Quilt, Baby!

Two of the gals I work with are having babies in the near future. It's OK, they don't read my blog...I doubt they even know I have a blog. So we're safe. I've decided to make baby quilts for them both. I finished the top of one, it's in the previous post. For that one, I just sort of made things up as I went along and kept it very simple. But I want to branch out a bit on this next one.

My original plan was to make the Stacked Coins baby quilt at the Moda Bakeshop. It's fairly straightforward and very cute, but I'm not certain it's what I want to do. I've been perusing for baby quilt tutorials and thought I'd share with you, dear (4) readers, my favorites.

For those of us who are beginners, here is a simple Charm Pack baby quilt at Diary of a Quilter.

For the not so beginner, the Polka Dot baby quilt at and other silly things is absolutely swoon-worthy! I found another baby circle quilt at Cluck Cluck Sew.

Piece N Quilt's Tic Tac Baby Quilt is soooo fun! I love the unexpected color choice! She also has a tutorial for a Magic Baby Quilt that incorporates ric-rac!

I am 100% in love with the Sparks Baby Quilt at Handmade by Alissa!

Another wonky(ish)block quilt(in one of my favorite color combos) is elia's quilt, which appears to be a quick and easy one, is over at at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Here's a sweet Baby Four Patch pattern. The Fat Quarter Shop has several more quilt patterns(non-baby) free for the taking.

I've never been that interested in making a rag quilt, but this baby version makes me want to give it a whirl!

I even found a tute for a Felted Sweater baby quilt for those of you who are so inclined.

Moda Bakeshop's Baby Pinwheel may just be the one I end up making. I looove pinwheels and I've never tried prairie points, so it's definitely at the top of my list. ...and I still have plenty charms & white fabric left over from that previous baby quilt top to make this one.

Got a link to a sweet baby quilt tute or (freebie) pattern...would love for you to share those here!

Snow Day-Sew Day!

view from the kitchen window

So we've been officially snowed in today...the snow yesterday afternoon and by this morning we had around five inches of the white stuff. Mark ventured out in it this afternoon, but not me! I am what you call a big fat snow chicken...I HATE driving/riding when there's slick stuff on the ground.

But I do enjoy looking out the window during and after a good snowstorm...so pretty. SO I hauled my Kenmore to the kitchen table and positioned it so that I could see out the window AND have a clear shot to the tv set as well! Movies and sewing on a snowy day...I love it!

perfect place for snow gazing...or movie watching

This baby quilt top was my project for the day. I actually started cutting on it a while ago, but finally sat down to put it together today. Since I didn't really follow a pattern, I'm actually surprised it turned out as well as it did! The small blocks areDeb Strain Love U(Moda) charm squares that I found on ebay. I still have to find some backing fabric and attempt to machine quilt it(scary), but I am hoping the finished product will be gift-worthy!

And the dog...she LOVES the snow and can't get enough of it! She rings her bell to go outside and then just wants to eat snow and hop around. Silly dog!

Cheap Hot Mama Apron Swap

So earlier this week I received an absolutely adorable apron in the mail from Stephanie in the Hot Mama Apron Swap.

The overall theme was Cheap Hot Mamas. Meaning, you couldn't spend ANY money on the swap package. Everything had to be from your stash! Even the little extras couldn't be purchased. I loved this idea and had to jump in, even though I figured it would be a challenge. It had been while since I'd joined a swap.

My partner and I both chose to receive a "Wild And Crazy" apron. Here's the one I received. LOVE it! Thanks again, Stephanie!

And this is the one that I made for my partner. I must say I had an absolute ball coming up with this idea. I wanted to do something original w/o a pattern. I found some cheetah print fabric, came across the photo of the robot apron I made for an applique challenge, and got the idea for this apron. Hopefully, my partner will get a kick out of it!

A Quilty Dilemma

I still don't really consider myself a quilter, but I figure if I keep working at it, I'll eventually feel like I've earned that title. Right now, I'm still learning to do a decent job of piecing.

I want to learn more about the art of quilting and I want to improve at it, so I read quilting magazines and books. I search out and spend time looking over quilting blogs and I google quilt patterns and such endlessly. In fact, if I spent the time making quilts that I do reading about making quilts, I'd have a nice size stack of 'em.

Any-hoo, I recently came across a Hawaiian themed quilt in a magazine and decided immediately that I HAD to make a Hawaiian quilt for myself, though not necessarily the one featured in the magazine. Even though I'm not technically a quilter, I think I can wing a pattern? This could turn ugly.

Being possessed by the Hawaiian Quilt Demon and her friend the Fabric Buying Demon, I went shopping online and ended up with several fabrics(all featuring hula girls) that I thought would work.

Now that the fabrics have arrived, I'm kinda stuck. But here's what I'm thinking so far:

• lap size
  
• fussy cut the hula girl fabrics into squares
  
• do a white border(sashing?) around the hula squares
• border the whole thing with the pink/white hibiscus print
• the solid pink hibiscus print is for the back of the quilt
• I haven't even thought about binding yet

I'd like for it to have this kind of look...but with a bit wider border.

The delimma is: I love all of these fabrics but I feel like I've missed something. And I think it's a color thing. Does it need more colors? Which ones? I have some ideas but want to see what you think on the color issue. What about mixing in a non-hula girl (but still Hawaiian) print? Should I just leave it as is and see what happens?

First Sewing Project of 2010

SO my sister and her husband were over for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day(we had a great time with them). We were happily lunching on our sloppy barbecue beef sandwiches and fries when I realized I had run out of napkins and paper towels. Not that we were above eating without napkins, mind you. But barbecue is notoriously messy and a napkin would have been nice.

Sitting there wiping my mouth on my sleeve(yep, I'm that sophisticated) I thought "Hmmm...all that fabric in the back closet...perhaps I could put some to good use and make a few napkins"

After digging through my fat quarter basket, I decided on some fruit and veggie fabrics that had been in that basket for at least two years. They were too cheap to pass up at the time I bought them, but when I got them home I remember thinking "What in the world am I going to do with broccoli fabric?" I'm glad to have finally found a use for them! And of course you realize this is just the beginning of my napkin collection! I will be requiring more of these fruit/veggie fabrics...Etsy, here I come!