Gray Gingham

Another gingham baby quilt. I made one similar to this a few years ago. A friend contacted me and put in a special order for this one. 

 This quilt comes together so fast. Like 6-7 hours fast. I used this tutorial and measurements from Empty Bobbin Sewing, which made strip piecing so easy. The whole top went from fabric on my table to a finished quilt top in three hours. Which includes interruptions from a busy toddler and a game of Chutes and Ladders with my preschooler. :)

I went back and forth with about three different bindings. I was originally drawn to stripes (of course), but I thought it competed too much with the pattern on the front so I switched to this orange solid last minute. 

In the ditch quilting. I ironed all the seams open. The pro is that all of the seams stayed nice and straight. The con is that it was much harder to keep my quilting in the ditch. 

 

Backing from JoAnn's. 

If you're looking for a budget friendly, quick beginner's quilt. This is a great one.

Quilt Stats:

Kona solids for the grays on front

Waverly for the white 

fox print is from JoAnn's

Binding is Waverly

Batting: Warm and White

36.5" x 49"

Cowboys and Indians

Another baby Pow Wow. This pattern is sooo fast. I have a few other projects I'm working on this spring, so I needed a quick finish for a baby gift. This was perfect. If you're looking for a great beginner quilt pattern, Pow Wow is awesome.

I'm not sure if this backing is super PC, but I love it anyway. Sometimes I use colors from a large print as a springboard for the front of the quilt. It takes the hard part out of picking coordinating fabric. I don't think I would usually go for this color combination, but it totally works.

 I saved 5.5" strips while I was cutting the blocks, then put them on the back.

 

Simple straight line quilting kept it very soft. I was originally going to do white for the background of the blocks, but when I saw Cotton and Steel Add it Up on Amazon Prime, I went for it. 

Off to my new nephew who will arrive next month! 

Stats:

39.5 x 43.5"

Backing: Cowboys and Indians by Alexander Henry

Sashing: Cotton + Steel Add It Up Rainy Day

Binding: Waverly from Walmart

Batting: Warm and Natural

Every Star is Different

I finished this one ages ago, but I'm just getting around to posting it. My sister always donates a gingerbread house to Primary Children's Festival of Trees every year in Salt Lake City, Utah. They sell everything on display (mostly trees, but some gingerbread, wreaths and quilts, etc.) and donate all the proceeds to Primary Children's Hospital. I read somewhere that over 100,000 visitors come to see and bid on everything, raising millions of dollars. Anyway, it's a great cause.

I was chatting with my sister in November and she suggested that I enter a quilt. I didn't even know they accepted quilts! I didn't have much time to plan (uh, one week), so I stuck with a pattern I already knew. Shimmer by Cluck Cluck Sew.

I used fabric I could find at my local quilt shop. It's all from the Smitten line by Bonnie and Camille. 

This backing is so luscious. It's a super light lawn, and it's so drapey and buttery. Nom. 

I did figure eight quilting because it's the new stipple, but it looks a bit more modern. 

I mailed it off to my sister and never saw it again. Haha. Hundreds of quilts are donated, and mine wasn't displayed, so they put it in the gift shop/boutique area. I asked a very nice woman working there if she had seen it (I showed her a picture) and she said, "Oh that definitely sold the first night!" So that made me feel good. 

I want to enter another one again next year, when I have a bit more time to plan.

Stats:

42" square

Fabric: Smitten by Bonnie and Camille

Batting: Warm and Natural

Backing: Creamy Rosy Lawn, from Smitten

Binding: Vintage Holiday Cotton Red and Pink Dot by Bonnie and Camille

Star Crossed Baby Quilt

I've had this quilt in my mind for a while now. There's always a baby being born on my side of the family, so I was happy to have the excuse to whip it up. The design of it took much more time time than the actual construction (by far). I was inspired but this quilt on pinterest. I wanted to do something similar but play with color. 

So I went to Pattern Jam. It is an awesome little website where you can design your own quilts. It was a perfect way to swap colors and decide a design before I started cutting. I went through a ton of different versions:

But I landed on this one.

I love it. And it's almost exactly like I planned.

These horses from Sarah Jane are everything. I made my girls easter dresses with it a few years ago and I'm still not tired of it.

I tried to get crazy and do something other than striped binding, but I couldn't. It was too perfect. I love this binding in particular because it's all different colored stripes in the same piece of fabric. 

I wanted the eye to move diagonally so I emphasized that with the straight line quilting. I like soft minimal stitching for babies. 

My favorite block, Marching Cats from Tiger Lily by Heather Ross.

I mailed this just in time for my sweet niece to be born. Her mom fought pre-term labor her entire pregnancy and managed to keep her cooking long enough for her to be born perfectly healthy, 4.5 weeks early. Good job mom (and family!). I'm so happy for them.

Quilt Stats:

38x43"

Blocks finish at 4.5"

Fabric: Mostly solids from Waverly at Walmart, some Cotton and Steel basics, and a little Tiger Lily

Backing: Summer Ride in Melon from Wee Wander by Sarah Jane

Batting: Warm and Natural

Shimmer

I've had this quilt in the works for a few weeks now. I got an invitation for a friend's baby shower last week, and I knew it was meant to go to her. My friend has been praying and hoping for a baby and they were recently blessed through adoption. I'm soooo happy for them. This one just feels extra special, you know?

Anyway, the pattern is Shimmer from Cluck Cluck Sew. I love her stuff and three cheers for no Y seams! I timed myself and I could whip out a block in about 30 minutes.

I went back and forth on backing for ages, but settled in my comfort zone. Polka dots are always easy. I matched the pattern and hid the seam. You can't even tell (patting myself on the back for that one).

 I threw it way back and stippled this quilt. I haven't stippled in...6-7 years? I forget how fast it is! It only took me 25 minutes to finish the entire thing. 

 I did the Elmer Glue basting and machine bound it. I usually like to hand bind, but I was pushed for time this week. Baby showers act as great deadlines. :)

 Isn't this dolly the sweetest? My mom gifted it to my daughter for her first birthday and I love her so much. I'm forcing it on my baby as a comfort item because I think it's so darling. 

Stats: 42" square

Fabric: mostly Sweet Marion by April Rosenthal, Navy blue anchors from Sarah Jane, and the light blue mushrooms are from Fantasia by Sara Lawson

Batting: Warm and Natural

Backing: left over Riley Blake 108" Wide Medium Dot Navy Reversed

Raspberry Kisses

Simple quilts are my favorite. I stumbled upon this Raspberry Kiss block ages ago. If you're looking for a pretty simple block, this one is great. I did a little color play with this one, graduating from dark to light.

Walmart backing again. Shhh, don't tell my hard-core quilting friends. 

I have been hoarding this Tiger Lily fabric for ages. Can Heather Ross do anything wrong? I think not.

I decided to keep it soft with some minimal ditch quilting. 

Striped binding again. I made like 80 yards. I bound this quilt, then gave the rest away to my quilting friend for her birthday. Who doesn't love pre-made bias binding?

I put this quilt in my local County Fair and it got second in the baby quilts division (don't get too excited, it's a small county fair). After submitting entries for 8 years, the nice older lady judges are getting to know my style. I'm the only younger quilter to enter. They commented that they liked the mix of background whites on this one. They also commented that I forgot to wash off all my blue marking pen on the quilting lines. Oopsies.

This one was gifted to a dear friend who just had her first baby girl. I figured a pink explosion quilt would be a great way to break her into the world of little girls. With three of my own, I'm a bit of an expert. 

Tiny Tile Baby Quilt

Quick finish for a baby shower a couple weeks ago. I was too lazy to think, so I copied this one off Pinterest. Sometimes that's just easier, right? haha. This took me about three days, start to finish so I guess that's pretty easy!

This was a bit of a departure for me because I never ever use solids. Like ever. I found some great colors at shhhh...Walmart. Don't tell anyone I love the Waverly fabric there. And it's $3/yd so you can't get much better than that. And it's local, so if I get the itch to quilt I can scratch it pretty quick.

I love how the negative space quilting makes the blocks feel like they're on point. I chose soft baby pink thread for the quilting this time instead of my usual boring white. 

I know. Striped binding. I tried at least four other prints but I just kept going back to this one. It's perfect. 

I opted to hand sew the binding this time. It's therapeutic for me and I like to sit on the couch with my husband and watch something mindless on Netflix while I sew. It's nice. 

I'm finding that I'm drawn to simple quilts more and more. They're just so crisp looking. I love this one.