belongs to me!). So when the third cousin and his wife announced their pregnancy, everyone was on pins and needles, waiting for that ultrasound. And it was official: Finally, a girl!!! So I decided to celebrate the occasion with a quilt.

I started this quilt back in October (or was it September??), never mind the fact that I had just learned how to quilt in July. Speaking of which, I just realized I have now been quilting for over a year! Anyways... The baby was due in December, but came a couple weeks early, so I didn't get it done in time. I finally finished it and gave it to her this spring...yeah, it was a busy winter! Her dad is really into hunting and outdoorsy stuff, and her mom likes pink (although she does like outdoorsy stuff, too).

I used the Lucky Star pattern again. The front is pink and green. Both colours are slightly mottled (is that the right word?...different shades fading in and out). The pink has clusters of silver stars and the green has tiny flowers outlined in silver. Lots of glitter and sparkles! The back and the binding is a pink camo. I quilted it with a lime green thread and just ran diagonal lines across the quilt. Basically, I made an X through each square, then made an X through each diamond created by the first set of lines. Very simple, I know, but hey, I had no idea what I was doing! This was the first time I had done any machine quilting, so I'm just glad I was able to keep the lines straight. I like how it stayed a bit puffy. The quilt ended up being about 50" square.

A recent finish

I made this quilt top last year and quilted it this spring. I love the colours in it! I was at the store looking for fabrics (for a quilting class) and picked up the orange, yellow, and green from the remnants bin. I wandered past the children's fabric section, wondering how I would possibly find a 4th fabric and there was the blue print. That print contains the exact shades of the other 3 colours in it.

The pattern is Lucky Stars by Terry Atkinson. It's a simple and fun top to make. I pieced the binding. It was a little tricky, but worth all the tearing out and starting again to get it right.

I quilted it with orange thread. I ran an X through each square and then outlined (but on the inside, not the outside) each square. My favourite thing about the quilting was that where the squares intersect, there is a small quilted square with an X running through it!

This is my favourite quilt so far. I've got some ideas of who it's going to, but can't tell yet!

Coming soon...

I'm working on a present for someone... Hope I get it finished in time! Photos are coming...