Baby quilt Finish

So very excited to share this finish!  When my co-worker first told us she was pregnant, I knew we would be making a baby quilt for her  - how could we not seeing as we work at the National Quilt Museum!

H is having a girl and she shared the colors chosen for the nursery: pink, aqua/teal, yellow & grey. A couple of us coordinated details and design and we set up materials to have each staff member make a block for the quilt. 

We told everyone to pick 2 of the 4 colors and they had a choice of either a wonky star or wonky shoo fly block so there wouldn't need to be any matching (or chopping) of points. Blocks are 9" finished, so the quilt is 36"x36" in size.

 Originally I tried quilting with a variegated thread but Gilbert (my machine) was really unhappy with that, so I ripped out those stitches and switched to my trusty Aurifil which worked beautifully.

I quilted it with a free-motion loopy design that includes some hidden butterflies, flowers and a bee. 

you can see the bee in the right-center pink square!

 




We managed to keep it a secret over the last month (no small feat with a staff of 15-20) but H was happily surprised this week when we gifted it to her! She said it's already draped over the crib so I know it'll be well loved. :D


Link ups:
Fiber of all Sorts : my October finish for ALYOF was quilting the HQ project

On The Windyside : on my fourth quarter list for the Finish-Along 2015

CrazyMomQuilts : Finish it up Friday link up

quilt back! I used some leftover squares to add interest around the label

Jungle Jam

When sorting pictures the other night, I realized I never shared the finish for this one. Oops! It was a surprise project for friends of mine who had their first baby this year.

They knew it was a boy and they told me jungle animals as some of the nursery decoration - with that I knew exactly which fabrics to look for at Hancock's of Paducah! These zoology prints from Robert Kaufman are perfect. I may have used the 'jungle' idea loosely as there are lions, giraffes, hippos, alligators, dinosaurs & foxes in there. I purchased a few of the animal prints and pulled the rest from my stash.



I had a blast putting this together and it didn't take long at all - maybe a day for the top. The quilting took a few more hours (over a few week nights) as I put different designs in each of the strips/rows and I used coordinating Aurifil threads.

I was thrilled to know that while visiting friends back in NoVA this summer I'd be able to gift the quilt in person on baby M's baptism day! Very exciting. I forgot to snag pictures of it finished until I was already traveling; but I got a few.

 Here's the back - I used leftover strips of the animal prints and pieced in that green solid to use for my label. Hope he loves it well.  :)

me * baby M

WIP Wednesday :: 10/21/2015

basted & ready

Over the weekend I managed to piece the backings together for 3 - yes 3! - of my quilts on the FAL list. I even basted 2 of them and will need to work out some time and ideas so I can start quilting. Progress on some of the secret projects is being made as well - but can't show anything yet.  This time of year I'm also hunting down pieces for my Halloween costume and hoping I can pull it off in time. Linking up over at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and doodling quilt design ideas.

pre-pinning

Fourth Quarter Ambitions

Ready to Sew my way through Quarter 4 of the Finish Along and linking up at On the Windy Side! I've been taking inventory of my WIPs during the quarters this year and have a good number of quilt tops waiting to be quilted. So it's a good thing my Netflix list is also growing.

Committing WIPs to a list is good motivation for when I have time to sew and a fun challenge to myself as well. This time I have several secret projects in the works and gave them codenames to help keep them straight.

Codename: HQ project - Basted

It's a secret project, so you only get a peek! Needs quilting & binding & gifting. 

Codename: SlapQuilt- Top

A secret project I'm really excited about. Needs quilting & binding.

Codename: Icetime -Top

Another secret project I'm really excited about, also needs quilting & binding.

Codename: Forest -Pieces/blocks

You guessed it- secret project in the early stages

Big Bear - Top
 Needs backing, quilting & binding so I can put him up on the wall when winter rolls around.

Improv quilt - Top
Backing was recently acquired, so it needs basting, quilting (the tricky part on this one!) & binding. 

Disco - Top
 Quilt top I made at retreat using Jaybirds Disco pattern & fabrics from Architextures & Botanics! Found backing fabric so it needs basting, quilting & binding.

Science Fair - Top
 Another Jaybirds pattern! Backing fabric recently acquired so waiting for basting, quilting & binding.

Marsala quilt - Top
   Also needs: backing, quilting & binding.

Mini Charm Stamps - blocks
 These blocks are ready to stitch into a top, then backing, basting, quilting & binding. This quilt grew out of my obsession collection of mini charm packs and the desire to make something with them. (and not just let them stack up on the shelf...) I chose a postage stamp style quilt because I wouldn't need to cut all of the 2.5" squares myself!  ;)  

Hello October

Over the last couple of weeks I've been plotting out quilt backings & listing WIPs & labeling finished quilts. There's also been progress on a few quilts, including this one: the HQ project. It's mostly a secret so this is the only snippet I can share with you right now.

It's currently basted so my October ALYOF goal is to quilt it and I'm linking up over at Fiber of All Sorts this month! Linking at Freshly Pieced as well for WIP Wednesday.

sunshine adventurings

I made the most of each bit of Summer, so now as September winds down, I can recap the fun!

 In between work, work events & quilt making I got to have some summer adventures in places near & far.

The NEAR::
Snaps came to visit and we had a grand time exploring the area! Highlights included: southern IL wineries, Garden of the Gods & Cave in Rock park, some interesting back road-country driving, a ferry across the river, eating local at Pizza by the Pound,  the ins & outs of LBL back roads looking for old cemeteries.

Dad also came to visit and we filled our time with biking the greenway trail, making our own ice cream, outdoors-ing in Ft. Massac, visiting the TARDIS and the Superman festival.

The FAR::

This summer I got to spend a week or so visiting friends/family in NoVA - the longest I'd been back since moving. My days were packed so here are the highlights: planes, trains & automobiles, baseball at both Orioles & Nationals, a baptism & quilt gifting, Arlington Cemetery, a Titanic memorial, beating an Escape Room, turning FB friends to real-life friends, a cupcake tour in DC without the guide and more! Phew, are you tired just from reading all that? It was amazing!

the OTHER:: 
The hummingbirds have been just as frantic again this summer - constantly zipping around the deck, pool time and plenty of biking, Quilt Camp which means some of the best work weeks, many ice cream runs & walks, BBQ on the River festival, home visits with campfires & good times, a friends wedding, quilt projects that are really exciting. 
A spectacular summer and I'm finally starting to get in the mood for Fall!

Sun-catcher

Another finish from my Quarter 3 FAL ready to share with you today. I'm calling it Sun-Catcher because it looks different from every angle. This started as a teaching sample for my Junior Quilters club - working with Split 9 Patch blocks and value. After the first block I got hooked and had to make more!

I had some trouble with loopy FMQ in one section, which I think may be due to a batik-like backing. So for the rest of the quilting I kept it simple with a variety of straight lines using the walking foot. I matched the threads to each section of color using my trusty Aurifil box of threads.

Linking up at On the Windy Side for the Q3 finish and over at Finish it Friday as well. Then heading back to finishing more quilts! :)