Crinkle love: Feed Company BOM

My Feed Company BOM quilt is done! It already been washed and snuggled with. I'm in love with it!

I have more photos posted on my Flickr account but I just wanted to share a few of my favorite here. Marion did the custom quilting and I have nothing but high praises for her work. She is truly awesome! I loved the quilting done on the original quilt so she mimicked it on mine. I'm so very very happy with it. If you have a quilt needed custom work please look her up. You won't be sorry!

Quilt Stats:
Feed Company Block of the Month by Sweetwater Fabrics
Started: December 2014
Completed: March 2016
Quilted by Marion McClellan

For those curious, the iron on designs do soften up quite a bit and get a bit more distressed in the wash. Just remember to wash them gently with cold water and let them air dry. After mine fully air dried I did toss it in the dryer for 10 minutes on low heat to soften it up a bit, but I wouldn't do more than that.

This quilt was part of my edited first quarter goals for the 2016 Finish Along. Well, 1 out of 3 ain't bad in my book. :)

Christmas Gifts 2015

Well now that Christmas is over and done with, here are the gifts I was working on (in addition to the doll quilt):

The blocks I had done from the Great Granny sew along got turned into a pillow for my sister, who crochets. Because let's be real, that quilt probably wasn't going to happen. ;) But she loves it and plans on hanging it as a mini quilt, so I'm happy she's happy. :)

 I bought some new quilt tags from Mad Mad Graphics and I used the first one for her gift.

For everyone else, I used the Sweetwater custom blocks (from their First Crush block of the month) to make pillows. I had their names and wedding dates (or dating anniversary) put on the block. I then embroidered the design using their wedding colors and found matching fabric for the pillow. I made it so it fits a 12" pillow form and everyone loved them.

I found these cute twill tapes labels at Joann's and everyone got one on the back, with the exception of mine.

This one belongs to me and it not only has our wedding date (and colors) but I also included our dating anniversary.

Instead of the other tag I used the "PS I love you" tags I found at my local quilt shop.

All in all, everyone was happy with their gifts and I'm happy to be done! ;) I think most quilters and crafters probably feel the same way right about now.

Lots more photos can be found on my Flickr

Christmas sewing and a binding kit

Things have been busy around here. There's a big change going on over here that made me plunge head first into Christmas sewing. So a lot of my spare time has been focused on embroidering and sewing presents. But I did get something finished that's for me, a binding kit. :)

 Back when I finished my niece's baby quilt, I had a bunch of blocks leftover. I saved them specifically so I could make her a matching doll quilt. I even had enough of the same binding!

 The only new fabric I bought was a fat quarter of this Aneela Hoey print from her Hello Petal collection. Since my niece's baby quilt had fussy cuts of little girls, I wanted to include little girls in her doll quilt. I love this print showing the steps to a cartwheel (or is it a headstand?).

I used a bit of my vintage binding tape to create a label for this and I included the adorable "PS I love you" tag. I did the binding by machine and it's not perfect (don't look at the corners!) but I doubt she'll care. She's getting a doll for Christmas so I thought it was the perfect time to make her a doll quilt. I love she likes it.

I decided to make myself a Goody Goody Binding kit (tutorial here). I had all the pieces cut and the majority of the sewing done, but had to stop when I needed wool felt for the needle patch. But I finally finished it up this past week.

 I found the bright and happy fabrics at my local quilt shop. I thought they were so cute and just perfect for this binding kit.

 The Sweetwater fabric I used on the right pocket is a little too cream but I love how it has quilt block names on it, so I had to include it.

 I stitched a ribbon just above the scissor pouch so I wouldn't lose the scissors. I plan on buying a small pair to keep solely for this kit.

Earlier this year a quilting magazine had turquoise binding clips with it as a free gift. You better believe I snatched it right up! ;) They are going to live in the binding kit permanently and  my red ones will be added as needed.

I have everything all set up to stitch the binding on my fair isle quilt, which is due back from the long arm qulters today. :) I can't wait to show you the quilting.

A Quilty Christmas

My sister got a quilt this year for Christmas. It started out as silent auction prize for her fundraiser. But when the silent auction didn't happen (and I had already bought the fabric) I decided to make this her Christmas present.

It looks more complicated than it really is. It's actually a super easy layer cake pattern.

I quilted it myself on the diagonal about every 3 inches in a cream thread. I'm happy with how it turned out. :)

I made the tag on Spoonflower before the auction was cancelled. But I figured it could still go on the quilt since there's no auction-related details on it. I found the little heart tags at my local quilt shop and thought they were too cute. They say "P.S. I love you"

All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. And she likes it too, so that's all that matters. :)

Quilt info:
Pattern - Double Sliced Layer Cake
Fabric - Sweet Serenade by BasicGrey for Moda fabrics (layer cake and backing)
              Serene (NOBU-86 in black) by Nobu Fujiyama for Kona Bay fabrics (binding)

Pinwheel Sampler: Finished!

My pinwheel sampler is finished! There's quite a story behind it but first, the photos.

 This quilt has been a long time in the making. It all started when we lost our sweet baby to a miscarriage on April 3, 2012. It was extremely difficult, and still is, but the worst part was that I didn't have anything tangible from him. We lost him very early in the pregnancy, way before I could start nesting, and we didn't even announce it to the family. So I was very alone in my grief, aside from my husband.

About a year later I made up my mind to make a quilt in memory of him. My firstborn got a quilt and I wanted to continue the tradition. So the spring/summer of 2013 I walked into my local quilt shop and picked out 10 fat quarters in a general blue-green-orange theme. No real direction, just picked out what I liked in those colors. They sat in my stash for a long time. It took awhile to find a pattern and once I did, it took awhile to get started. When January 2014 rolled around I made a small list of just 3 quilts that I wanted to finish this year. This was one of them.

I ended up pulling 2 out of the original 10 fat quarters and went out and bought a few more quarter yards to add more orange and some navy. Once I started I tried not to stop. There were a few times where I just let unfinished blocks sit for a few weeks but I set a goal to get it done and shipped to Abby by summer. I met that goal and now I have this pretty quilt to snuggle in whenever I feel the need.

 Abby Latimer did my quilting again. She is my go-to longarm quilter. She is so wonderful to work with! After looking through all her patterns I didn't find anything I like. Last year when I finally decided on a pinwheel sampler I fell in love with the cloud panto. I've been dreaming of pinwheels and clouds ever since. Abby didn't have that pattern on her list but she was so sweet and bought it to use specifically on this quilt. I'm so grateful she did that!

 I used Spoonflower to print this tag. I ended up needing tags for 3 other quilts so I printed all 4 at the same time. Each of the tags is 3.5" square when finished (4" unfinished) and they fit perfectly on their 8" x 8" sample. I used the option of Kona for the base fabric.

The tag reads:

In memory of Joseph

April 3, 2012

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.

Psalm 116:15

With love always, mama

 My name, 2014 ~ quilted by Abby Latimer

The quilt has already been washed to get that perfect crinkle and it's been loved on nearly every day since. This quilt has been a labor of love and I am so happy to finally have something to snuggle whenever I think of my sweet angel.

Quilt Stats

Pattern: Pinwheel Sampler by Rachel Griffith (found here)
Size: 54" x 54"
Batting: 80/20 Hobbs 
Fabrics:  Top: Mix of green, blue and orange from various designers
               Backing: Grey Crosshatch Quilter's Flannel from Joann's Fabric (similar)
Quilting: One Cloudy Day by Abby Latimer
Tag: Created by me, printed by Spoonflower

Jenny's Happy Quilt

One of my dear friends from high school is sick. And not getting over the flu kind of sick either. She's currently on kidney dialysis waiting to get a transplant but you wouldn't know it by looking at her. Her attitude is so positive and she is just so amazingly upbeat about the whole thing.

Whenever she gets the call that a kidney is available, she will travel to another state for the transplant and recovery. She will be there a few months until her doctors give her the ok to travel back. I wanted to make her a happy quilt to use during her future hospital visit but also during her dialysis appointments and basically, any time she wants to snuggle with something.

I went with a layer cake of High Street by Lily Ashbury. When I saw it, it screamed her name so I bought it. The binding is the small pink flowers in the same line.

The quilt is really simple. I laid out the layer cake pieces in a 6x6 square then sewed it all together. The remaining 6 layer cake pieces I sewed in a row for the back. I'm so sorry, I forgot to take a picture but I'll try to explain the back. I bought some soft tone on tone grey flannel from Joann's, enough for a 60x60 quilt. I sewed it so there was no middle seam but two seams along the sides, the remaining layer cake square are about 20" up from the bottom. I hope that makes sense. I may have to snag the quilt from Jenny for a few more photos to show you.

I quilted a simple X in each square using a pastel rainbow thread. It shows up beautifully on the back with the grey flannel. I used the same thread to attach the binding, except that I used a specialty stitch instead of the typical straight stitch. It adds the perfect touch and I'm just kicking myself for not taking more photos.

Next time we meet up for coffee I will have to hijack the quilt for more photos. Promise.

My Winter Quilt

Ok, so it's practically spring out here in the desert but I've always wanted a winter themed quilt to snuggle under during the colder months. I fell in love with the Winter's Lane fabric collection and knew that I wanted to use it for this quilt. I love that it's more of winter and not so Christmas-y, which means I can have it out from after Thanksgiving until March (or whenever warmer weather starts)! I also included a fat quarter of Open Sleigh in aqua from the Aspen Frost line to add a few more houses (I cut it so the music notes were in the correct direction, so I only got 2 houses) and the sky fabric is the aqua snowflakes from the Season's Greeting line.

It took me while to find the right pattern for this quilt. I came across the Suburbs pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew and thought it was so cute. I had a picture of a little snowed in neighborhood in my head and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

The back is pieced with yardage of my favorite print of the line, leftover houses and some of the half square triangles you get from making the houses. I still have more of those HSTs and I'm thinking a matching pillow may be in order.

Abby of Latimer Lane did the quilting. This is the second quilt that she's done for me and I just love her. If you need a long arm quilter tell her that I sent you and you get your first quilt at $0.01 per inch. :)

We decided to go with the Glacee pattern. I love, love, love snowflakes. They are my favorite part of winter. She has 3 snowflake patterns to choose from but I love the variety of snowflakes in Glacee, it's my favorite.

This is officially the first quilt that I've made that I'm keeping for myself, although I'm sure my son will steal it. He has an affinity for snuggle-y blankets. :)

Quilt Stats:

Pattern: Suburbs by Cluck Cluck Sew (throw size)
Fabric: Layer cake of Winter's Lane plus yardage for back and binding
             1 fat quarter of Open Sleigh in Iced Aqua from Aspen Frost
             Snowflakes in Iced Aqua from Season's Greeting (for sky) 
             Premium Bleached Muslin by Legacy Studio (for white background)
Quilting: Glacee pattern by Abby of Latimer Lane

For more photos please click here

Grandpa's Memory Quilt

Here is one of the quilts from my work in progress post.

This quilt is very special. It was made for my mother-in-law's mother, who lost her husband earlier this year. After the funeral my MIL gathered up around 10-15 shirts that belonged to her dad and brought them to me. I used 9 different shirts and 6 coordinating fabrics to create this quilt for her mom. It took longer than expected but I finished it up in time and it arrived on Grandma's doorstep a few days before Christmas.

That's my MIL on the right

The shirts can be seen in the middle of the star and it's outer points (the blue and purple in the photo below). The coordinating fabric is seen in the 'V' part (the grey in the photo below).

Close up of the middle block containing a piece of Grandpa's handkerchief

The quilt tag

This was the largest quilt I ever made at just below 83" square. I knew from the beginning I would use a long arm quilter just for the sheer size of this quilt. Abby of Latimer Lane quilted this up for me. I had a hard time picking out a pattern that didn't overpower the shirts, I wanted them to be center stage. She helped me choose the loops and swirls pattern, and I absolutely love it.

A great view of the quilting

The best part is that Grandma loves it. I've gotten several phone calls from my MIL, apparently it's all she talks about! The absolute highlight of her Christmas. This just makes my heart happy. I'm so glad she likes it and I hope it brings her lots of comfort in the years to come.

To see more photos (including close ups of each block) click here


Quilt Specifics:
Pattern: Snow Blossoms by Lella Boutique (purchase here)
Fabric: Mix of cotton button-down shirts and 100% cotton quilting fabric
Quilting: Loops and swirls by Abby Latimer

A Quilt for Lauren

I recently finished up a quilt for my niece. Actually, it's been finished since the baby shower back in April but I've been working on embroidering the quilt tag since she was born in July. It was touch and go at times, I would get tired or frustrated and have to put it away for a bit, but it turned out so well. I'm so happy, even if it did mean using my seam ripper a few times. :) I finished it up last week and gave it to her on my birthday. Who says you can't give gifts on your birthday? :)

The fabrics are a huge mix of designers and prints. They came from both my sister-in-law and myself, and the colors coordinate with the nursery perfectly. Her nursery colors are aqua, coral, and grey with a little yellow, green and pink thrown in.

My inspiration | source

It took while to find the right quilt pattern. I was considering doing a chevron pattern because the nursery has chevrons in it but I wanted something simple. Wasn't too keen on dealing with triangles and all that. ;) So when I saw this baby quilt from Red Pepper Quilts (above) I had my eureka moment. I particularly loved the quilting she did, it just made the whole thing.

I decided to copy that design but omit the solids simply because I love a patchwork quilt. You'll notice that I fussy cut a few rectangles featuring little girls. I got a fat quarter each of Posy by Aneela Hoey and Children at Play by Sarah Jane. I just loved the little girls and I wanted to include a few of the scenes.

I backed it with a soft green flannel that I got from Joann's. I definitely wanted a solid back to highlight the quilting and I thought flannel was a nice soft material for little toes and fingers. I used one layer of cotton batting because we live in the desert and I didn't want it to be too warm. The binding fabric also came from Joann's, can't remember the designer but it's in their premium quilting cotton section. I just love all the colors in this plaid, brings it all together nicely.

I have a secret to share with you, I didn't quilt it in one continuous line. I know I know, but let me explain. I must have started and ripped out 3-4 tries before I had to give up and walk away for a bit. Try as I might (even with guides and marks on the fabric) I could not get the corners to line up nicely in the quilting. So I cheated. I sewed all the vertical lines first, tied them off and buried the tails. Then I sewed all the horizontal lines, tied them off and buried the tails. The result? Near perfect corners every time.  I actually planned on mimicking the quilting from Red Pepper but I was so fed up with it by the time I finished that I left it as is. I think the simpler quilting worked out well.

When it came time to machine sew on the binding I had trouble again. I could not get a nice looking straight stitch to save me. So I switched to a decorative stitch and used my walking foot. Turned out great!

I was able to get at least one good photo of this sweet girl on the quilt. She's quite the wiggler! You can see the quilting a bit better too. Hard to believe she's already over 3 months old, time sure flies! :)

This quilt has been entered into the baby quilt category at Blogger's Quilt Festival.