To Do’s:

Please tell me your next couple of months are as crazy as mine.   

We are moving back to Cleveland for grad school.  Ben and I fly there this afternoon to meet my husband who has been there the past month looking for a house.  I’m halfway excited and halfway dreading the move, but mostly I’m not excited to unpack again ( while being HUGE!), and leave all our family here.  So please forgive me if I’m a little absent on this blog for the next little while.   Hopefully I’ll be able to check in if I haven’t totally lost my marbles by then.  And just in case you weren’t sure I was totally insane, I started another quilt yesterday…..see?  Insane.

These little whirlygiggs are made using this pattern.  ( I’m blaming this quilt on you Camille!)  They are such cute little blocks measuring 3.5” each, plus the charm pack  is my favorite,  Recess by American Jane.  Its a dangerous combo for one who would rather be sewing than packing. :)  

Spring Fling Modern Baby Quilt & Pattern

This is what I did this weekend:

I made a quilt & a pattern to match. This is one of my very favorite patterns for baby quilts because it looks harder than it is, it’s the perfect size to grow with baby, it works great for a boy or a girl, and can make a really cute eye spy quilt. I made this quilt using the same pattern. The quilt in the picture is in my etsy shop, although it does look mighty cute taped to my wall…it might want to stay there instead.

The pattern is also available in my etsy shop as a PDF. It’s 29 pages stuffed full of pictures & instructions for making this quilt from start to finish, including tutorials on basting, free motion quilting, and binding (hand & machine sewn). There’s also some sizing instructions at the end included if you want to make this baby quilt into a toddler bed sized quilt. *** If there aren't any in the shop when you check, stop back by I'll be re-listing them throughout the day.

Truthfully I hate writing patterns. It makes my head hurt. Which is usually why they are free tutorials on my blog. With this quilt though, I wanted to make more of a quilting reference guide, so that a beginning or intermediate sewer could have not only a pattern, but also reference material for future projects. Plus it took forever…….and my bum hurts enough to prove it. :)

Finished: January Quilt

Everyone needs a January Quilt.

Or a February quilt, since there’s only 11 days left of January.

It also helps when there is a very bright Heather Bailey Pop Garden print on the back, and if the weather is sunny and warm enough to be outside without a coat.

I’ve had lots of questions about this one, (I’m a bad reply-er unless questions are sent to my email or your email is attached with your comments…sorry!) I started by cutting 6" squares and used this method to make them into the 5 1/2" finished blocks. There are 168 blocks, 12 across & 14 down, making it 60" x 70". The fabrics are a little bit of everything, they’re from all different lines & some I don’t even know, but if you have a question about a specific one shoot me an email and I’ll try to figure it out for you!

Timing

Do you ever feel like a big blob all day and then at 9:30 PM you finally get the urge to get something done?  Yeah, me too.  And usually its not something small, its more like “lets re-organize the pantry,” or “lets re-arrange the furniture” { husband loves that one }.  Or in my case last night it was “I’m going to make a quilt”.     So…this is what I did last night.

Then of course by the time I was fully pooped & ready to crawl into bed I remembered my laundered sheets were still in a big fat pile on my bed…waiting to be put “on” my bed.  Drats. 

Most of the fabrics in this quilt are vintage reproductions.  I have no idea what any of them are called or who the designers are or who makes them, which is strangely… very refreshing.    The blocks are 8", to make one block you need 6 – 3" squares { four white, two colored } and the center piece is an 3" x 8" strip.  Sew them together like you would a 9 patch block and your done! 

ps. I put more Valentines in the shop too.

In case you haven’t heard…

Stop by the Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy Shop and blog see what this wonderful network of crafters can do!  In just 24 hours the etsy shop reached 162 sales and raised just around $4,000 to support Doctors Without Borders.  Info for donating your own handmade item can be found on the blog, I know these ladies are adding items as fast as they possibly can!

Valentines

I love Valentines Day.  My hubby?  Not so much.  I think its all the red & pink.  I don’t love all the store bought junk { except for you Target }, but I do love the handmade Valentines, decorations and homemade treats.  All of my decorations are still packed away, but I did get some Valentines made this afternoon.

Simple mini-quilt hearts sewn to cardstock { a great use for red & pink scraps }.   I made enough to gift and a put a few in the shop including the one in the picture.  Did I mention I love Valentines Day? 

January Quilt

This quilt is a January gift to myself.  I have so many beautiful fabrics I wanted to incorporate into one quilt and this simple triangle design suited the large and small print fabrics really well.  I tend to decorate with a lot of white, so I wanted to bright colorful throw I can sit in my living room or lay over the end of my bed.  It measures 60" x 70".  I’ll have more to show you of this one soon after I get the dang binding sewn on!

Breakfast confession:

I don’t like “fresh” chicken eggs.  I like chicken eggs that come from Costco.  “Fresh” chicken eggs taste…well…fresh.   In fact I only like them in baking, which is why we have LOTS of fresh chicken eggs staring at me every morning when I eat a big bowl of Frosted Flakes instead of eggs.

So now you know, because I’m sure you cared..(NOT).   Unfortunately I don’t have anything else to write about and only this picture of eggs on my memory card to share.  No sewing or stitching or fabric or even my own kid….just eggs. 

(the egg holder & towel came from here.)

P.S. this might win as the lamest post I’ve ever written. :)  Except maybe this post where I made the ugliest shirt known to man. 

Super Boy

Super Ben got a new Super Cape for Christmas.  (Its been on my to do list for about 7 months…how’s that for procrastination!)   Needless to say Super Ben loves it and has been spotted wearing his cape all around town.   Luckily by now I’ve learned with a toddler that some things are NOT worth a battle, and wearing a cape in public is one of them.   And I must admit I think its kind of cute….because in a few short years he won’t be caught dead wearing a cape to Costco. 

Finished Orange & Aqua

I love these colors, I only wished the weather matched this quilt!  I quilted this with a loose meandering pattern & its bound with a Moda solid.  Those little dog blocks (fabric by Heather Ross) are my favorite.  And no they’re not deer….although yes a couple of them look like deer. :)  This one is for sale in my etsy shop, unless I can convince myself that my boys need one more quilt to add to the 15-ish they already have.

The back is pieced with strips of an Amy Butler print and some matching pieces from the front.     It measures 37.5" x 53".

I love…

Seeing an idea,

turn into a quilt.

A quilt that needs ironing…..and basting and quilting and binding oh my!

P.S. The pattern for this quilt can be found on my sidebar or from the link at the top that says Tutorials. Its the Orange Quilt Pattern.

P.S. #2 I’ve had some questions about names of the fabrics from a couple of posts ago. If I didn’t get back to you its because I don’t know the name, but I bought them all here.