Pink Plus

I feel such satisfaction in a good scrap quilt.  I started these pink plus blocks because my pink scrap bin was overflowing.  I probably should've kept going, because I've still got too many pink scraps.  

 I paid no attention to shades of pink and put them all in this one quilt...from the purply-pinks to the peachy-pinks, and I'm a little surprised that it worked out so well.  

 Polka dot binding.

 I love Sarah Jane's border prints, and I used this one on the back.  You can also see how I quilted it.  I  basically quilted straight lines, in the ditch along all the pluses.

I thought I'd share the measurements for this block.

each block finishes at 8 inches.

background:  4-3.5" square & 4-2" squares

plus 1-5"x2" rectangle & 2-2" squares

I kept my plus all the same fabric and tried to keep the background similar fabrics.  Some of the pluses pop more than others, and I like the effect.

Quilt Stats:

Finished size:  39.5"x43" (after washing and drying)

Pattern:  See notes above

Fabric:  front: scraps, back:  Let's Pretend by Sarah Jane, binding: Lucy's Crab Shack (Moda)

Batting:  Warm and White

Hatched Quilt

My friend just had her 6th! baby, a boy, and this quilt will soon be his.  I really love this quilt and I really want to make one in my size.  

It's similar to this quilt and this quilt, but I added sashing, horizontally and vertically, through the middle for some variation.  I also added a border.  It's really not very different, so I guess it's no surprise that I love it.

For the backing, I used this large black polka dot fabric, that I designed and printed myself through My Fabric Designs.  I love how it turned out, my husband says it looks like black olives, and now all I see are olives.  

I wanted an almost ombre effect, but it just wasn't working until I added the grey, and then the greens really popped.

 I quilted straight lines on either side of the seams. 

Binding is a black crosshatch that I've had for a while.  I'm not sure who makes it.

Quilt stats:

Finished size:  38in x 45in (after washing and drying)

Pattern:  Inspiration here.  Half square triangles.

Fabric:  front--from stash   back--my own, printed and designed at My Fabric Designs  binding--stash

Batting:  Warm and White

Sunset Quilt

Another baby quilt for a friend and this one was a little hard to part with.  I really like it, and think I need to duplicate it in a bigger version, and try different colors, particularly one for a boy (quilt meausures 40x48in).

 Inspiration for this quilt found here.

 I almost bound it in a pink polka dot, but then I remembered I had these sweet, tiny hearts, and they were perfect.

I quilted around each square.  I mostly quilted in the white, so my white thread wouldn't stand out on the black

Sweet little Heather Ross Ballerinas on the back.

(fabric colors: here)

Cross Quilt

Everytime I see a quilt like this on instagram or on a blog, I want to make one myself.  The contrast of black and white is so striking.  Plus, black and white totally works for boy or girl.  

It seems like all my friends are having babies, and I've been busy making quilts.  I love baby quilts.  such fast projects, and this one was just that!  Quick!  I sewed the top together in a short afternoon before my kids came home from school, and then quilted it in about the same time.

I love this minty print by April Rhodes (Triangle Tokens), a perfect gender neutral print.  This might be my favorite fabric right now.  I love the color and the little triangles (some are gold!).

 bound in a goldish yellow stripe.

also wanted to let you all know that Fat Quarter Shop is having a big sale on the ever popular Cotton + Steele Fabrics.  Check it out!  Sale ends Sunday, Oct 4.

use code: CS2015

Heart Quilt

It's the perfect week to post this quilt.  After I made my heart pillow, using this tutorial, I was contacted to make a baby size quilt.  Of course I said yes, these hearts are really fun to make.  And I still love the black and white.  We made the hearts 8 inches finished.

 We used this polka dot (by Lotta Jansdotter) for the backing and black and white stripes for the binding.  

to add some interest my customer wanted one polka dot heart on the front.  I love it.  

 (that black fabric is tricky.  It's hard to keep all the threads and tiny scraps off of it.).

Happy Valentines Day.

teepee quilt

My daughter just finished up a unit in school on Native Americans, so this quilt naturally looks like a teepee city. I had no reason for making this baby size quilt, I pulled fabric and just started cutting triangles. I wanted to do an isosceles triangle this time instead of equilateral (here and here), and I like them both. The equilateral is definitely easier to cut out (with a ruler). To cut the isosceles triangles I used this ruler.

I never really know how to quilt triangle quilts, I always feel like they need some curves, but I still want the triangles to be the star.  

I decided to do wavy lines, about 1/2-1 inch apart.  They work great, gives it texture, but still soft.

 Words for binding.  I debated binding for several days, and then finally went for it with this text-y print and I think I love it.  I thought it might be too much contrast with the cream next to the grey/black, but it works.

I heart you!

I finally finished a quilt.  Feels like I haven't finished one in a while.  I think I'll blame the heat...it's just been too hot.  I baste my quilts in the garage, and just cannot bring myself to go out there unless I absolutely have to.  We had one day last week when it was kind of cool, and I got this quilt basted (my least favorite part of making a quilt).  

I've loved the idea of this quilt since I first saw Jolene's here.  It would look really cool on a bed too.

The quilt goes together really quick, once the squares are cut out.  I used 3 inch squares, so my quilt finishes at about 40in x 45 in. 

Quilted diagonally through each square, backed in pink, bound in black and white stripes.

a plus quilt finished!

This is the first time I have made a plus quilt, and I am really liking this pattern.  It's so simple (just squares), but I love that it creates a design too.  

I just now realized that this is actually another pixelated quilt, to go along with the other two I'm working on.

When we moved back to Texas a year and a half ago, I was naturally very worried about my school age daughter.  I worried more about her than anything else.  

As it usually goes, her adjustment to new school and new friends was a breeze.  I owe most of that to her teacher last year, we really lucked out.  That same teacher just had a baby, so this quilt is for her baby.  I love her so much.  She helped my daughter to blossom and brought out the best in her. 

I quilted it on either side of the seams, and I love the texture it has, so soft.

 Bound in blue and white stripes (this might be my very favorite binding ever, it's just so clean and crisp).  Binding is from Sarah Jane's Out to Sea line for Michael Miller