Baby Memory Quilt

58 x 59 

I have been seeing baby memory quilts on pinterest for a while, but they usually look like a t-shrit quilt. I found this one and saved it to my board. I didn't happen to save any of my kids clothes so I was looking for someone to let me try to make a quilt. My friend agreed to let me make her a baby memory quilt and she chose one that had whole clothes on it.

I looked and looked for directions or a tutorial on how to sew the clothes to the top of a quilt but I couldn't find anything to help me. So here is what I did. Instead of stabilizing the clothes, I ironed stabilizer to the background fabric. I didn't want the clothes to be ironed down.  I cut the clothes in half and top stitched them down in a matching thread.  Although I didn't cut the socks in half, they were thin enough already.

This pink dress was really too big because I couldn't quilt it with all those pleats. I quilted a couple of straight lines under the pleats just to hold it down.

I tried to incorporate some uniqueness by adding sleeves where I could. I had to cut them off and resew them to get the right angle.

I didn't sew down the ruffles on the bottom of the pants or sew some of the ends of the sleeves and socks closed.

Sewing the back of the pants to the fabric was more challenging because of the roundness on the bottom.

I quilted a heart in the inside of both coats since they opened up to the solid fabric.  I also quilted the words "beautiful baby" on the top of the quilt. I intended to quilt something by the socks, but I forgot when I got down to it.

My friend just loved the quilt and was so excited to receive it. I might make some more of these, but I will warn you they do take some time. I rearranged many times trying to get things to fit. Then added in extra fabrics to fill the holes. Next time, I think I would cut some of the clothes into squares and only have a few that are top stitched.

Have you ever made one of these?  I'd love some suggestions on how to sew the clothes to the background.

Splash of Color - Rainbow Scraps

60 x 70

My second Splash of Color quilt is this fun scrappy rainbow!  The pattern comes from the book A Splash of Color - A Rainbow of Black and White Quilts by Jackie Kunkel.  I changed the pattern up just a bit to use 2.5" strips and my 2.5" scraps. You can find my first Splash of Color quilt here.

I loved working with my scraps.  Even some of the white fabrics are from my scrap bin. Some are white with black and some are white with gray.

I used the same dragonfly print for the cornerstones to unify the quilt top. I love the black polka dot sashing!  I tried to find some more, but I don't remember where I got it.

I love this quilt!  But I already have a colorful quilt on my chair. So you can find this one in my shop.

Thanks, Myra for hosting this fun quilt along! Go here to see what others have made.

Splash of Color - Black and White with Yellow

95 x 95

My first Splash of Color quilt is this black and white with a touch of yellow. I love this color combination. I have made this quilt before in a lap size, but this time it's a queen.

Blocks are a huge 19" finished. So this quilt comes together quickly. I've added in a few fabrics that have yellow in them.  I tried to use multiple fabrics for the yellow strip, but it just didn't look right.

Simple meandering quilting on a simple quilt. The black prints in this quilt didn't seem to make a good binding so I just used black Kona cotton.

You can find this quilt in my shop. Or you can make one for yourself with this free pattern.

I love this quilt a long because there was so much freedom to choose.  Freedom to choose the pattern, freedom to choose the fabrics and freedom to choose my splash of color!  You can see what others made for this quilt along here.

Outlook - A New Pattern From Busy Hands Quitlts

54 x 72

Meet Outlook, a new pattern released today from Myra of Busy Hands Quilts.  The pattern comes in several sizes and is available in her pattern shop. I used some fun fabrics from my stash to make a large lap size. You can use yardage or a layer cake to make this pattern.

I found a bolt of gray fabric in the closet (that never happens!) so I used it for the background and the backing. I love that it completely matches.

My quilt is for sale in my shop.  You can see Myra's quilt on her blog today. And all her patterns are on sale this weekend!

Regatta Quilt Along

Roseanne from Home Sewn By Us is hosting a quilt along to make the Regatta Quilt by Daniela of Block M Quilts. The quilt along will start in January.  I really like the original colors of Daniela's quilt so I picked these 19 Kona Cotton Colors. 

In case you really want to know what colors they are and you can't read them here they are:

Navy, Windsor, Cadet, Regatta, Copen, Evening, Denim, Blue Jay, Candy Blue, Cornflower, Blueberry, Cloud, Lake, Aqua, Ice Frappe, Pond, Aloe, Sage, and Delft.

I am getting ready early so that if I need to make a Kona Cotton order between now and then I will have my list ready.  I am also thinking of doing this in another color way.  Do you have any suggestions?  Maybe red, orange, and yellow?  Myra - I know you'll say, "Rainbow!"  But I'll leave that for you so you can join too!

Crazy Quilt

48 x 60

This quilt is really called Crazy Quilt. It's a pattern from the book Childhood Dreams by Susan Bennett Gallagher. Someone asked if I could make it for them and sent me the book. Sometimes I say yes before I realize what I am agreeing to! The quilt calls for 4 solids. I used Kona Navy, Amethyst, Bluegrass, and Malibu.

The pattern requires you to copy and enlarge 111 pieces and then sew them together according to the pattern layout in 4 sections and then the borders. There are some ridiculously small pieces hiding in there!   I used some pins to mark a quarter inch to check if I was placing the pieced in the right spot before I sewed. There was quite of bit of seam ripping at first.  But then I was surprised how nicely my points lined up once I got the hang of it.

She wanted the quilt to be bigger so I added a 6" border.  After I had already pieced the colored border I thought I should have just made those wider then the navy border could have been smaller. But it was too late at that point.

I was going to quilt it with some modern lines, but everyone in my house said I should meander it. I was shocked! I used a dark monopoly thread so it wouldn't be distracting.

This quilt reminds me of an art piece. I think I could be persuaded to make it again. I love that customers challenge me to try new things. It's good to be stretched!

Linking with Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Birthday Quilt

54 x 63

My daughter wanted to make a friend of hers a quilt for her birthday last week, but she hasn't sewn in a while so I wanted something easy. I had 4 charm packs of something I don't recall and suggested she use it since it was already cut for her. I helped her pick a few more prints to add to the mix and she laid out this patchwork quilt.

She chose this black print from Hobby Lobby for the back.  I love it too. And it's perfect for her friend. The only thing I did for her beside coach her was to quilt it. She did all the sewing and the binding. Maybe she will start quilting with me more often!

Quilts make the perfect gift!  Hope you are getting all your holiday sewing done.  I've got a few more custom orders before I'm caught up. Then I'll get back to sewing the stash!

Splash of Color QAL - Blocks part 2

It's block time for the Splash of Color Quilt a Long over at Busy Hands Quilts. This is a fun quilt along because you get to pick your own pattern and your colors.  All you have to do is use black and white with a splash of color!

Blocks for the first quilt on the design wall.  I like it with and without the sashing!

And here is the second one. There are only 25 blocks in this queen size quilt.

Hope you are joining us.  It's not too late!

Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt - a Fat Quarter Shop Shortcut Quilt

This is a new pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop called Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt. Mine is made in Moda's Sunday Supper. This pattern is a new shortcut quilt for the Fat Quarter Shop Quilt Along.  You can find the free pattern here.   It has instructions for many different sizes. I chose to make the lap size.

The Mini Charm Chocolates Quilt Pattern features Mini Charm Packs which are 2.5" by 2.5" squares.

This quilt goes together super fast because there is not much cutting that needs to be done. I loved using the pre-cuts in this quilt.

You can see other Mini Charm Chocolates Quilts on the Fat Quarter Shop's blog today.

Gabe's Quilt

54 x 66

 I made this low volume lap quilt for a friend of mine that is getting married. Once again the picture isn't great.  Come on new computer!  I used the 6.5 HST accuquilt die to cut the triangles. It is so much faster than having to trim each and every square. There are 19 or 20 different prints in this quilt and I wish I had used more. I matched up a light and a dark for each square.

Since this was a wedding gift, I decided to use Minky on the back. I had to lower the size of the quilt to fit on the minky, but it is still a nice sized lap quilt. I was super careful when I loaded the minky on the rollers and it still stretched a bit in the corners. But after washing it lays pretty flat and it's super snuggly!

Linking with Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Custom King Size Log Cabin Cross Quilt

108 x 108

This is a king sized log cabin cross quilt made for a customer from my shop. She wanted a quilt based on a lap sized log cabin cross quilt so I had to enlarge it a bit. I kept the original width of the strips and just made them longer.  I found this floral print at Hobby Lobby and she chose some matching colors from the print to use for the outer layers of the cross.

It does look a little brighter in person.  The good news is that I finally got a computer ordered and now I will be able to post better pictures!

Queen Rainbow Pinwheel

100 x 100

I will sure be glad to get a new computer. The background in this quilt is actually white.  This was a customer requested quilt from my etsy shop. She wanted the colors you see below in pinwheel blocks and white sashing in between. I love it when they know exactly what they want.

I loved the colors in the quilt, but for me I need a little more order for my rainbow quilts. It makes such a difference how you lay them  out. She was completely in charge of the layout. Some people like to make lots of decisions and some people don't. I think they like getting to choose and make decisions. Makes the quilt feel more like it was made just for them.

Kona Chartreuse was used for the back and the binding. I quilted it with a meander in white thread.  The blocks are 12" finished and I used the accuquilt 6.5" die to cut the triangles. I am finding that it is very helpful to have this info written down for later so I don't have to guess.

Linking with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.