wips

wishing i was working on this...

but, i'm stuck working on this.

well loved quilts.

here are two of my FAVORITE baby quilts.

they were gifts from two of my FAVORITE friends.

the top quilt is all HAND QUILTED...

there are little daisies and a ribbon around the border.

The second quilt is all minky-backed (with NO batting)...

it's so soft and big and we LOVE it.

some easy baby quilts.

here are some easy ideas for baby blankets.

these are all quilts that we made last year.

i'm still dealing with sick kids.

but, i'm dreaming of quilting...

i love fabric 2.

here are some pics from my craft room... i had fun exploring antique shops in the area to find fun ways to display my stuff. the two wooden crates stacked on top of each other work great for my flat folds... i have a metal egg basket that holds all my homespun plaids... big painted baskets hold my scraps (can you see my bolt of batting hiding behind?)... i found an old wooden coke box to display the collection of thread that i inherited when my grandma passed away (you'd be surprised how much i use that old thread)... and, i use knitting needles to hold my ribbon. that's all... we have sick kiddos here at my house... i miss my sewing machine, but she understands i'll be back someday.

i went scrappy. (and i'm happy).

Thanks for all of your advice.
In the end, I opted for FREE (and to stay in my pjs all day).
It feels good to know I finished the girls' beds without spending any money.
(Now I can spend money on the rest of the room.) :)

This is the end result.

My girls LOVE to show everyone the pillows that they designed.

I LOVE the sense of self confidence they get whenever they look at their bed.

I just made a basic Log Cabin. I cut all of my bright scraps/stash fabrics into 2.5 inch strips (or you could use a jelly roll). I started with a square 2.5 x 2.5 and added to it, sewing, cutting, ironing, sewing, cutting, ironing. I put a square of white as my last log cabin layer. I made 63 of these blocks and sewed them together in rows of 7 by 9. That's it.

Here's my tip. I didn't realize that you could sew a log cabin wrong. But you can. See my picture above. Be careful when you sew the 4th fabric on. It should be touching the 1st and 3rd fabrics, not the 1st and 2nd.

One thing I liked about this process was that I had a lot of 2.5 inch strips. I pieced them together for the binding. Overall it turned out to be a great way to use up fabric that I've had forever.

i need help (with the back end).

I made these two quilt tops for the new girl's room.

(Remember the pillows I showed you?)

The best thing about these quilts is that so far I haven't bought ANY fabric... it's all scraps/stash.

once again i opted for fast, cheap and easy.

(yes. I have been called a QUILT SLUT before.)

But.

Now I'm stuck.

I found PERFECT back and binding fabric at Hobby Lobby, but it wasn't even on sale.

I had planned on piecing the back with scrap pieces... but I don't know.

What do you think?

Can I back them without spending money?

or

Should I just go buy the fabric that I already found and love?

And, help #2... I'm NEVER real good at naming quilts. Any suggestions?

plus. I'm sick so I'm kinda all around poopy today.

kid pillows.

we're re-doing my girls' room

so fun!

i had them each draw a picture and i helped turn them into pillows

they picked their fabrics from my scrap baskets

they cut out the shapes

i ironed and quilted

aren't they cute?!

i can't wait to finish them up...

branching out.

my daughter cut out her own letter, so it's a bit wiggley...

So. I'm making (err. copying) some pillows from Don't Look Now... and I decided to branch out of my comfortable stippling mode. I tried swirls and flowers AND some free-motion tracing. (I learned all of these by TRYING to copy Don't Look Now-- her quilting is AMAZING.) I'm still not sure how to make my swirls and flowers more even. BUT. I do LOVE the look of the tracing quilting. Usually, when I applique, I either satin stitch or blanket stitch around the object BEFORE I put the batting and backing on. This time I just ironed it on, SPRAY basted the batting and backing on and outlined the shapes with free-motion quilting. If I wanted a thicker line, I just went around the objects a couple of times. It was hard to stay straight- but not too bad. I LOVE how it makes my letters POP!

Who says you can't teach an old (err. I mean comfortable stippling) quilter new tricks?

two little monkeys.

i have two friends that are sisters, they live together, and they both had baby boys pretty close together. these are the quilts that i came up with for their two little guys.

i'm trying to get rid of the fabric that i have so i can buy new fabric that i love.

this was a great quilt to use up any of my blues... i used a green sheet from ikea for the back and pulled that around as the binding. i stippled one quilt and used swirls and stars on the other.

the monkey, i saw on a beanbag that was for sale (at THIS shop- Cocoon Couture)... my husband and i copied the basic shape and our little monkey's were born...
easy. fun. finished!!

I heart Buggy Barn.

Since love is in the air, I thought you might like to see my LOVE child.
This was a fun buggy barn that I made last year with stacks of black, white and red.
My favorite thing about this quilt was that I saw someone's quilt online, and I copied it WITHOUT the buggy barn pattern. When I was done cutting it out, one of my sisters showed up with the pattern she found at her mother-in-law's house. Oh well. Love it.

and i want to finish this.

I just need to put the BINDING on this one.

I'm even finished quilting it.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

[FINISHED-- January 5, 2009]

and i want to finish this.

AHH. It's almost 2009. I have to finish my 2008 quilts.

I need to quilt this and bind it.

I'm scared to quilt this one.

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

[still not quilted... still scared... 1/13/09]

polka dot wonder.

I LOVE this quilt.

I had so much fun collecting polka dot lights and darks for it. One baby quilt I made used only black and white for the background and bright polka dot fabrics for the circles. hmmm. Black and White Challenge?

Yeah, if you make it, use this how to that Bliss wrote up.

AND, don't sew each individual piece for the sashing and border... sew long strips together and then cut them. My sweet sisters told me this trick AFTER I sewed 5 of these quilts...

blossoms.

So, this is the quilt that I usually have hanging by my front door. It's pretty much my favorite quilt. And, it's my mom's favorite quilt too. So, I'm giving it to her. Today. I do have a little tear in my eye as we say goodbye. I know that I can make another one. I mean, I know that I WILL make another one. And, I'll love it just as much. I hope.

[Note: The pattern for this quilt and pillows comes from a book called, My Garden Best by Cheri Saffiote... The original quilt pattern is for a small quilt- I just made it bigger...]

remembering grams.

Sorry this is blurry-- It is a picture of my grandma wearing one of the dresses that I cut up for these quilts. It says, In loving memory of Mildred Elisabeth Lefferts "Grams".

My Grandma died at Christmas time two years ago.

Last year for Christmas my aunt sent me all my grandmother's summer dresses and I cut them up and sewed these memory quilts for each of my grandmothers 4 daughters and 1 son. In an odd twist of fate, the quilts arrived at their homes on the exact one year anniversary of my grandma's death.

This year, I sent a gram's quilt to my little sister.

She cried.

She said it is her favorite gift ever.

I love quilts.

I love my Grams.

I love the thought of family still wrapped up in her love.

(I love remembering the HUGE clearance sale where I found the backings for the quilts. I KNOW my ever bargain-shopper grandmother was on my shoulder for that find.)

May you have a day of warm remembering!

jean rag star quilt.

This was a fun, easy picnic blanket for my husband. And, you should be done with Christmas prep, and poor, so you need a new old jeans quilt idea. Right?!

lost socks.

just finished and shipped out this pile o laundry...

(notice the other pile o laundry that is still on the floor waiting)
ho ho ho

lily's quilt.

I love this quilt. It was easy and so fun to make.

NOTE- 3 of my 6 kids are pictured above

(anna,6-top; leah,2-middle; lily,3mos-bottom)

isn't that funny? i didn't even notice it till later...

You need-

Front: 45 in. of fabric (just over a yard)

Back: 45 in. of fabric

Stripes: 9- 2.5 inch strips of cute contrasting fabric

Big Ric Rac: 90 inches

Small Ric Rac: 180 inches

Binding: 15 inches (or 6- 2.5 inch strips)

Directions-

Use spray basting to connect the batting to the back and the front pieces of fabric.

On the front, pin...

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in. fabric strip

small ric rac

large ric rac

small ric rac

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in. fabric strip

small ric rac

large ric rac

small ric rac

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in. fabric strip

2.5 in fabric strip

Sew to the top using 1/2 in. seams on the fabric. (This attaches the strip AND quilts the quilt.)

Attach the binding using a 1/2 in. seam... just iron the binding in half and sew it on leaving the raw edges. (See the picture.)

Note: The first time you wash it, there will be a tangled mess from fray. Trim the threads and next time you wash you'll be fine. Don't forget to wash it BEFORE giving it as a gift!!

Easy. Peasy.

love it.

sweet.

Look what I made!!

I love the quilts from Don't Look Now, and I used part of one of her templates for kid smocks to make the applique.

Love it.

The bird's tail and the flower stems are done using free-motion quilting.

I put tear-away stabilizer underneath and just kept going back and forth over the line until it was the thickness I liked. It was SO fun... I'm definitely going to do this technique again. I used a charm pack cut in half and sewed together for the strips--Moda Simplicity. And, everything else was just random fabric I had.

Oh, another fun thing, I quilted the top and bottom stripes with hearts. You know the hearts you used to draw in sixth grade... one on top, one on bottom, etc. It turned out cute and wasn't too hard to do.

i love quilting.