A Quilt For Yelena

Two of my dearest friends are getting married later this month, so of course I made a quilt. This isn't a wedding quilt -- they've yet to decide on what they want -- but a quilt for her. He has a quilt which she had me make for his birthday several years ago. She steals the quilt to lay under for cosy naps, because according to her, the quilt makes naps that much better. 

I love seeing my quilts being loved and used, but that quilt represents him, not her. So in honour of her special day, I thought she should have a quilt of her own to lay under. 

It wouldn't stop sliding off the stool, so I had a cookbook weigh it down. She likes to cook so I thought it was quite fitting hehe 

It's a super scrappy quilt with many pops of colour and lots of low volume. Both of us enjoy that in a quilt :) She has no idea what I've made her, and I told her if she doesn't like it, don't tell me or I'll steal it back. Not sure if I want her to like it anymore lol!

I saw this quilt on Pinterest and thought it was something she'd like (the woman is a great fan of HSTs), so I sized it down to a smaller lap and started pulling fabrics from my scrap pile and my stash. There are sooo many favourites in there... Denyse Schmidt, Carolyn Friedlander, Jen Kingwell, Kate Spain, Lizzy House, Tula Pink, Cotton + Steel... the list goes on.

The quilt's fairly simple, but I took my time going block by block to try and get a nice balance of colour. Plus my little baby boss doesn't allow me to stay in my sewing room for too long hehe It might be the Stockholm Syndrome talking, but I don't mind it one bit. (By the way, she's already 5 months old. How'd that happen?!)

But I digress.

I quilted it in a crosshatch in white thread, used Lizzy House's pearl bracelets on the back (one of Y's faves) and the binding is a teeeeny little dot by Jen Kingwell. Those tiny dots were too good not to be used!!

[I didn't use the pattern but it's Braque by Melinda Lin.]

Fingers crossed she likes it! Can't wait to see them walk down that aisle in a couple of weeks! :)

Back At It

Oh how I've missed sewing. I've done a little sewing since I had Alexa, but it's been sporadic at best. But we've sort of gotten into a good enough rhythm that I manage to steal away for a few hours each day (an hour here and there, but still better than nothing!) to work on something.

The something I'm working on right now is a gift for a friend who's getting married next month. Yup, next month as in I'm totally insane to start this so close to the wedding but whatever. I'm going to do it and if not then well, I tried.

The quilt pattern is based on Melinda Lin's Braque... I saw the version done in Jennifer Sampou's Studio Stash yarn dyes, and it caught my eye. But I didn't think my friend's very much into woven fabrics, so I dug into my stash instead.

Honestly, I didn't quite fancy it when I started because I thought it was too all over the place for her. Me, I love scrappy, so the crazier the better. But I think she'll like it... I've sort of found the colour scheme I need to stick to and that's made it easier. If you're wondering, this is how I function 80% of the time. No plan, just throw stuff on the wall that I think might work and then hope for the best hehe!

Okay, back to work I go :)

What's everyone working on these days?

Giant Triangles

Many moons ago, a lovely client bought a triangle baby quilt from me (I believe I neglected to blog about it... oops) that looked very much like this one, just with slightly larger triangles. She had no grandkids to buy it for but bought it anyway! I thought that was insanely sweet and very flattering :)

Soon after, she contacted me to see if I'd make her daughter and son-in-law a bed-sized version. Of course, this was all while I was pregnant, and quite heavily so. And I still said yes. Haaaaa...

I started cutting and sewing the triangles together before Alexa arrived, but I never quite got round to putting the quilt together. Thankfully my client is beyond patient, and told me to take my time since there wasn't any rush. Bless her heart. I was so relieved to hear this because I'd had a cesarean so all quilting had come to a crashing halt... and basting a queen-sized quilt was just incredibly impossible.

Fast forward to present times! I've finished the quilt... FINALLY! Well, a few weeks ago, but you get the picture. I hated making my client wait, but I've had to accept that I can't work as quickly as I once did. And it turned out really great, even though quilting a queen wasn't the most fun I've had hehe! But I did it! And that's what's important!!! :)

I tried to keep it from being too colourful and girly since it's for a couple, and I'm given to understand he's not particularly fond of pink. But I realised that the quilt I was basing it on had lots of those awesome pops of colours, and that's what made it fun. So apologies to the son-in-law, but he just has to deal with the pink. Some men are funny that way... thankfully my hubs doesn't care.

I gave the client a few choices of backs and bindings... She wanted something funky on the back so she went with this Amy Butler print, and the Denyse Schmidt voltage dots for the binding. She asked if I'd put their names and wedding date on a label, and seeing as her daughter's favourite colour is red, I framed it in a DS dot.

They received the quilt a tiny while ago and I'm told they love it! Phew! Monica and Antoine, I hope you have a beautiful and colourful marriage :)

Alexa's Room... A WIP

Three months in, and I've finally made a crack at decorating my child's room. Go me. But in all fairness, she's pretty damn cute, so cuddling with her is top priority these days! 

But there's something to be said for baby monitors because there's only so much sitting around you can do while mentally writing your to-do list. Bless whoever made them as awesome as they are today, with the video and sound, and being able to talk to the baby without having to walk down the hall or up the stairs. And we didn't get one that hooks up to Wi-Fi because the stories of idiots hacking into baby monitors and talking to the babies freaks me the hell out. No. Thank. You. 

Yikes, did you enjoy that little trip we took on my tangent... Anyway...

My sister, Averil, brought the ribbon bunting thing over from Singapore, and amazingly enough, it matches the quilt I'd made Alexa almost perfectly. And it's not as if we coordinated our efforts either. She'd gotten that for a friend's wedding, and brought it over since her friend didn't want to hang on to it. I love when things work out like that :)

Plus I didn't want to hang anything too heavy over her crib because I'm paranoid about things falling. Not that anything ever has fallen... Just paranoid because why the hell not :)

And yes, of course there's kitties on the quilt. Kitties all over the place. This kid of mine is going to love cats whether she wants to or not :)

I'll do a separate post on the quilt... I need to take photos when it's nice and sunny. Somehow when it's sunny, I've got my arms wrapped around the baby. 

Aside from the ribbon bunting thing (seriously, what is it called?!) I made her this banner. This is my third go at a banner... The hubs just hung his head and laughed when I told him how many times I attempted it lol! The first one, I'd used skinny lettering and absolutely hated it. The second one's lettering was super wonky and it made me want to stab it a lot. Third time's a charm, right?

While it still isn't perfect (I'm looking at it now and thinking that's still super wonky... dammit! I drew a line and everything!), I'm quite happy with it. And if I try again, the hubs might have me committed. The banner is pretty much a copy of Secret Holiday & Co's lovely banners, but I'm not about to pay $90 when I can make them myself. I say them because you know my house is going to be filled with banners that say silly things... and I'm going to make a couple for my sisters too.

Of course being a quilter, I had to stick some fabric in there. I used a tiny floral print for the back just for something special. No idea what it's called or where I even got it from... I just found a FQ of it in one of my drawers. Yeah yeah, fabric hoarder, yada yada yada.

Isn't that little doll peeking out just so cute??? My bestie Margie sent that to Alexa and I love it so hard. It's keeping the crib warm while the baby still sleeps in the bassinet in our room.

Also, the more I look at the YAY banner, the more it seems a bit sarcastic to me. YAY. No exclamation point. Just YAY. Hehehe! Suits the doll's face!

The neon pink string on the banner makes me all kinds of giddy :) Alexa has a onesie that's got tiny neon pink flowers and it's the one clothing item I can't wait to get out of the wash and slap back on hehe

There'll be more to come... I hope? There are pictures to hang (that reminds me... Self, go buy frames) and a couple of other things I'd like to get for the room... hopefully it'll be done soon. If not, well, what's she going to do about it? Haha!

Geometric Tribal Baby Quilt... Maybe?

My cousin Cheryl had her little bub Samantha in May, and I'd been so busy that I forgot to ask her what she wanted for a quilt! She told me to make whatever I wanted, as long as it wasn't too girly and pink. I studied her Pinterest board for the baby's room, and this is what I came up with! I almost don't want to send it off to Australia!!! 

I think it came out really nicely, if I do say so myself! I just hope she likes it!

I used mainly solids (she's not a very busy, patterny sort of person) and threw in a little yellow tone-on-tone action just to break it up a little.

And the backing... ah the backing. My cousin asked for geometric tribal. I do not know what that is, but I believe this backing comes close. And if it doesn't, then... well... tough :)

It'll be off to Australia shortly for little Samantha Rose to snuggle in. The roundest baby in the world :)

A 30s Quilt

A friend of mine asked me to make her a patchwork quilt out of 30s fabric. In tiny, tiny squares. And I said, "Okay!" because I'm clearly insane lol! But look how pretty it turned out! Definitely well worth the time and effort!

Plus I have a tonne of 30s fabric in my stash that I never, ever touch! And who better for them to go live with than a dear friend, right? :)

By the way, this only made a small dent in my 30s stash. I have problems... Sigh.

Pretty, pretty squares! They finish at 1.5" I strip-pieced the prints with the white just to cut down some sewing, and then sewed the quilt together in strips. It took forever. Just ask my very (VERY) patient friend. Plus somewhere in between I lost my sewing mojo, but thankfully got it back soon enough. And then I sewed the strips together, quilted it and bound it in two afternoons. Sewing mojo is a weird thing, no?

The hubs held it and asked me why it's so damn heavy. Because of...

All. Those. Seams.

We decided on quilting in a crosshatch on the white squares, and that really turned out so nicely. I'd originally picked out a different binding that matched the backing (which by the way, how awesome is it?!) but absolutely made no sense with the front. Good job, me.

Then it occurred to me... scrappy. Make a scrappy binding out of the leftover fabrics from what I used on the top! Duh! When in doubt, go scrappy!

My dear friend loves this quilt and it's off to Colorado for her to snuggle with in this lovely summer weather lol

Pink & Grey Rail Fence Baby Quilt

A close friend of mine is having her first baby (approximately four weeks till baby's debut!!!) so of course I made her a quilt! When she told me her colours were pink and grey, we'd just gotten bolts of Whitewashed Cottage by Moda at work, and I thought they'd be perfect for her quilt :)

This was actually the first rail fence baby quilt that I'd made, followed by the one in the previous quilty post. It's seriously so much fun, and so easy... I put the strips in pile and just sewed them together!

I finally met up with her again and gifted it to her... and thankfully, she loves it! Phew! Can't wait to meet the little bundle!!

Rail Fence Baby Quilt

On my list of quilts-I've-never-made-but-probably-should sat the rail fence quilt. How'd I go almost six years without making one of these?

This was so fun to make, and quick too. I just threw all the strips into a box and pulled them out two by two to sew together. Much fun was had :)

There are lots of yummies in there... DS, Joel Dewberry, Lotta Jansdotter, Carrie Bloomston, Lizzy House, C+S, Tula Pink etc. LOVE.

I used two different fabrics for the back... my favourite Juliana Horner print and my favourite solid (for now!), Kona Wasabi. I quilted it with a white cotton thread in a crosshatch to keep it nice and simple. The binding is a Robert Kaufman grey and white dot with a small sliver of the Juliana Horner print :) So pretty *pet pet*.

The quilt is currently available in my Etsy shop :)

Triangle Baby Quilt

How fun is this?! I started cutting triangles from the large scraps on my cutting table because I thought they were too good to just lay in a pile!

I used a DS print for the back -- one of my favourites! I know I say that a lot about her prints, but there are some that are just special! I love how happy this print is... the pink and orange flowers against the yellow grid is just too good. I pulled five different prints to make a scrappy binding... those are my favourite to do :)

This quilt sold minutes after I listed it on Etsy but I imagine I'll be making another scrappy triangle quilt again soon!

Cross Baby Quilt

I hadn't made a cross baby quilt in a couple of years, and I thought it'd be fun to make another one! I tried to get a nice mix of prints and colours, and I think it turned out super cute :)

There are lots of DS prints, as usual, but I threw in some cute prints from Tula Pink, Lizzy House, Joel Dewberry, C+S, Alison Glass, etc.

I used one of my favourite DS prints for backing a baby quilt... the little orange and pink flowers against the navy check is just so darling. And for the binding, I went scrappy because that I just felt it suited this quilt :) I quilted it in white thread in a grid in between the squares. So cute!

The quilt is currently available in my Etsy shop SOLD.

Quilt Ladder Awesomeness

Wow. That's a lot of fabric cut up then sewn together in one corner of a room.

I finally got myself a quilt ladder! My quilts were all draped over sofas and stacked in a corner, and even though this isn't enough to hold all of them (the large bed quilts still live upstairs because the quilt ladder would probably crumble under their full weight), I much prefer this method of storage!

A few of my published quilts finally came home to me from Martingale last week, and I was so thrilled to get reacquainted! After a spin in the washer, of course hehe They've all been on an adventure, and as much as I'm glad that people got to see them, I'm so happy to have them in my home again :)

FYI, the top three and very last one are the published quilts. Lightning Strikes and Lanterns in the City are from Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe, and Vertigo and Floating Pyramid are from Modern Baby. The others are a couple of the lap quilts we use in our living room -- Scrappy Trip Around The World and a courthouse steps quilt I made with RJR solids.

As for the ladder, it's from here, but this size ladder (7ft tall) was only being offered for a limited time and they're no longer offering it.

And if there's another word about my unhung frames... I will... probably not do anything about them hehe! I've been a busy bee lately, and finding them permanent homes isn't high on my list at the moment. In the meantime, I've bought more prints. There's no hope for me...

Liberty Of London Blog Hop... And Tutorial!

Hi! It's my stop today on the Westwood Acres Liberty of London Blog Hop! Amanda asked if I'd like to come up with a project idea using the beautiful Liberty of London tana lawn fabric, and I, of course, said yes! Who wouldn't?!

Westwood Acres has a Liberty of London Club where they curate 10 piece bundles of Tana Lawn each month for a year. Click the link for more info on the club and build your Liberty of London stash!

I've never worked with lawn before, but having worked at quilt shops for the past five years or so, you tend to learn how to teach people about things you have little experience with. So I knew you should use a smaller, sharper needle with tana lawn because of the weave. A 70 microtex sharp needle was my weapon of choice, and it worked beautifully. Although honestly, working with the lawn was a dream... it's more delicate, yes, but it really doesn't need too much special attention. You know, aside from the smaller, sharper needle hehe

Amanda sent me a beautiful bundle of 20 fat eighths, and after starting at this loveliness for ages, I decided to make a log cabin quilt for my project, and pair the beautiful Liberty prints with a black and white Heath print. (The latter is no longer widely available, but Sketch would be a wonderful substitute if you'd like to have your quilt look like mine.)

You'll notice that it's not quilted. That's because I'm a severe derp and hurt my back somehow. I say somehow because I don't know how it happened. All I know is that I look like an old lady, hobbling away. It'll be quilted once I'm feeling better, promise!

Anyway, on to the tutorial!


Liberty Log Cabin Quilt
Finished quilt size: 52.5" x 63" (Finished block size: 10.5")

Materials
20 piece fat eighth bundle of Liberty fabric
1/8 yard for centre squares
1 5/8 yards background fabric
3 1/4 yards backing fabric
1/2 yard binding fabric

Cutting
From each Liberty fat eighth, cut:
3-4 strips, 2" x 26"
(Edited to add: Liberty of London fabrics run longer than the normal quilting cotton, hence the 26" length on the fat eighth)

From the Liberty strips, cut:
30, 2" x 3.5"
30, 2" x 5"
30, 2" x 6.5"
30, 2" x 8"
30, 2" x 9.5"
30, 2" x 11"

From fabric for centres of blocks, cut:
2 strips, 2" x WOF

From the two strips, cut:
30 squares, 2" x 2"

From the background fabric, cut:
26 strips, 2" x WOF

From the 26 strips, cut:
30, 2" x 2"
30, 2" x 3.5"
30, 2" x 5"
30, 2" x 6.5"
30, 2" x 8"
30, 2" x 9.5"

Block Assembly

All 30 log cabin blocks will be put together in exactly the same way, and will each require these 13 pieces -- one centre piece, six of the sub-cut print fabrics, and six of the sub-cut background fabrics.

Start with the centre fabric and a 2" x 2" background piece. Press to one side and trim as you go along.

Sew the 2" x 3.5" background piece.

Continue with the Liberty prints, and sew the 2" x 3.5" Liberty piece.

Then sew the 2" x 5" Liberty piece, and there you have your first row of 'logs'. It should measure 5" square (unfinished).

Tips!
1. If you feel like your blocks aren't coming up square or measuring what they're supposed to, try using a scant 1/4" seam allowance, especially if you tend to press your seam to one side.

2. If you ever get lost for where you're supposed to sew the next piece on, it's the side with the two perpendicular seams facing the edge :) And in my case, I kept going in a clockwise direction.

Continue sewing on the background pieces, then the Liberty pieces to finish your second row, and it should measure 8" square (unfinished).

Continue with the third and final row, and your unfinished block should measure 11" square.

Make 30 blocks. I'm a huge fan of chain-piecing and making several blocks together, usually between four and six at a time.

Quilt Assembly
1. Arrange the blocks in six horizontal rows of five blocks each.
2. Sew the blocks together in rows, and press the seam allowances in alternating directions from row to row. Sew the rows together and press the seam allowances in the same direction or open.

I'll get this quilted soon enough... I might add more rows, so don't be surprised if the finished quilt is larger than this!

If you'd like to follow along (or go back and see what others have posted...) to see all the awesome project ideas, here are links to the other blogs!

February 24th: Kick Off! A Crafty Fox
February 25th: Astrid at Red, Red Completely Red
February 26th: Svetlana at Sotak Handmade
February 26th: Andy at A Bright Corner
February 27th: Chase at Quarter Inch Mark
March 1st: Emily at Simple Girl Simple Life
March 2nd: Ashley at Film In The Fridge
March 3rd: Lee at Freshly Pieced
March 4th: Audrie at Blue is Bleu
March 5th: Amanda at A Crafty Fox