April 26, 2015

A Cute & Easy Baby Quilt

I finally learned how to quilt on a longarm! I took a longarm certification class at A Quilting Place back in March and am now able to rent time on their longarm machines. My first project was this cute little baby quilt for a friend, and I chose a fun, loopy pantograph. Cute and easy!



I added one of my Spoonflower quilt labels to the back. Now that I have the option to longarm some of my quilts, I might make it through all 20 labels I ordered this year.


Quilt Stats:
Size: I forgot to measure it, but probably 33" x 38"?
Fabrics (front): Riley Blake aqua/navy large chevron
Fabrics (back): gray and white polka dot from Hobby Lobby
Binding: Riley Blake navy/white polka dots using red Perle cotton and this handstitched binding technique
Pattern: no pattern...just two super-cute fabrics
Quilting: longarm quilted by me!!!
Started: April 2015
Completed: April 2015

April 9, 2015

ABC I Spy Quilt

Two of my friends were expecting babies at the end of March/beginning of April. (They both ended up having their babies this past Saturday. Isn't that crazy?) Here is baby quilt #1 which will be for (surprise) baby boy #3 for my dear college friend. I thought an ABC I Spy quilt might be fun since it could involve the new arrival's big brothers.


I based this design on Elizabeth Hartman's Charm Squares Baby Quilt pattern, but added half-charms to both ends of each strip. Unfortunately the English language has 26 letters in the alphabet, so the cute little zebras ended up on the back. (My initial plan was to add the zebras somewhere random on the bottom strip on the front, but my rigid, right-brain tendencies wouldn't allow it.)


I went to visit baby Dane yesterday, and Mom loved the quilt. That, my friends, is why I make quilts. :)

Quilt Stats:
Name: ABC I Spy
Size: 33" x 38"
Fabrics (front): charms from an ABC I Spy swap, Michael Miller Out To Sea Sailors ABC Sky Blue
Fabrics (back): Windham Fabrics Toy Tales
Binding: red and white polka dot from my stash using this handstitched binding technique
Pattern: based on Elizabeth Hartman's Charm Squares Baby Quilt
Quilting: wavy lines by me on my Bernina Activa 220
Started: ???
Completed: mid-March 2015

March 1, 2015

Denyse Schmidt Modernized D9P

In 2015 I'm going to do a better job about taking good pictures of my quilts. And blogging about them. For real this time. I promise. So...without further ado, here is my amazing (and finished!) modernized D9P made with Denyse Schmidt charms from a swap I participated in ages ago.


I. Love. This. Quilt. And for the first time ever, I'm keeping it for myself. Back in 2011, I participated in a few rounds of a Denyse Schmidt charm swap over on Flickr. (Of course I had several spots in each round.) I decided I finally needed to start doing something with them, so I pulled out some of the blue, green, gray, and gold charms to make a modernized D9P using Kristy Daum's tutorial.



For the backing, I scored a piece of clearance Fancy Free Allover Floral at Joann's (love, love, love that Joann's carries Denyse Schmidt and other designer fabric) as well as a DS Quilts remnant that I used for the binding. Except for the two gold pieces on the back and the Kona white on the front, the quilt is all Denyse Schmidt fabrics.

Quilt Stats:
Name: Denyse Schmidt Modernized D9P
Size: 50" x 62"
Fabrics: Denyse Schmidt, Kona white, a few scraps from my stash
Binding: DS Quilts Fancy Free remnant
Pattern: Kristy Daum's modernized D9P
Quilting: straight(ish) line grid quilting by me
Started: October-ish 2014
Completed: February 28, 2015

February 25, 2015

Valentine's Day Wrap Up (and a parenting fail)

I know Valentine's Day was a few weeks ago, but I wanted to post the cute cards and box my son and I made. For once, I was thinking ahead when I spotted some fun little eye rings in the Christmas clearance at Michaels. With some computer-generated tags, cardstock, and twist ties, we made these cute Valentine's Day cards for my son to give his classmates.



After much debate and deliberation, my son decided he wanted to make Picachu Valentine's Day box. Over the years, I've been much better about letting him make things on his own. (It was a very difficult transition for me since I'm a total type A personality. Yeah...I'm pretty much a control freak.) He did a fantastic job and was very proud of his finished box.



He made the whole thing by himself and even came up with the genius idea of taping toothpicks to the back of the foam tail and ears so he could poke them in the box. I was pretty impressed.

Now...onto the parenting fail. In our search for a box to use, the only thing I could find around the house was a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita box. (Of course that would be the only box I had available.) No worries. I was a super-smart mom, so I deconstructed the box, flipped it inside out and hot glued it back together. That way no alcohol-themed messages would show through the yellow duct tape. (And you wonder where my son gets his crafting genius from.) He made his box. It was freaking adorable. The morning of the party we realized there was no slot to put the cards in. I cut a sizable hole in the back which very clearly revealed a lot of Bud Light Lime-A-Rita graphics. Awesome. I was going to send my son to school with a Valentine's Day box that could quite possibly get him suspended. So minutes before we're due to walk out the door, I'm frantically duct taping the inside of his box to cover up the offending wording. He made it through the party, didn't get suspended, and still has a clean record. Mental note to save a shoe box for next year's project.