Monster Truck Baby Quilt from Jedi Craft Girl

Extra fun and simple baby quilt from Jedi Craft Girl today!! And she gives a tutorial to boot!  I love that it's very BOY but still a BABY quilt.  A great combination.  Check out Amanda's really cute quilted tote tutorial and her iron-on image pillows...more to add to my list!!

  I came up with the idea for this quilt when I was invited to a baby shower for a friend who loves going to Monster Jam.  I wanted a cute, modern take on the monster truck and this what I came up with. To begin, select fat quarters  of various prints.  I choose gray, white, black and green.  You can choose any prints or patterns you like.  I only had 8 different fabrics, but I would have liked 12. 

Next, cut your fabric into 12.5" strips, then sub-cut into the following measurements:

Do this with each of your fabrics.  Now mix up the pieces and sew the following 12" (finished) block:  (quarter inch seams)

You want the top and bottom pieces to be the same fabric, and the center to be different.  Press the seams toward the 6.5" piece.

I love personalizing quilts, especially if they are gifts.  To add a name to the quilt block, print the name using your favorite word processing program.  I tried several different fonts until I got the one I liked.  If you can, reverse the image when you print.  Take yourHeat N Bond® Lite and trace the reversed name in pencil.  Iron the piece of Heat N Bond® with the name to the WRONG side of your fabric.  Then, cut the name out.  Peel the backing off and arrange the letters how you want on your quilt block.  Finally press to attach it.

I outlined the letters using a straight stitch.  I went around each letter twice to give it the "sketch" feel....which I love.

  After you make 11 of these blocks, lay them out.  For the truck applique block, cut a white square 12.5"x 12.5"

  

Next,  follow the same technique using Heat N Bond® Lite to applique the monster truck to the quilt block.  Click HERE for the truck pattern.

To finish the quilt, sew the blocks together to form rows and sew the rows together.  Quilt as desired

Note: These are big blocks which help make this a fast, easy quilt to put together in a day.  If you would like the same look, but with smaller blocks here are the measurements:

For a 10" finished block: cut pieces 10.5" x 5.5", 10.5" x 2.25", 10.5" x 3.75"

For an 8" finished block: cut pieces 4.5" x 8.5", 1.5" x 8.5", 3.5" x 8.5"

Essentially the bottom strip is 1/2 the block size, the top strip is 1/3 the block size and the center strip is 1/6 the block size.

Here is a little peek of the baby shower - we centered the colors and theme around the quilt.  We even hung the quilt in the entry way so it was the first thing people saw as the entered.

I love that we were able to get a stack of tires!!

Monster truck cupcakes - complete with "dirt" on the top.

First Quilt Ever from HGK Handmade

A first ever quilt finish feature today from Audrey of HGK Handmade.  As she proclaimed "the longest WIP ever!" :) I know we all have those, lol!  I love that she set out to make her first quilt, it didn't go as planned but she persevered until she finished.  Quilts are all about who made them and who they are made for.  Love this sweet finish!! Also check out Audrey's bead shop, she's got some really great pieces. 

3 years ago *gulp* this project started. It was going to be my first ever patchwork quilt and of course I didn't start with something small, but went for a blanket instead. And of course I didn't follow any pattern but made up my own. (if you would like to see the whole lengthy process, click here)

The last time I posted about it was almost 1 1/2 years ago: I realised I had miscalculated something and now my precious quilt had turned out very long and very narrow. I asked for help with fixing this, but even though I did get some tips the whole thing ended up gathering dust in a corner.

Until recently. All of a sudden I decided that I was going to finish it, even if it was 'wrong'. Because I loved it as I was working on it, because I had already promised it to Big Brother, and also simply because of all the time I put into it. I just decided this was NOT ending up an UFO.

So here it is. There is a lot that's not perfect about it: apart from the obvious size miscalculation, I also made the mistake of sticking it in the dryer after it was done, and despite the fact that I had washed and machine dried all the fabrics and the batting, it still shrank. The batting is 100% cotton so I suppose that is why. I'll never machine dry it again and hope it will stretch back into shape a bit over time.

But I love it. It's a really really boyish quilt and the pattern (or lack thereof) turned out exactly as I hoped.
And more importantly: Big Brother loves it. He sleeps with it every night, even though summer has finally hit us. And when both Brothers crawl into bed with us on weekend mornings, he brings it with him and cuddles up under it. 


* I hope you will use it for very many years to come, my sweet big little boy *

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

Boy Quilt from Lilabelle Lane Creations

Sharon from Lilabelle Lane Creations is a mum, quilter and embroiderer among many more things I'm sure!  And it shows in this quilt with the combination of piecing and embroidery.  Such a sweet quilt for a little boy!  Make sure to stop by Lilabelle Lane Creations, see her 2011 finishes, 2012 finishes and Mini Quilts for a treat!  Thanks Sharon for sharing your quilt!

A Boy Story Quilt

This quilt just makes my heart go all warm and fuzzy.

It was a Quilt that I was always going to make ... one day.

Well that day came when I thought my second son was going to need

surgery at Easter and if I was going to be at the hospital then I needed

something to work on.

We left the specialist and went straight to the fabric shop, supplies bought.

Home and then some stitchery's were traced.

I was ready and the journey of this quilt began and the self imposed

deadline was set.  My gorgeous Nephews 3rd birthday - 7th June.

I did it!

 and the matching Pillow

I even put a quilt label on it so it is a real finish!

It has been quilted with an all over Kite Pantograph by Linda at Ladybug Quilting.

Thank you Linda.

- Quilt Stats - 

Pattern 

"A Boys Story" by Annie Downs of

Hatched and Patched

Finished Size

54" x 68" (138cm x 170cm)

Every stitch of this quilt was placed with love for Liam

and Lily has finished it off by filling it with cuddles.

So and Update on Declyn. 

He never had surgery. 

A lot of time had been spent at specialist and physio appointments (still one more Specialist Appt) so the stitchery's were still well timed!  He is allowed to return to sporting activities on the 1st June. He has done no running or anything for over 11 weeks and has just been given the all clear to ride his bike, he still has to get his fitness back up .....

"Really Declyn, do you have to play football this year?"

Arghh ...  boys will be boys

 and on that subject, remember Aiden's little adventure into the 

"knee injury playing field" as well?  

Yes he dislocated is patella (knee cap) and has a small tear in his ACL.

Now boys, you know I love you both but no more Knee injuries OK

 and I know you joke about it now, but really, both of you at the same time?

I'm off now. 

Have to go buy some wrapping paper and a card and get this Quilt ready to mail.

Thank you for sharing the journey of this quilt with me.

Now what ..... something new?

Galaxy Quilt from Blue Bird Sews

Great quilt feature today from Kelly of Blue Bird Sews.  The Galaxy Quilt is such a cool design made for a manly man!  Some good ideas and tips!  She shares some of the process here and here.  Kelly has a great list of tutorials, including some cool quilting ones I'd like to check out!  For some handmade goods check out her shop and for more inspiration see her flickr.  Thanks Kelly!


So this post has been in the works for quite some time now. Early last year my friend J and I started talking about a quilt for his bed. Only a few requirements: no flowers, dark man colors and it had to fit onto a queen sized bed. With those parameters I set out to make an epic man quilt; Nailed It!

The design part of Galaxy took a lot of thought. I knew it needed a bold geometric foundation...as this is a man quilt! The offset squares in dark/light values make a dynamic backdrop for 12" sampler blocks made from the 2011 Summer Sampler Series. I can't recommend this sampler series enough! Excellent directions and beautiful results. I could see myself making all these blocks over and over again. After making the six pointed string star block I felt like I could sew anything. 

The Minnesota block ended up being one of my favorites. I just love the way the colors and shapes play off each other.

Galaxy measures a whopping 90" x 88" and was quilted on a long arm by me. It was the 4th quilt I have quilted on the long arm and by far the most challenging. I sewed corner to corner on the dark/light background and then for the blocks did more detailed quilting to make an impact on each design. My best trick with the quilting details was to make a statement by not quilting some areas and heavily quilting others. This made for some cool effects.

The back of the quilt is completely pieced together with left over yardage. I had bought a lot of different colors and patterns and used up the ones with little flowers on the back. There was also a happy accident that made the back even more stunning. I had originally planned for a pieced scrappy boarder on the front but once it was on it just didn't work. So I decided to sew them up and use it on the back...as it turned out it was the exact width I needed. Amazing how things come together sometimes.

The way the quilt lies on a bed is magical. There is no way I could have known that the blocks would lie across the top pillows so perfectly, or that the center square would radiate so nicely from the bottom corner of the bed or that the blocks seem to burst out of the center gradually until becoming heavy on the outside. These are all wonderful coincidences that make me happy. 

Boys will be Boys Quilt from a maiden hair fern

We featured Linda from a maiden hair fern earlier this month with her Tanner Reunion Quilt.  Lots of times we get features where we know we'll be begging them to do another!! :)  (And to those of you who we've featured before...we most definitely feature twice! Or thrice!  So submit even if you've already been featured.)  Linda is a talented quilter as I mentioned before based on her impressive finishes.  I love this quilt she made for her nephew and the fabulous circle quilting.  Thanks again Linda for sharing!!

Shipped today to my new nephew.  Adapted from Reveille, of "another Bite of Schnibbles", Carrie Nelson's newest book.

 This darling fabric is from the Boys Will Be Boys collection designed by David Walker.  You can still find some on etsy.

UPDATE (5/3/12):  Last week I saw some of this fabric in Corn Wagon Quilt Shop, Springville Utah, if any of you happened to be headed there soon.

I used my new circle rulers for quilting.  They took some getting used to.  And I found that I preferred the 5" and smaller circles, more crinkle after washing.

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Custom Memory Quilt

This is our second time featuring Alix from Mamaka Mills (first time HERE).  Alix does an amazing job creating custom memory quilts for families, and the stories are always amazing.  This is no exception, here she made four separate and unique quilts, all in memory of one father.  If you want to find out more about what Alix does stop by Mamaka Mills, check out her gallery and she even has tips and tutorials on creating your own memory quilts.  Thanks Alix!

Today I finished a very special commission for a family in Ohio

 in memory of their father, John.

John passed away and left his

 three beautiful children and 

his amazing wife, Becky. 

Becky contacted me earlier this year to make 4 quilts for them 

from his clothing so that the kids could have a piece of their dad 

with them as they grow up.

Here are some of the finished pictures of their quilts!

Notice that all of the kids have different pantographs and border/backing fabrics. 

This is a way the kids can have their different personalities visible in their own quilts while using the same quilting fabrics, which in this case is their father's clothing!

Blaine's Quilt

Meredith's Quilt

Becky's Quilt

Grant's Quilt

Read previous posts about these quilts HERE..

and HERE...

and HERE...

and more HERE...

yup, more HERE...

and finally, last post HERE!