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.

One Up

My daughter's kindergarten teacher loves Super Mario. She wore a gray hat with this green one up mushroom on the playground all last year. I really wanted to make something for her for the last day of school, so I thought something Mario related would be perfect.

I did a little hunting and found exactly what I wanted on Pinterest. (I tried to post the link to the original post but it no longer exists...)

After fiddling with the math, I figured out that I could make my life so much easer by cutting out strips of fabric instead of individual squares. So that's what I did. Each square is equal to 1" so it translated perfectly. 4 squares = 4" + .5" seam allowance so it was 4.5" cut. Etc. etc.

The hardest part was just making sure you iron the right direction so your seams nest and you get those crisp lines.

All the fabric is from the Waverly line at...shhh...Walmart. They have a suprising range of solids and I  actually think the quality is great! Don't tell anyone I get fabric at Walmart. 

I quilted it very simply (in the ditch around each color so as not to take away from the design). Finished it with an easy envelope backing. 

Her teacher loved it. She literally shrieked when she saw it. And we love her. I love making homemade gifts for people who really appreciate it. 

Garland Tree Skirt

I love this tree skirt so much. I hesitated giving it away. 

I found the pattern for this in a Missouri Quilt Company book my aunt gifted me a while ago. It came together super fast and was really straight forward. I would say it's a good beginner-ish project. The binding was the most tedious part (12 corners to turn!)

This fabric is super funky. I couldn't find any charms, so I just ordered fat eighths and cut them myself. I love the 70's vibe. You kind of have to love how crazy it is. I think it's fun for little kids. (We don't do formal at my house)

 Bias binding. I could not find red striped so I went with green and I actually like the contrast. 

 I die over those little reindeer. Definitely my favorite print. I haven't done star quilting in ages. It was fun to try again.

The back is a dainty red and green print. I guess it could be reversible if you really wanted it to be.

 It was nice to be back at my sewing machine again. I haven't had a ton of time with a newborn in the house.

Goal for 2018: more quilting!

Ride Em Cowboy

If this quilt had a twin, this would be it. With a new baby and the adjustment that comes with it, I haven't had much time for quilting lately. But I was in the mood and decided to whip out this one in a couple of days. 

I made this for a friend who is expecting her first baby boy. I wasn't planning on doing anything for her baby shower because I was going to be out of town. But this pattern comes together so quickly and I had all the fabric on hand. I just had to.

I’ve been saving this fabric in case we had a boy. That ship sailed so I thought I might as well send it to a good home.

 Simple straight line quilting in charcoal gray. 

 I love this stripe. I snagged it on sale from fabric.com and I'm so glad I did. I have tons.

I wasn't at the party to see her open it, but I hope she liked it. 

Gingham Baby

I can't take credit for this quilt. It's basically an exact replica of one I saw on Cluck Cluck Sew over a year ago. I received an invitation for a baby shower about 10 days in advance, so I thought it would be fun to whip out a simple baby quilt for the sweetest first time mom. And I had every piece of fabric on hand, including binding, so I had to do it.

Baby quilts are so satisfying. I think I had this one done, start to finish, in two days. PS, I'm listening to Les Miserables on audiobook while I sew. I'm loving it. Even though it's sooooo long. I'm 42 hours into it so far.

 I was going to try something less girly for the back, but I couldn't help myself with those hearts. 

 I love those little cats and pandas. 

Girls are so easy to quilt for.

Striped machine binding. Again. I'm getting better at binding, using the Elmer's glue method. It's so quick and clean. 

This makes me excited to get going on my baby girl's quilt! Less than three months until my due date and I haven't started a thing. Must be the third child.