WIP: Baby Quilts Everywhere!

Hello, Friends! Welcome to the Baby Quilt edition! Since I have eight quadrillion preggo friends/family members/people-I-have-to-make-quilts-for, baby quilts have taken over my life and my sewing workspace.

 

I've finished my log cabin blocks for Lito's quilt. I think I liked them better with just the gray and white borders, but we'll see when I've pieced the entire thing together.

I've started cutting my rainbow Northern Lights quilt. So far, so good. (The cutting takes forever because I'm being extra careful to be accurate, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

I've been piecing AMH feathers, paper piecing flying geese, and putting together churn dashes for Baby Boo's quilt. My next step is to add in a strip of Elizabeth Hartman. I was really inspired by her Xylophone quilt from her book Modern Patchwork, and I'd like a little bit of that in there too.

It's going to be a crazy quilt, and as I suspected, I'm already in love with it, and it's going to be difficult to hand over.

I need to baste a quilt top destined for my older sister and attach binding to my second 100 Quilts for Kids quilt. That's five active projects! Yikes! But I'll get them done. I always do! I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. And now I'm off to look at everyone else's lovelies.

SS: Rainbow Yum Edition.

This week's spoils include a rainbow of Kona. Don't hate me or throw anything, alright? I got these lovelies for $4/yard. (I super heart 50% off coupons.) From left to right: Rich Red, Tangerine, Corn Yellow, Clover, Peacock, Purple.

And since I just know you're dying to find out what I have in store for this stack, I'll have mercy and tell you. I have about eight quadrillion friends who have decided to add a cute little baby to their families, which means eight quadrillion baby quilts. And friends, I don't have quite enough time to make super original designs with complex fabric interactions for eight quadrillion babies. So! Solid rainbow color scheme. Northern Lights Pattern by Jaybird Quilts. (I don't buy patterns very often, but seriously, this pattern is my favorite thing she's made, like ever, and I finally sat down long enough to order a copy for myself!) As long as I don't absolutely hate making this quilt, I expect I'll be making at least one other baby quilt using the same pattern in the very near future. Maybe two.

I'm hoping to start cutting into this fun stack this week. But first! I have to link up with Sunday Stash at Finding Fifth!

FF: Banzo's Pillow

Some time last week, I finished this pillow for my oldest son, Banzo. I had originally intended the circle of geese to be used for a bee block, but my paper piece pages were printed a bit too small, and the block finished at 12" square instead of 12.5". Lame! So, it sat on my wall, waiting for its moment. (I used this free template for the circle of geese, and I bordered it in Kona Charcoal.)

I decided to make the block into a pillow, when I gave it to him, Banzo immediately hugged it and went about finding the perfect place on his bed. Later, he told me, "You made me my pillow because you love me, Mama." Then I got a big hug out of the deal. Yes, I melted from the sweetness!

I'm linking up today with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF hosted this week by Lynette at What a Hoot Quilts.

The Weekend.

Did y'all have a lovely weekend? I know I did!

Some time ago (maybe last year sometime???) I won a GC to Blossom Heart Quilts' fabric shop. I picked up some really really cute prints, but my favorite was definitely this alphabet panel. And did you see that Alyce from BHQ is hosting this year's Sweet Pouch Swap? I signed up--did you?

Add in some delicious whites, gray and whites, a touch of black and whites, and you get:

Scrappy log cabins! Try though I might, I really can't get away from log cabins! However, this batch features logs of all sorts of sizes, so none of the blocks are the same size. I'll do another round, this time with super bright fun logs, then see to putting them all together in some semblance of order. I'm trying not to panic about the assembly, as this was an intentional stretching exercise to force me to do something new, but yikes! It's still a little scary!

I hope to finish this bad boy by winter time. I have a car quilt for my oldest kidlet, but Lito needs one too. This will give me lots of time to freak out when I need to put all of these 26 blocks together. Eek!

How was your weekend?

SS: Hop Hop Edition.

Yesterday was the start of a shop hop that my quilting sensei K and I will be undertaking. We visited two shops with the goal of visiting another five in the next month.

Mr. Audrey asked me what one did on a Shop Hop, and I was aghast. You mean, besides buy fabric? What other reason do you need? That poor, poor man. He tolerates my fabric love oh-so well, and even humored me when I got home and oohed over all of my purchases. (I love him.)

If you need to avert your eyes, I understand. This is not the prettiest fabric I've ever seen before either! The second shop we visited was passing out goody bags that contained a fat quarter inside, which was a very nice thought, even if I have no idea what I will use this...lovely bit of fabric for, but I rarely (if ever?) say no to free fabric.

This is the real loot. The stuff I'm extra super excited about! Bright colors! Lots of hot pink! Delicious pin dots! YUM!

From left to right:

• From Michele D'Amore's Floralicious line for Benartrex. I bought an FQ of this print many moons ago, and I loved it so much that when I ran out, there was mucho sadness. I bought a yard yesterday, most of which is destined for a desperately needed ironing board cover, but 1 yard will ensure I have plenty left over too. 
• Orange Swirlies--no selvage info
• Moda's Essential Dots in Turquoise
• Moda's Essential Dots in Orange
• Yummy Delicious Navy Batik--K backed my youngest son's quilt in this, and I fell in love with it, but could never find it! Until yesterday, mwahahaha!
• Magenta Awesomeness--no selvage info

It's Sunday, and of course that means I'm linking up with Sunday Stash, which is being hosted this week by Kristy at Quiet Play. (I'm super jealous of all of her delicious sketch fabrics.) 

FF: 100 QfK Boy Quilt Edition.

It was good to get this little one out of the way. I cut squares for it back in May with the intention of piecing it together and finishing it up by end of that month. It's only July, but it's sad it's taken me this long to finish it. I had even purchased the flannel backing, pre-washed it, and cobbled together batting for it! Easy peasy, but apparently not that high on the to-do list.

But the timing worked out because now I can contribute it to the 100 Quilts for Kids event at Swim Bike Quilt. It's my second year making a quilt for it, and just like last year, it was really awesome to be able to make something for a kid out there who might really need a good snuggle. This one will be donated to Project Linus.

The most difficult thing about this quilt was putting together the binding. I started with a stack of FQs, and cut them into 6" squares to maximize fabric usage. I was left with a 3" x 18" piece, that I then trimmed to 2.25". Add in some generic red solid, and voila! Scrappy binding! The finished quilt measures about 38" x 44", and my husband informs me that the flannel backing is super soft and snuggly. (He may have taken a nap on it.)

I've got one more quilt for 100 Quilts for Kids that needs a binding, and I'm even more excited about that one! I'm linking up with TGIFF hosted this week by Molli Sparkles and Finish It Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Let's cross another off my 2013 Q3 FAL list!

SS: Elephants Edition.

Just a few additions this week:

I had to pick up binding and backing for one of my 100QfK tops--houndstooth and polka dots respectively. My friend John found that amazing pink elephants prints and--get this--actually shared some with me. (If those elephants had been my find, I'm not sure I would have been so nice! Thank you, John! I have grand plans for those elephants.) Some days, I'm pretty sure my friends are much too generous with me, but I'm not going to complain!

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash hosted by Fiona at Finding Fifth, woo!

FF: X & + Edition.

While the week has been busy with the start of potty training (groan) and other shenanigans, I did manage to finish sewing the binding on this bad boy a few nights ago, and since then, I made a label, sewed it down, threw it in the washer, had a photo shoot, and I kept it far far away from the child who no longer wears diapers.

This lovely was pieced by the wonderful girls of the Make It Modern Bee. And I'm going to cry a little when I see it go, but it will be headed to my sister-in-law and her new husband to celebrate their recent wedding.

The backing was difficult for me to pick, and I went with an unexpected choice in dark navy blue, but I love the result. Once again, my quilting sensei K made a suggestion that surprised me, but it looks awesome. (Thank you, K!) You can also see a bit of the quilting up above. I straight line quilted around the blocks and in the + marks, then did a bit of an infinity loop in the x portions, using red, white, and black thread to match the fabrics. Since the blue of the backing is so dark, the black of the bobbin thread looks like it matches perfectly. It's bound with Bella solids in some shade of red.

This quilt was on my 2013 Q3 list to finish, woowoo!

I'm linking up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF with M-R at Quilt Matters. See you there?

Q3 Finish-A-Long Goals.

Hello there! It's that time again...Q3 FAL goals. (Woo!) Let's get to business so I can get back to work.

For Q3, I'd like to finish:

R&M's Wedding Quilt--DONE
I've got to fit this puppy with its binding and get it out of here!

Quilt #1 for 100QfK--DONE
Needs to be basted, quilted, and bound.

Quilt #2 for 100QfK--DONE
Needs to be bound.

L&J's Quilt--DONE
Needs to be basted, quilted, and bound.

Triangle Mini Quilt--DONE
Something needs to happen. 

Low Volume Mini Quilt--DONE
Need to finish the applique, then baste, quilt, bind.

It is admittedly an ambitious list, which are the best kind in my opinion. The Triangle Mini Quilt is a holdover from Q2, but everything else is a new addition to the list. I'm linking up with the Q3 FAL list at She Can Quilt!

SS: Baby Girl Quilt.

Friends, it is with great excitement that I announce my baby sister is having a baby girl. Woo! I think of all the fun girl sewing I'll be able to do, and I dream of teaching her to quilt and picking out fabric with her and basically shaping a mini me. Sweet gig, right?

Perhaps not a mini me, exactly, but I am excited about sewing this new little one a bunch of goods to welcome her into the world the proper way: with sparkles, with ribbons and trim, and with lots and lots of hot pink.

And of course, she'll need an awesome baby quilt to go along with it. I chose this palette because initially my sister was leaning towards some magenta-ish fabric choices for her crib bedding. (She has since detoured and gone the route of grays and aquas, but my palette remains unchanged because can I be honest? I'm more excited about working with hot pinks and oranges and yellows.) The top chevron is what I pulled everything from, but I ordered mostly oranges and yellows because I already have one or two*** pink prints on hand.

There is some Comma in there, and there is some Glimma in there, and there are some other prints too. Can't you just see a delicious baby quilt emerging from this beautiful stack of goodness? I've got the design planned, and I'm eager to get started, but first! I really need to finish up some of these other projects. (Is that the story of my life, or what?)

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash at Pretty Bobbins. 

***And by one or two, I mean one or two thousand.

Q2 Finished Results.

My original list is here. I had five unfinished items to tackle from April to June, and I finished four of five, so that's pretty fantastic, right?

QBB Quilt--Finished!

 Sissy Love Quilt--Finished!

Morgan Nursery Quilt--Finished!

Jamie's Baby Quilt--Finished!

And the Triangle Mini Quilt? I didn't even touch it. I really did have the best of intentions to finish that bad boy up, but I didn't. Oooh! But I can totally blame that on the fact that I've had family in town or been out of town myself for most of June, right? Right. 

Stay tuned for a Q3 list in the very near future. Until then, I'm linking up with Leanne at She Can Quilt for the Q2 Finish-a-Long!