Sweetie Baby Quilt

First winners announced for First Friday Giveaway here so check it out and see if you won anything! :)

I have had some finishes lately!!! I can hear the applause around the world, so thank you, thank you :)  It feels so good to FINISH some things and not just START!!  I'm really really good at starting! :)

I have finished 4 baby quilts that were all started at different times and a few weeks ago were baby quilt tops in my cupboard.  I basted 5 quilts in 1 1/2 days, that's a miracle for me as I hate hate basting.  Quilted them all that week and binding the next.  I feel quite accomplished if you can't tell :)

I'll share one quilt everyday this week!  Hope you'll join me!  First up;

Sweetie

36" x 45"

Hello Luscious

I made this sweet little quilt with a vintage look from a Hello Luscious charm pack (5" squares).  I love love the palette of this collection, I think it is so pretty and sweet.

I decided to make some traditional quilt blocks to throw in with the squares.  I wanted to give it a little more personality.

I stitched-in-the-ditch for quilting, meaning in the seams of the quilt.  I always use a thin cotton batting, this quilt will be so sweet and crinkly when it gets washed up!  I used a soft pink print for the backing.  And raspberry herringbone for binding.  I'm adding this to my mental list of prints I like on bindings!

I love this sweet little quilt!! It is very much "me" from the prints to colors.  When it comes to babies I'm traditional in wanting super sweet and simple things.

I've decided to sell all of my quilts I'll share this week in our shop.  They're all currently listed.

Quilt Story's Shop

And I've decided to offer blog readers and instagram friends a special deal

save 10% with the code MEGSFRIEND

Thanks for stopping by!! Come tomorrow, Wed and Thurs to see the rest!!!

Custom Play Around Quilt

I (Meg) was commissioned to make this darling Play Around Quilt using Sarah Jane fabrics.  It was a joy!!  But really :)  We adore SJ fabrics so I was really excited about this project.

I used a lot of the same prints as in the original Play Around pattern.  The customer wanted the focus on pinks and as much green as I could include (there was only one print) to match her daughters room.

The top and bottom rows are fussy cut darling images from the prints (Children at Play line).  The middle three rows are embroideries the customer made.  She did an amazing job!!  They are made using SJ embroidery patterns.

Here are a couple of my favorites.  I wanted to show a close-up of all of them!  But I refrained...

I'm kinda bitter this isn't in my own quilt stack! I adore this line, the colors and the embroideries are over the top!!

And the super sweet quilting done by my aunt.  I love the sweet hearts on the border!

A simple polka dot on the back, it shows the quilting beautifully too!

There you have it!  So I hear the customer was quite happy and I hope that's true! :)

Our Play Around Pattern can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're all enjoying the holidays! 

Posy Quilt from Making Life Prettier

I love today's sweet feature!! Sweet baby girl quilt in pretty fabrics and colors...totally speaks to me :)  Samantha from Making Life Prettier has a fabulous little sewing blog.  Seriously just scroll through some posts...they're all gorgeous finishes and fabrics.  I'm excited to get to know Samantha more and see her awesome quilts!! Thanks for sharing! :)

I grew up sewing with my Mom but I swore I wouldn't sew after I moved

out. Although sewing came back into my life when I became a Mom. I

then somehow decided I would start quilting. I hadn't ever made a

quilt before two and a half years ago. (My Mom is a bridal seamstress

I grew up working on wedding dresses.) I have learned a lot from

quilting blogs and books although there are lots of techniques for me

to still learn. I am glad that there is such a wonderful community of

quilters out there that are willing to share information and support

newbies like me!  I love making quilts so those around me so they can

be surrounded by my love! Creating is just part of me I guess even

though I tried to drown it once upon a time. Anyhow here is my two

year daughters quilt. I hope you love it as much as she does!

It has been a quilt top for a while but over the weekend I finished this sweet quilt up! Miss E’s posy quilt or as she calls it her bunny blanket is all ready to cuddle with. She is willing to share pictures of it but don’t you even think about touching it…

This quilt is made with a pattern by Allison over at Cluck Cluck Sew called Inside Out. I modified it slightly by adding the left over pieces from the charm squares as a border and put the middle plus print at the ends instead of making them scrappy. The fabric is Posy by Aneela Hoey. I used charm packs and some bunny yardage for the inside pluses!

It is her bunny blanket because she LOVES bunnies! She tries to count all the little bunnies running in the pluses. I decided to use a print instead of a solid like the pattern suggests. It makes it busier but I wanted to feature those darling bunnies! (Although lately she says elephants are her favorite, silly girl)

I am also proud to announce that I actually free motioned a quilt! I did loops with my trusty Aurifil thread plus my gardening atlas grip gloves. (Thanks Cathy for the tip!) It is the only free motioning I know how to do, lol, I need more practice! You might ask if it was tricky with the minky backing. It wasn’t but I have to say it is because of the spray basting.(I used 505 spray adhesive) I would never attempt this with pins. Minky just stretches and pulls too much but she won’t sleep without a soft blanket. It washed up so nicely! Perfect for snuggling!

This quilt is bound with a crosshatch print from Blooms and Bursts by Jen Da Silva that I found at a local quilt store. All put together makes a happy little girl…

…and a cute bed! All ready to sleep. If you are wondering this is a Ikea adjustable bed at the smallest setting. The quilt fits pretty well just a little bit too narrow that doesn’t really matter though.

With the added borders the quilt measures at approx. 38” by 43 1/2”. Now to maybe finish up my last WiP before we move! Fingers crossed!

A walk in the woods, a charity quilt from Charlotte's gRACE for a Cure...

This is a sweet story from Lauren, who has a sweet daughter Charlotte. Charlotte is a little girl fighting a brain tumor. She is a beautiful little girl. Her mom, Lauren creates amazing quilts and sells them off in auctions to donate to brain tumor research. What a lady! Be sure to visit her blog and help spread the word and support her efforts....

I have a little story to share about my latest quilt.  A few weeks ago, Charlotte, Marian, and I were being ushered around Duke's pediatric oncology clinic, on our way to get Charlotte's chemo.  We passed by a 3-month old baby and her sweet mom.  After sleuthing Nancy-Drew-style for the day, I determined that this sweet baby was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. 

Knowing all too well what it is to have your world turned upside-down when your three-month old baby is given a brain tumor diagnosis, I desperately wanted to reach out to this family.  And of course, my love-language right now is quilts.  All day long, though, I felt uneasy about using what might have been my obvious choice of fabrics: Sarah Jane's "Children at Play."  I do have quite a bit of this parade print remaining:

I did not feel excited about using this fabric, though, thinking that it might not lend itself to the sober nature of the situation.  You see, before I realized that Charlotte is the one riding the pink elephant and could appreciate that one day she'll be able to raise those paralyzed, little arms up in the air, I have to admit that I might have been a little bit mad at this fabric.  That sounds silly, I know: to be mad at fabric.  It was really more that I was mad that this fabric is so sweet and innocent and pain-free.  And not only is Charlotte's life not like that now as she receives chemo and numerous other interventions, but it has never been nor ever will be like that. 

Enter: Aneela Hoey's fabric "a walk in the woods."

Two days after I met Anne, she dropped by my house with a wonderful bag of goodies (fabric and thread), including a stack of fat quarters from this fabric line.  First of all, who doesn't love Red Riding Hood?  But second, I remembered what this sweet line is called even before I read the tag.  And then I knew that I had to use it. 

I remember the time of diagnosis well.  It definitely felt like "a walk in the woods."  Most moments were so very dark.  I couldn't see the forest for sake of the trees: could we trust her doctors?  Did we have the right neurosurgeon?  Could she not be cured?  Was she declining before our very eyes?  And on and on and on. 

Yet, there were moments of light shining through the trees.  Sweet nurses who were so compassionate and empathetic that they cried with us.  Near strangers reaching out to us to tell us that we were not alone - through gifts to us, gifts to Charlotte, and most of all, through prayer.  And of course, there was the comfort and peace of God himself.

So after a bit of thought (and second and third opinions), I decided to use "a walk in the woods" for this newly diagnosed baby's quilt.  

I used the seven fat quarters that Anne gave me and also pulled in nine of my own fabrics.  There were a few fabrics that I ended up not liking in the quilt, so I arranged them all along two sides and trimmed those sides after stitching together the quilt top.  I used this disappearing nine-patch tutorial and am mostly pleased with how the quilt turned out.  My close-up pictures did not turn out very well, I think due to the weight of the quilt as it hung on the fence: the seams look so wonky, though I assure you that they are straight in "real life."

I backed it in a pink minky and gave it a gray binding.  I love the gray on pink contrast, but I also love the reminder to look for the silver lining in all things.  Even when things are so very dark and we might not be able to do much more than to stumble through the woods, even so, there are many things for which to be grateful.


Quilt Stats:
Measures: 37 x 50 inches
Pieced and Quilted by: Me!
Fabrics: A Walk in the Woods by Aneela Hoey
              and others from my stash

Garden Steps Quilt from Clover and Violet

The gorgeousness of this quilt is almost too much, it makes me so happy!!  So girly and pretty.  And when you read/look closer you'll see it is also embroidered.  It's from the Garden Steps Stitch & Quilt Along at Clover & Violet.  So darling right??  Jennie and Clara (mother-daughter duo) have some amazing projects they are always sharing and teaching like this darling Lone Quilt Block Pillow tutorial.  For all things inspiring like quilting, stitching and sewing you must add Clover & Violet to your list :)

My Garden Steps Stitch & Quilt Along!We are having nice weather here which made a good day for taking photos outdoors. I am glad to have another quilt finished, even quilted and bound. I had help finishing this quilt. Kathy from Stitch by Stitch, quilted it for me and I love the way it turned out!! Thank you Kathy, she is great to work with and does such nice quilting!!

She used a very light aqua thread to quilt it, it is a little out of my comfort zone but I took some advice and I think it works well because of all the aqua in the front and the back.

I am very happy that I used this blue Domestic Bliss for the backing!! Isn’t the back pretty with the floral quilting in an all over pattern!

Hope you are having a great day!

Birthday String Quilt from So Sarah Sews

Sarah from SoSarahSews has a fabulous quilt to share with us all today.  I LOVE the bright happy colors, and I'm sure a teenage girl will love them even more!!  Sarah has a great list of her finished quilts, so yummy to look at it :)  Make sure to see her flickr for inspiration and check out SoSarahSews.  Thanks!!

Well, I'm moving to London, England in 6 short months.  And I've made a quilt for all my young nieces and nephews...the ones that have been born in the last few years.  But my goal for this year was to give my older nieces and nephews a quilt before I leave.

I took care of Grant, whose birthday was in December, with this camoflage quilt.

Next up is my oldest niece, Brooke.  Her birthday is 4 days after mine in February, and I'm happy to say I'm already done with her quilt!  (Only two more to go after her!)

 

Here it is.  She's going to be 15 this year.  I can't believe it.  I think this will suit her.  She told me she likes all these colors, but no yellow, which is funny because her room is yellow.

This is an up-close of the quilting. I did big flowers throughout the quilt. I like it. (Don't mind the string hanging off there...don't know how I missed that!)

The back is one fabric I chose that I thought she would like. The colors in the pic are a little off, but it's really nice in person. I hope she likes it!

I had a lot of little triangles left over when I trimmed the blocks.  I made a baby quilt with them, you can check it out here. 

I'll soon be sharing with you my newest nephew's quilt (See HERE) that will be on it's way to him soon. (He was born 12-12-12! How cool is that birthday?!)  

Last day to enter the Hand Dyed Fabric Giveaway!!  Winner announced tomorrow!

Which Way Quilt from ...just quilts

Great quilt today from Steffi of ...just quilts.  LOVE the colors, she speaks my language!!  She's got some really fun projects, I love this Fabric House she posted a couple weeks ago.  Make sure to stop by ...just quilts for some inspiration!

Yesterday I finished the hand quilting and binding on the "Which Way?" quilt. For the binding I chose a grey fabric with a white polka dot pattern because I thought the rest of the quilt is colorful enough.

 

If you are new to this blog: welcome, it´s nice to have you here! :-) 

(Of course it´s nice to have my regular readers here, too!)

And if you are interested in the tutorial for this little quilt, you can find ithere.

 For the binding I used a new to me technique. First I sewed it onto the front as usual. Then I turned and pressed it to the back. and using a fancy machine stitch sewed it in place from the front.

 The back looks like this:

 Not bad, I think. And very much more quick than hand sewing it to the back. I don´t know if I would do it on a heirloom bed quilt, but for me it´s okay with this little wall hanging.

Now the quilt hangs in a little corner of our living room.

Ruffle Pillow and Embroidery Hoop Art Tutorial

 I got my second chance to work with some gorgeous Ruffle Fabric.  If you missed my Sweet Ruffles quilt tutorial where I used ruffle fabric strips check it out, turned out so fun!! I also share some tips on working with ruffle fabric if you're scared :)

Look at this fun collection for baby girl!!! And it was sincerely so simple to make (not including the quilt :)  

I am going to share how to make a simple throw pillow and embroidery hoop art, so let's get started!

Ruffle Throw Pillow

Materials Needed:

16" x 16" pillow form

1/2 yard of Ruffle Fabric

Cutting Requirements:

Two pieces of fabric 10" x 17"

One piece of fabric 17" x 17"

*adjust measurements for your size of pillow, generally 1" excess is the right size, if you have a much larger/smaller pillow form adjust accordingly.

With right sides together overlap the two 10" x 17" pieces for the back. IMPORTANT: Ensure your ruffles will all hang the same way.  Pin generously as ruffle fabric does stretch.  It is very forgiving however so don't be too intimidated.  No need to hem your edges, I told you it was simple!

Use a 1/2 inch seam and sew around entire perimeter of pillow.  Pull the pillow right sides out through the opening in the back.  You can hardly tell it's there with the ruffles!

Ta-da!  Love how this sweet pillow turned out, so feminine for my little lady!  This print is called Sunset Cascading, it's a beautiful combination of pink and coral.

Ruffle Embroidery Hoop Art

Materials Needed

hot glue gun

felt (optional)

marking pen

embroidery hoops

fabric piece 2" larger than the hoop

I used three sizes of hoops.  My 4" hoop I used a 6" square of pink mini ruffles.  My 6" hoop I used a pieced block (didn't it turn out cute??) I pieced a 4" block and added a border to make it 8" square.  Lastly I used a  9" hoop with a 11" square piece of fabric.

If you wanted to back the hoops with felt measure and cut that now.  Use the inside of the back hoop and measure out the right size of circle.  I opted not to add felt to mine, it gives a nice finished look so if you're gifting this project I would definitely back it.

Center and tightly screw in the hoop.  Take care that the image is centered and also it is centered to the top of the hoop.  Trim if necessary around the hoop with 1/4"-1/2" excess.

Carefully apply the glue to the inside of the hoop.  Work small sections at a time folding the fabric over as you go.  Careful not to burn yourself!

Again trim if necessary. If you'd like to add the felt to the back of the hoop you can do so now.

And now you've got some super sweet and simple artwork for your nursery!!  I am still working on the rest of the wall decor and will share the whole thing when I'm done.

I had no idea how nuts I'd go having this baby girl :)  It is so fun to go over the top and frilly, I'm loving it!  Thanks for stopping by and hopefully you learned something!!