pink quilt: all done!

The pink plus quilt top is back from the long arm quilter and I have gotten the binding on! My little girl got to sleep under it for the first time the other night. No coming into my room in the middle of the night saying she is cold, so I would say that's a good start! I love the bubble pattern I chose for this quilt and once it was all washed and dried, it got so soft and just perfect!

Now everyone has a mama made quilt and I can move on to plans for a throw quilt for the couch. I have been spying this pattern from Amy Butler to try next. The backing of this quilt was made with Amy's new line Soul Blossoms.

Hope your weekend gets off to a great start. We are celebrating my oldest's birthday. Makes a mama feel old watching her boy turn 11. So proud of the young man he is becoming!

"that's a lot of pink" quilt top

That is what my husband said when he came into the room and saw this quilt going up on the design wall- "wow, that's a lot of pink!" But it's for a 4 year old girl who only likes pink, of course it's a lot! I used 3 1/2" squares (300 of them) to make this plus quilt design. I threw in a few shades of purple and then some of my favorite prints from my stash. There is a lot of nice subtle variation that makes the crosses pop I think. And once it is quilted, it should really look better. This quilt was totally inspired by this quilt, made by Film in the Fridge that I saw online a few months back. Isn't that pretty? Love her quilts!

This is the first time I used a design wall to help me with a quilt. Simply hang a large piece of flannel on the wall ( I used a sheet) and all your blocks will stick like magic. I left it up there for several weeks while I worked on the quilt top. No more setting it all up on the floor and having to clean it up, just to put it all back down again later.

Quilt top measures 45"x60", good size for a little one. I had 20 rows of 15 squares. I have sent this off to Back Porch Quilters and should get it back soon. I knew it would take too long and it is so cold here these days, I wanted it done quick!! I will post pictures as soon as I get it back.

Happy Monday!

2 quilts done for 2 happy boys

Last summer I went on my amazing sewing getaway with my dear friend Lillian. Where I made the tops of 2 quilts for my boys. I am happy to say that today they are finally done and on their beds keeping them warm at night. The funny thing about these quilts is that it was supposed to be just one for my oldest Aidan, but when I walked in the door from my trip that summer my younger son quickly asked me: " what did you make for me?" I instantly pulled out the 2 quilt pieces and said "this one is yours!". I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had only made his brother one this trip. So I made the back of Aidan's quilt into the front of Gray's and now had lots more work to finish them both!

And then came a move, my back troubles and back surgery and recovery and those quilts sat and sat and sat in a box for the past 6 months or so. I decided to send them off to The Back Porch Quilters after I have heard Dana over at Old Red Barn Co. speak so highly of Rhonda's work.

I sent them off at the end of December and happily received them last week all done and so beautiful!! Her work is flawless and at .01 per square inch it is affordable too. It was so worth it to have these quilts done for me this time with all we have had going on. I needed to feel like something was getting done. Since I still can't sit at my machine for too long, the thought of quilting these big quilts was impossible! Grayson's is a double and Aidan's is a generous twin.

It feels good to see your hard work complete. I had a nice time by the fire over the snowy weekend sewing the bindings on too. It was relaxing and so warm under those quilts all weekend. Perfect!

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!

clothesline quilt

Having to trudge to our basement to do the laundry inspired this little mini quilt for me! I hung it on the door and it makes me just a wee bit less grumpy towards the piles of laundry waiting below. This was so fun to make and at just 10" x 15", it was pretty fast too!

Hope your laundry isn't piling up as well! Have a good day!

work in progress

I am working on this little mini quilt for my very first swap. I am part of this really fun online group of crafty, fabric loving souls that love to swap fabric. It has been pretty fun to get some of the lines that are long out of print and be able to trade for fabric I have to spare. Everyone is so nice , but warning...it certainly feeds my fabric addiction! If you are interested in joining just folow the link

So one of the ladies came up with the idea to do a mini (20"x20") quilt swap with the theme being Heather Ross fabrics. Since she is one of my favorite designers, I signed up. I knew what I wanted to do pretty right off the bat. I am still finishing up and not sure if my partner will see this, but sneak peaks are fun too! Should be done soon and on it's way to her home. Then she will also make one for me, yay! I love surprises, how often do we get them really??

quilt show

Yesterday I made it over to the Quilt Show with my good friend Heather. It was so amazing to see the quilts that were there. You could hardly believe that some of them were made by human hands. I loved to think about each woman that created them and the process from the first dreams of what her quilt would be to the final finished product. All the mental hours alone are astounding. The talent in that building was just awesome. We enjoyed seeing the art quilts full of bold designs and ingenious use of color. The traditional quilts I can picture being handed down for generations to come. Each one holding its' own story. I was really inspired. Heather and I talked about how one day when we are old ladies, still walking around the show. Could we ever dream of having one of our own works there? I think she could, she is really talented already!

Also we visited a great vendor from Thimble Pleasures and picked up some yummy half yard cuts from the Katie Jump Rope line and one from Anna Maria Horner. Certainly an added bonus to the day's activities!

Hope your weekend is full of creativity and inspiration too! And remember to join my giveaway which ends tomorrow night!

ahh, beautiful quilts

1. finished quilt, 2. patchwork for Ian's room, 3. Muddy Waters, 4. Carrie's B-day Quilt, 5. dqs6 from cathy gaubert, mushroom girls, 6. pillows, 7. Block Party - Quilted, 8. Half Square Triangle Quilt, 9. Stripes in frames lap quilt, 10. Boy Baby Quilt, 11. Stacked scrap quilt for a baby boy, 12. Front of quilt after stippling, 13. Far Far Away Squared, 14. Far Far Away quilt, 15. pillow in progress, 16. IMG_FFAdone0001

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

We have been super busy around here and not much time for blogging or sewing for that matter. But here is some eye candy of beautiful quilts posted over on flickr. I love all the color and design. Inspiring... Now that I got the 2 quilt tops for the boys done, I have to motivate to finish them. I love that I have found a new sewing hobby and reason to admire fabric even more.
We spent this past weekend on the lake with friends. Lots of boating, swimming, fishing, some water fall action and my 2 boys jumped off a 20 foot rock into the lake (NOT my idea and I was petrified but boy did they love it) Sorry Mom, this is true!
Got them all to bed at 7:00 tonight, the water can really wear you out!
Hope your weekend was fun and the week kicks off to a good start. My dad is getting a new knee in the morning so I will be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers tomorrow. Off to bed to rest up from all the excitement.