the jelly bean quilt

A friend of mine is having her third baby in just a couple months and I am so excited for her. They will be welcoming their third girl into the world and I knew right away that I wanted to make her a quilt. I have never actually gifted any of my quilts though and was a little nervous about quality control for a gift. I chose a rainbow design, heavy on the pinks and bound in that great seed fabric from the Flea Market Fancy line by Denyse Schmidt. The back is all grey solid.

The quilt is only about 40"x50" so it came together in just a few short hours. The next day I got it all ready to quilt and totally forgot to tape the back down when I pinned it! Didn't even cross my mind for some reason. Probably because I quilt pillows a lot and I don't have to worry about that. So as could be expected there was some shifting, not a ton but some on the back where the fabric just didn't lay perfectly flat as I was quilting. I turned it over to check about 1/2 way through and was not happy!! It was too far along to rip all those stitches out, I don't have the patience for that. I finished the quilt anyway to see how it would turn out and threw it in the wash so it could get nice and soft and fluffy. That really hid a lot of the mistakes thankfully. I decided it was gift worthy. The funny part is that when I was wrapping the quilt, my 4 year old was with me and I said, "Well, it's not perfect but I think it looks nice and hope she will like it. Besides nothing in life is perfect anyway." She looks at me and replied, "that's true Mom, except for jelly beans because they are pretty much perfect!"

So this is the jelly bean quilt for a sweet little baby soon to greet us all :)

heather ross quilt

My Heather Ross mini quilt is all done, even bound! I love how it turned out and had this idea floating in my head for some time and happy to see it completed. Too many unfinished sewing ideas are swimming around up there! I decided to just quilt it randomly all over and like how it contrasts with all the straight lines. This quilt is for a swap that I am involved with and will be sent off to my partner. I wasn't sure how I would like to do a swap, but it was pretty fun! Just hope she likes it. You can check out some of the other quilts over here, or if you are feeling adventurous you can sign up for the next quilt swap. We also added a little something extra and I made this pin cushion in my favorite flower print from Heather Ross and one of my key fobs to go along too! Hope you are having a good day!

week 7: quilt along progress

Well folks week 7 is here and I have reached my finish line. My first quilt is done. I got to the binding this past weekend and surprisingly it was one of my favorite parts. Sitting on the porch, relaxing and hand sewing was so enjoyable. I will surely try another quilt in the near future. It was a learning process and I got to try some new things on my machine that I had never used, the Bernina rocks! As well as learning how to do a blind stitch, the right way and how to do corners, the right way! My quilt now lies happily at the end of our bed!Thanks for checking out my progress over these past weeks. Did you do an old red barn co. quilt too? I would love to see it. Send your link!

quilting..done!

My quilting is done, hurray! Mistakes are there for sure but I am really happy that I did it. All trimmed and ready for binding.

Hope you have a fun weekend!

quilt along progress:: weeks 5 & 6

Well, I have started the free motion quilting on my old red barn co. quilt along and have made it to week 6. She has combined these 2 weeks to give us all time to get the quilting done, and I am going to need it (and then some!)
When I first started to quilt I panicked a bit and thought "oh no! stop now and send it off to a long arm quilter!" But I am carrying on and it is going better than I thought. My biggest issue is dealing with all that bulk in my machine and on my lap and falling over my sewing table! I am surprised how strenuous quilting is, I feel like my biceps are getting a workout as I hold it all together. I keep reminding myself to breathe and continually talk to myself as I go. Do I sound crazy yet? Probably.. but I am really loving this quilting thing and I am so glad I decided to give it a try. I know when it is all done I will be thrilled! If you are thinking about trying it yourself I totally recommend this quilt along. Dana has it all spelled out so nice and the flickr group is really great for support.
Soon I will have more to share as I finish the quilting and start the binding. Woo Hoo!

quilt along week 4 1/2

Week 4 in the quilt along is a big one, the one where we actually quilt! So I am calling this 4 1/2 because I have to take a pause and breath before I move along. I have never really done any real quilting so again I find myself learning something new. I am practicing, practicing, and practicing some more. I don't usually showcase my crummy sewing on my blog, but I know there are a lot of people who are just like me and this free motion quilting step is new. It is not easy, it is still fun but it is a learning process! I am not entirely convinced that I will conquer my quilt with this and may still opt to do some straight line quilting instead. We shall see.
So far I have gotten some super tips online. In case you find that you could use these tips, here they are!
oh, fransson!
flickr discussion
dog named banjo tutorial
Old Red Barn Co. video

I have read a bunch on these posts and am getting a better idea of what I am supposed to be doing. I have found that the practice and getting the feel is really what it is all about. I used some old fabric to make a pretty good sized quilt sandwich and began there. I think I will do a few more. I have loads of mishaps and the back has some bad spots but it is not horrible for my first attempt.
Those of you that quilt and have bothered to read this whole post : is it horrible? Any other hints for the rest of us?

So the rest of week 4 is actually going to be full of completing my back, which I am piecing with strips from the front and pinning my quilt together to be ready for the real quilting!

quilt along progress:: week 4

Week 4 of the quilt along is here and I am still chugging along. We have a really busy week with the last few days of school and the beginning of vacation, so I got the top sewn up pretty quickly one night to get it done and move on with all our family plans! I think it is coming along nicely. Still deciding on the back design as I have a bunch of strips I could use. It turned out to be 5 blocks across and 7 blocks down. A nice big size to snuggle under. And I love how much interest my kids are taking in the whole process. They keep asking lots of questions and have been excited watching it come together!

week 3 quilt along progress

strips sewn,pressed and ready to be cut into blocks

all of my blocks (36) cut, hopefully square!

and ready for week 4

I am still plugging along on the Old Red Barn Co. quilt along.It has been a learning process. I first started sewing when I was 17 in my high school home ec. class. Well, that has been a long time ago and have been sewing more on than off since then. There are lots of things I already know, but I am always looking to learn more about sewing. New techniques, new challenges because there is so much out there to learn.This quilt along is like that.
Here is what I have learned so far from the quilt along:
*Apparently measuring is very important, very important!
*Somehow a straight piece of fabric can have a curve in it when you sew the strips all together.
*This can be fixed.
*The ladies over on the quilt along flickr page rock. They will help you out a lot.
*Inviting a friend over for a "play date" can also mean: Please come look at this and tell me what you think!
*I love the fabric I chose.
*I can't wait to see the finished product
* I am nervous about the whole quilting part!
*I need to relax a bit about it!

*I am having fun doing something new and different
*Deadlines are a good thing for me, I am right on track
*Oh yeah, I am having fun too!

laying out the blocks to see what it will look like (sorry for the bad lighting, it was late!)

So if you were thinking of trying this out, I would recommend it. Even if you are late starting, it doesn't matter because all of the directions are on the site so you can go at your own pace if you choose or just catch up. It is very beginner quilter friendly.