Looking Back: Red, White, and Blue

This quilt was completed in the spring of 2010.  I purchased this as a table topper kit in the early 90's.  I was a brand new quilter, and I made a mess of the pinwheels, so this got packed away in the recesses for a looooooong time.  I pulled it back out last spring and decided to just remake all the pinwheels.  Once that part was done, it was super simple to piece!

I decided to turn it into a regular quilt instead of using it as a table topper.  The colors work really well in my family room, so this one "lives" on the back of our denim couch.  It is backed with two blue and white prints, and machine quilted with a very tight stipple.

I learned on this one that the tighter you stipple and the more thread you use, the stiffer the quilt!  This is a heavy blanket, and isn't super soft and "squishy".  My kids prefer a softer, "drapier" quilt, so this one doesn't get picked very often for snuggling.

But the dog isn't as picky as the kids.  :-)  This is Mindy, our King Charles Spaniel.  She's a spoiled girl who likes to nap on quilts.

Looking Back: Nature Quilt for a Nature Girl

I completed this quilt in April of 2010, in honor of my daughter's 17th birthday.

Deb Strain's Cherish Nature fabric line was the perfect choice for my nature loving girl.  I chose a very simple design utilizing a layer cake and jelly roll, and emphasized the graphic layout with straight line quilting.  The thin sashing is Kona white.

I set the quilt on her chair in her bedroom, so it was a surprise when she woke up on her birthday.  It was hard to find chunks of time when she was away from home to work on this, so as I neared my deadline I had to coax a few friends into inviting her out for sleep overs so I could work!

I had a bit of a tricky time with the backing, but after shuffling lots of scraps, I'm happy with the outcome.  I wished the pieced border would have extended the entire length of the quilt, but I got over it.

 I sketched out a butterfly that was on one of the focus fabrics, and I embroidered that on the quilt label.  I had so much fun with that, and liked the outcome so much, that I have embroidered a little something on all my subsequent quilts.  It's become a little trademark.  :-)

 I made it big enough that it can someday be used on a twin bed if she chooses.

My oldest.  She keeps me balanced, inspires me to be a better person, and has no doubt taught me more than I could ever teach her.  She's my favorite person in the world to go antiquing with, to eat chips and queso with, to be lost on a road trip with, and to make a nature quilt for.  Love this girl.

Making Piece In Central Park

I ordered a jelly roll of Kate Spain's Central Park line and cut it into 2.5 inch squares with the intention of using it for a quilt along, but quickly changed my mind.  The colors were too bold for what I really wanted.  So, I've had a pyrex mixing bowl sitting on the corner of my sewing desk brimming with these squares and begging for some attention.  I immediately knew who I wanted to give this quilt to, but I've had a really hard time coming up with a pattern that excited me.  I think part of my problem is that although I really like some of these fabrics on their own, I'm not sure I love how they look as a group.  I tend to go a bit more traditional in my fabric selection, and this one might be a bit too "retro" and "hip" for a fabric frump like me!

I have a horrible habit of setting things aside, but for some reason I can't seem to let this one go.  I'm determined to see this thing through, so I keep trying to make some peace and fall in love with this design idea.  I've issued myself a little challenge; the daily half dozen.  I'm hoping to have enough fabric to complete thirty squares for this quilt.  So, if I do just six squares a day, I can have this baby ready to assemble in a week.  I'm making myself work on the six squares before I can move on to any other sewing project every day this week.

There are worse things than spending a little time in Central Park each day, right?? I'm off to tackle six squares!

Dino-Mite

My three year old daughter is crazy for dinosaurs.  I mean C-R-A-Z-Y.  When this first started I was a little concerned because it is really hard to find feminine dinosaur related items.  No worries.  The toothier and scarier, the better for her.  Gross.  I have no idea where this passion came from, and much as I have tried my hardest to introduce Disney princesses or flower fairies, we are SOLD on dinos.

So, it was no small wonder when, during a recent trek to Joann Fabrics, she had a small fabric fit over a certain something that she spied.  (She comes by her passions quite naturally.  It's in her genes, after all, and she may just have witnessed her Momma declaring true love for a certain fabric in the quilt shop one too many times!)

Anyway, she originally spied the green fabric, which was clearly a must have in her mind.  I just wasn't that sold on the idea.  That fabric is so.....boyish.  And so.....uncute.  So, I quickly found this little coordinate and offered it up as a suggestion.  

She doesn't like the white one as well because it doesn't have these....

Triceratops are our favorites.  I mean F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E-S.  Plus, we heart bright orange.  So, I'm headed into my sewing nook this week with my marching orders.  Use all the triceratops.  Make it happy colors. Some green fabric HAS TO be on the front of the quilt.  And, if I can add some pink glitter that would be great.  (????)

It's always good to have a well thought out plan!

Scrappy Makes Me Happy

I'm working on my FIRST ever scrap quilt.  See, here's the thing.....when I finish a quilt project, do you know what I do with all my leftover fabrics?

I throw them away.

I know.  I'm like a quilting heretic.

I'm not much of a saver to begin with, and I don't have a lot of storage space in my sewing area.  So, I'm pretty selective about the scraps that I save.  (I do piece my backs to try to use as much fabric as possible in each quilt, so I'm not completely hopeless.)

Anyway, I admire stash builders and their ability to pull the perfect yellow print out of a hat.  I figure the guilt I feel from throwing away scraps may potentially be less severe than the guilt I'd feel hanging on to all of them and never using them??  That's why it was a little bit of a crazy moment when, at the Dallas Quilt Show this year, I bought an entire bag of scraps from the Bonnie Blue booth.

I carelessly toss my own scraps aside, yet I feel some sort of moral obligation to rescue someone else's scrap?  And to pay money to do it?   I don't know how to account for it.

Anyway, I'm crazy about Bonnie Blue's quilts and fabrics both, so I ironed up my new bits and pieces and I've been playing around with them.  Scrap quilts are really fun, and more than just a little addictive.  If I'm not careful, I might just find myself hoarding a little scrap stash sometime soon!!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this one...

A Civil War Story Quilt

For the past four years, my daughter has taken a Biblical World Views/Humanities class as part of her homeschool curriculum.  Hannah had a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for her teacher, and he became someone very influential and special in her life.  She asked if I would make a quilt to give to him at her graduation, and she specifically requested that it be a quilt with a story.  So, together we decided to make him a quilt out of Civil War reproduction fabrics in honor of all the history he imparted to her.

The pattern is called "Done In A Jiff" and is by Heartspun Quilts.  We wanted the quilt to have a masculine feel, and I think both the pattern and the colors helped to accomplish that.

This quilt's verse is I Peter 3:15, which was a meaningful verse for this class.  I embroidered a simple cross for the label.  He liked the quilt a lot.  My eldest son will begin taking classes from this man in the fall, followed by my younger son in a few years.  So, I joked with him that this blanket is partly a thank you for the last four years, and partly a peace offering for the next seven!  :-)

Summer Pinwheels

Well....THAT was quite a crazy break!!  My oldest just graduated from our homeschool.  What was I thinking starting a new blog at the beginning of her final semester?  I somehow grossly underestimated all the that the title "senior" would entail!  Ha!  We've been going a thousand, and even though I've dropped way more balls than I've juggled, it's been a fun and memorable time.

I have gotten some stitching done here and there, so I'm excited to have some new things to share.  My most recent finish is a quilt that I made to send to my Aunt who lives in Colorado.

It is made out of various fabrics from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.  The pattern is a simple pinwheel with white sashing that I designed myself.

My Aunt goes by the name "Oma Joan".  Her name is pronounced "Joanne", and "Oma" is German for "Grandmother".  My kids started calling her Oma Joan when they were little and the name just stuck!  I embroidered a label for the back of the quilt.

Backed in a minty green and bound in red gingham, I think this quilt has a fresh, summery feel.

This quilt has already arrived to its new home in beautiful Colorado, and Aunt Joan called me right away to tell me how much she liked it.  Colorado is one of our all time favorite places to vacation, so I hope I'll get to go visit this quilt sometime very soon!