"Dress Me Up!" Quilt

I saw this tutorial on Dear Stella Designs here, and I immediate hunted down some of this Wee Gallery Wild fabric on Etsy, which was the only place  I could find it. I love, love, love the cuteness of these little critters.

I did changed the pattern a little by adding a little zipper pocket to the back of the quilt for the clothes that go with the quilt. Honestly, it's not my best zipper effort, but I have a pile of WIP that I want to finish before baby #2 arrives mid-September.

As Little Man gets older, I think he will really enjoy this quilt. I really enjoyed the quick quilting I did, and I think it came out so well.

To make the clothes I traced the various animals, then photocopied the outlines so we could sketch the clothes out, then cut them out. The tomato pig is my favorite. We'll gradually be adding to the wardrobe of these little guys as time goes on.

Elk Grove Baby Quilt

I love this Elk Grove fabric by Jay-Cyn Designs for Birch Fabrics. It is adorable and the color palate is wonderful. I made this little quilt up for my new nephew. Being pregnant myself, I'm a little late (he's already almost 4 months old!), but hopefully he will love it.

I love the way the appliquéd circles came out. I wasn't sure if I should quilt around them, but I think it was the way to go. It gives the quilt really nice texture.

I used the cheater quilt block fabric from the Elk Grove line for the backing.

Chalkboard Mugs and Mug Rugs

 


I had a fun time making up these cute mug rugs out of Cream and Sugar by Ampersand Design Studio for Windham Fabrics. I think they turned out fantastic and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't keep any for myself. I used some thermal Insul-Bright batting. I have heard from friends and family that they work great.

I also took some mugs I found for less than $2 from Crate and Barrel outlet and painted them with porcelain chalkboard paint.  I think the combination turned out great!

And here are some pictures of my one year old trying to climb the cabinets to pull them off the counter!

Quilted Christmas Stockings

I have finished the stockings for David and Little Man. I think they turned out pretty good. I did not manage to finish my own stocking by Christmas, but now I have an entire year to get that done!

I used the Thimble Blossom Merry pattern, with a few alternations to make it go together easier, and hopefully hold up better. For example, I used interfacing in the stocking cuff to give it a thicker feel more similar to the rest of the stocking. Otherwise, it just seemed too flimsy to me.

I was also really excited to use my machine's bar tack stitch for the hook loops. That's one I don't get to use very often!

Hexies Are Coming Along

I have my pieces put together. It was a lot of hand sewing, but very enjoyable. It has been a while since I had a sewing project where I could sit on the couch and watch TV with my husband while working.

Back of the basted hexes.

Paper Removed. Now to do some cutting.

Get Your Hexie On

Halloween is officially over and I'm ready for Christmas! Here is a little preview of my first hexie project. Stay tuned to see what I'm making.

ChirstmasTree Skirt

I did not get to making my tree skirt before Christmas, but with the week off, I decided to tackle this project. Using the Small Plates pattern from Elizabeth Hartman's The Practical Guide to Patchwork, I came up with this 25 block mini quilt. Rather than making a round skirt, I went with a square shape.  If I were to do this again,  I think I would work on making the quilting a little tighter and perhaps in a less loopy pattern. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of it around a tree since I finished it after Christmas.

One of my favorite squares. I love these owls.

Tree skirt back.

Happy New Year - Resolution #1... (Advent Quilt)

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I took the week between Christmas and New Year off this year and it was awesome. I don't think I've had that many days off in a row since I started my job four years ago. I managed to finish my Advent  Calendar Quilt (started 2 years ago), and I am super happy with the way it turned out. I have also started a square tree skirt.

The Advent Quilt pattern is from a SewMamaSew post that Elizabeth Hartman of OhFransson did for them a few years ago.  I think that I got the fabric in a Christmas fat quarter bundle at some point. This is the first real machine quilting that I have ever done, which was very exciting, in a really dorky way. The feed dogs on my machine don't lower, so I just unscrewed the plate covering them and took them out while I was doing the quilting. This actually worked very well. When I was done I just screwed them back in and everything was good to go.

Applique detail.

Quilt back

Grandma Quilt Squares Project

I have recently found a bag full of quilt square that my Grandma Natsuye in  Hawai'i  made years ago. This is not the traditional Hawaiian quilt patterns, but something that all my Japanese grandmas made. I love that they're so colorful and scrappy. They're not focused on a fabric scheme and there are multiple textures and weights to the fabric.

There is only one square like this in the bag. I plan on making enough in this patter for a quilt. 

When she passed away my father brought them home for me, along with her crochet needles and a few other crafty things.  Growing up we always had quilts from one grandma or another around the house, even now I have a quilt from another "grandma" in Hawaii on my couch. It's so old that its fraying and I burned one corned of it on the stove in college while heating up (I had the flu at the time).

My understanding is that these are all made from scraps Grandma Natsuye got from the fabric store.  I plan on saving all of my scraps to be able to make squares like this that are really patchy and scrappy. I colorful way to use up remnants.

Below is a picture of the pin-wheel pattern baby quilt Grandma Natsuye made me.

I love the detail here...

Pretty in Pink

I've started a new quilt...Without finishing any of my others... 

This "Mosaic" style is one I saw on Oh Fransson, I think it looks amazing. I have found the technique to be fun and surprisingly quick for all of the sewing, cutting and pressing required. I think that perhaps I have cut the pieces a little too small, but overall I really like what I've done so far.

I'm not sure yet what color I'd like to use around the blocks in the void space. I'm thinking about a rich chocolate brown, hopefully that won't be too dark.

Spiderweb Blocks

I'm working to finish this spiderweb block lap quilt this week.  I've had it sitting in pieces in the 2nd bedroom for months.  The fabric is Moda Mod Green Pod Free to Grow by Robert Kaufman. It was so colorful and exciting that I couldn't resist. Although, now that I'm seeing it all together it seems a bit aggressive...I'm sure it will be great from a distance.

I'm at the block assembly stage. Once that is complete I plan to take the plunge and quilt it myself, something I've been avoiding because I'm so intimidated by it. My friend Cortney has invited me over to work on it and for a little coaching (she is assembling two twin size quilts for her girls...Quite a project!).

It's also my goal to start a sheet quilt for the bed soon...something lightweight and easy for summer. OhFransson! has a great pattern. She is amazing.

Cameron's Quilt

Almost 6 months ago I finished this quilt for my nephew, Cameron.  The quilt pattern is from Denise Schmidt Quilts.  This is a great book with quilt patterns and projects that are simple and fun. I used the What A Bunch of Squares pattern at 200%, instead of 400%.  The quilt came out standard crib size, about 40" x 50". The fabric is from the Recess collection by American Jane for Moda.  I had my sister help me pick out the fabric to go with her nursery theme and I think it turned out great.

These are a few pictures of the unfinished quilt.

Here is the finished quilt with my nephew. My sister has also told me that it will be making an appearance on Animal Planet in the fall, along with their cat, Cooper: Photographer Cat (you can also see video Cooper took of baby Cameron on his website).

Mom's Quilt

I am new to quilting, it is something I had wanted to try for a long time but always felt intimidated by. So, I started out with a baby quilt  pattern from Nancy Zieman's Quilting with Confidence  (I thought this book also had great tips for finishing quilts and cutting, etc - perfect for the first time quilter).  It was easy and turned out great. After that under my belt, my husband's aunt Jil helped me plan a quilt for my mother.

The quilt has a windmill center with a basic log cabin surrounding it. I think the windmill centers add interest to the quilt because they are three-dimensional, rather than flat. I don't have any construction photos, but here are some shots of the finished quilt.


 The fabric for the quilt was also a gift from Aunt Jil.