All Ready for Baby

Yep, I'm finally ready for baby Emma to come home from the hospital. And it will hopefully be this week!  She now has proper bedding to sleep beneath both upstairs and down.  This one is for her bed, I have another I will show later for her playpen.  I put pink minky on the back to keep her extra warm and it's so soft.  

 The top picture shows the right color.  The lighting in her room is terrible!  And I think I put her bumper on backwards.  It's made of minky too (but not by me) just a slightly lighter shade.  Her sister likes it since pink is her favorite color, so I think Emma will too.

7 Things I Learned Making a King Size Quilt

Finally got this one finished!  Yeah!  This is a king size quilt 108 x 108.  Possibly a little to long, but nice and wide.  I loaded this on the quilting machine before I finished the bumpers for the crib...agh!  Now I had to finish it because Emma should be coming home soon and she needs her bed.  Do you know how long it takes to quilt a king size quilt?  Especially when you are not doing an all over pattern?  Way Too Long!

Things I learned making this quilt (and don't want to forget...)

1.  This thing is huge.  Think twice before making another one.  (The bad thing is I have one more planned and fabric bought.)

2.  The last and only time I have ever made a king size quilt was 3 and a half years ago when I was pregnant with my 7th child.  This time I was pregnant with #8.  Didn't finish either quilt until after the baby was born. And last time I took the top to the local shop to have it quilted.  Nice but expensive.

3.  Patterns designed for a bed look different on paper than they do on the bed.  See here. Once the top was finished, I changed the bottom of it because I didn't like it on the bed.  I guess I forgot that it hangs down on the three sides and isn't flat.  duh.

4.  I almost cut the quilt top into 4 square lap quilts because I wan't sure I was going to like it.  I would have too but the back was already cut into strips and not big enough for separate quilts.  Pick a pattern that you know you will be happy with for a long time.  Don't try something experimental on your bed!  What are you going to do with a king size quilt you aren't in love with?

3. I love the look of straight line quilting, but hate doing it on my longarm despite the fact that it has horizontal locks.  Getting the quilt to roll even is tricky.  Especially when the quilt is so big.

4. Meandering is my all time favorite go to pattern.  Why?  Because it goes so quickly.  I quilted all the colors in less time than I quilted the white.  One note - don't try to meander when you're tired.  It doesn't look so pretty.

5.  Solid quilts need lots of texture.  I had planned on quilting each color a different way.  Once I quilted the white straight and meandered the blue I was so tired of this quilt and opted for the easy way out.

6.  You can't custom quilt a top in different colors and expect the back of the quilt to look just as good.  I was planning on a 2 sided quilt, but the quilting on the back has ruined, in my opinion, the look of the stripes.  I didn't even bother taking a picture because it is so bad.  If you're going to make a 2 sided quilt, pick one color of thread and an all over quilting pattern!!!

7.  Once you finish the quilt, you now need to make pillow cases and pillows to go with the bed!

Blue and White Quilt

Half square triangles are far from my favorite thing to do, but I love this quilt!  It really wasn't as bad as I always make HST out to be. I might even make another one.  This fabric is all from JoAnns, yep it was the quilter's showcase line that goes on sale for $2.50 a yard!  I have used it before and it makes a lovely quilt.  Feels and looks just like fabric that costs more.  The white is Kona, as I only use Kona.   I guess I'm a Kona snob.  My daughter has a quilt made from purples and greens quilter's showcase fabric and it is holding up to washings and wear very nicely.  The back reminds me of a present and was a slightly different way to put it together.  Love it!

Two Color Quilt - Purple

PATTERN is now available in  my shop here.

I started this quilt (and a few others) before the long stay in the hospital.  I have been spending as much time as I can trying to get caught up on my quilts before baby Emma comes home.

Love this pattern, but the solid colors made it a little plain.  So I picked out a variegated purple thread to quilt it.  It wasn't the exact shading that I wanted because it never went to white.  You can hardly tell that it changes colors.  Hmmm....it would be easier to see on a dark quilt.  I was hoping that the curves in the quilting would soften the straight lines of the quilt.  I'll see it better once it's washed!

Emma's First Baby Quilt

It's so nice to be back to sewing after such a long break!  I decided to start with something small for Emma since she is so small herself.  I made her this coin quilt and put minky on the back.  This was my first time quilting with minky and it went real smoothly.  The only thing that I noticed was it's a little thicker when I put the binding on.  Still no problems with the sewing machine or the Big Lady.

Quilting is free motion hearts and loops.