A New Baby

My sister had a baby last night and she didn't know what she was having.  I have thought she was having a boy from the very beginning and in the hope that I was correct I made a baby boy quilt Sunday night.

After she went into labor I started making a girl quilt...just in case using fabric that o had bought when she was pregnant with her first.

I was right!!  Jackson David arrived late last night.  We are heading out to go visit them at the hospital after school today.  I need to sew the binding down before we see him again on Saturday.  

The pattern is Jelly Roll Jam II by Fat Quarter Shop and the fabric is Boathouse by Sweetwater.  The quilt took about 2.5 hours start to finish, not including the hand binding.

I used up little scraps to make a fun stripe across the back. There are enough leftovers from the jelly roll to make another quilt.  I order backing fabric and will whip another one up over the weekend.

Knitting Finish

Back before I was a quilter, I was a knitter...and a basic knitter at that.  I have recently started to knit some more complicated projects as they are a perfect take along project with how small and portable knitting can be.

I  also using up yarn in my house for projects.  Every Christmas my daughters' school collects baby items for the Lullaby League.  Last year I knitted up three quick and easy blankets that used up 9 skeins of yarn and donated them.

I finished my first baby blanket for the 2015 donation cycle using white yarn and a variegated baby yarn.  

For those of you that knit dishcloths you will recognize this pattern.  I knitted the blanket on size 11 circular needles (for the space) and went till the blanket was 160 stitches wide.

A Quilt for a Friend

This quilt finally made it to its new owner.  I received a text that her husband was beyond excited about an SU quilt for their new baby boy (early 2015 arrival).  Here are some finished photos.

(My quilt holders)

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

Another Amelia Baby Quilt

My boss and his wife just had a baby girl who has some potential heart defects (which will hopefully resolve on their own).  I had scraps of Amelia fabric from another quilt and whipped this one up.  I am pretty sure I have enough scraps for at least 3 more Amelia baby quilts.  I originally bought a kit and there was so much left over so I ordered the blue paisley for the stripes and the blue flowers for the backing.  I have added pieces of lavender Amelia that was scraps from another Amelia quilt.  I love, love, love this line...I even have the entire thing in 0.5 yards in my stash for a project for my girls.

                                                         

My quilt holder was a lot more fidgety that I thought.

                                                         

                                                         

                                                         

                                                         

The pattern is an altered version of the Me and My Sister Designs Easy as 10 pattern.  I messed up and forgot the top and bottom strips of white.  The batting is from my ever shrinking stash of scraps :)

In other news my old sewing machine went to sewing machine heaven.  I took it in for annual service and because I was having some issues with it when I was FMQing.  It turns out a little teeny tiny piece of needle broke and severely damaged the shaft.  It was going to be a minimum of $500 to get it fixed.  Instead of fixing it, I traded it in and got a new one.  I am in love with my new Janome Memory Craft 7700.  It is faster, has a bigger throat space and quilts amazingly well!

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Needle and Thread Thursday andFinish it Friday.

New Neice

My brother and sister-in-law just had a baby on Sunday.  I love my nephews, but I am so excited to finally have a niece.  My Grandma always knitted hats and booties for my girls and my cousins' children when they were born.  She now has dementia and can't do this any more.  I have all her old knitting and crochet stuff and used a pattern that she purchased years ago (it was $0.39) and made Kinley a hat, booties and little mittens.  My sister-in-law has since asked me to make Kinley another hat which I am going to whip up over Thanksgiving.

Scrappy Quilt Finish

I was organizing my sewing room (aka trying to find my copy of Simply Retro that I misplaced) and I found a bunch of strips for 25 patch blocks leftover from this quilt.  I decided to sew up the blocks to see if I had enough to make a baby quilt.  I only had to add in 4 squares of fabric to make the needed 20-25 patch blocks for the quilt front. 

 

Next came the backing and I may have a slight obsession with Me and My Sister Designs fabric when making quilts for baby girls.  I went through my scraps and found leftovers from several quilts which allowed me to 100% piece the backing.  There are fabrics from at least four different quilts including this one, this one, this one and this one. 

I'm even going to be able to use up scraps of batting that I have sitting around and leftover binding from another quilt.  It feels so good to use what I have to make a fun quilt that will either wait for a little girl to enter into out friend/family circle or it will be donated.

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? and Finish it Friday.

Scrappy Baby Quilt

I used up scraps to make a baby quilt as a just in case...or I may donate it...not sure yet. I did have to buy backing and binding fabric for this one. I still have some leftover 4 patches and the print so I may make a tag-e blanket to gift with the quilt.

 

Baby Quilt

I finished this baby quilt last Thursday and dropped it off to the quilter when I picked up my 2012-2013 Mystery Block of the Month quilt.  I am not normally a panel user, but this one was too cute to pass up, especially since this quilt is going to be for my new niece of nephew in the fall.  My brother and his wife live in Boston and were married on the beach...so it is quite fitting for them. 

 

 

 

Don't you just love the turtles?  Since the piecing on this one is so simple, I decided to have it quilted  with anchors.  I can't wait to show you the final quilt, it is going to be so stinkin' cute!

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday , Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop? and Finish it Friday.

Tuesday Finishes

I was a machine Friday night and finished up three quilt tops that have been sitting in various stages of finished for the last 2 years.  The pink, red and aqua one should have been a 5 year old's birthday present...she's going to be 7 in the fall.  Thank goodness she is patient!

 

I struggled with this pattern.  She loved the dogs, girls on swings and the scooters and requested this quilt.  I ordered the fabric and to say it drove me insane that there were girls on swings upside down was an understatement.  You make a bunch of blocks and then rotate them.  I remembered that she loves the fabric and it wouldn't matter to her if the dogs were upside down or not.  So I sewed the last 4 rows onto the quilt top and it's finished.  I am waiting to finish up 2 more quilts before I drive them to my quilter 1.5 hours away.   The fabric is Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey. 

I had this quilt kit sitting around for the last 2-ish years as well.   The fabric had been cut and sitting in the pretty bag that it came in.  My youngest has already staked her claim to this quilt.  The fabric is Dilly Dally by Me and My Sister Designs. 

My little sister from my sorority in college is having a baby boy in August and I made this quilt for Baby R.  I made the same quilt for my husband's cousin's baby earlier this year.  I love Bungle Jungle and the fun elephants.  This one will be backed in grey and bound in blue. 

 

I have some Posy by Aneela Hoey to make a doll quilt for Baby R's big sister.  Every big sister deserves a baby doll quilt too!

 

I am linking up with Fabric Tuesday, Show and Tell Tuesday and Finish It Up Friday.

More Butterflies and Babies

My Mom sent me some more photos of the quilt before she shipped it off to Baby E.

 

First quilty finish of 2013

I made this quilt top back between Christmas and New Years but never had the time to quilt this one. The fabric is Bungle Jungle by Tim and Buck for Moda. It is quilted in a meander, I think it softens the boxy nature of it and is quilted with Met.ler Silk Finish 50 weight cotton in a variagated green and yellow. I previously used this thread in another quilt and did not like it. My machine and this thread do not get along and needless to say, what should have been a quick quilting took forever. Once I remembered I did not like it, it was too late to go back. I machine bound the quilt, which is still a work in progress for me. I used some leftovers to make the binding scrappy (love!). The quilt is roughly 40" x 50". This quilt is for one of the many babies that will enter our family this year and I am super excited to have this one finished 10 full weeks before the pending arrival! Once the baby makes his arrival, I will add a tag with his birth stats.

I am linking up with Quilt Story.