copycat quilt

years and years ago (seems like another lifetime ago), I made a quilt almost exactly like this one.  It just kinda came together unexpectedly, and I really liked it.  I ended up selling it in my etsy shop, and over the past 6 years, it is one of the quilts I get asked to duplicate the most often.  

So, I finally made a copy, it's not exactly the same, but definitely similar.  It's not made with Dick and Jane fabric, but similar fabric I bought when I was brand new to fabric stashing.  

I made this quilt top a while ago--I felt like I just wanted to use up fabric.  Then the top sat and sat and sat until I finally finished it this weekend.

 Black and white stripes were begging to go on this quilt, and I think it makes the quilt.  It finishes it off so perfectly.

 It also works perfectly with the backing (an old Denyse Schmidt from Jo-Anns)

 This one is listed in my shop.

girlie pow wow

It's MAY!  Holy cow, this year has just flown by.  My kids have 2+ weeks left of school, and we are all feeling the itch to be done...I love when my kids are in school, and I love having them home in the summer.  The seasons seem to change right when you need them to.

Okay, I think this is my last pow wow quilt for a while...not forever, but for now.  I've mentioned many times before how much I love this pattern.  It just goes together so fast.

Color inspiration came from the backing fabric.  Orange, pink, yellow and a tiny bit of blue-ish green.

I didn't get a great picture of the quilting, but it's quilted in flowers (you can see better here).  It gives the quilt a nice crinkly look, but still soft.  I didn't quilt my flowers very dense--I like to keep my baby quilts soft.  Less quilting, usually results in softer quilts.

I started out with piecing the blocks with a white fabric I had on hand, ran out, so purchased some Kona Snow from Hobby Lobby, got home, made a few more blocks and realized they are different whites.  I have no idea where the brighter white came from, I'm a Kona Snow purist, but rather than pretend like I didn't do it, I added in a few polka dot pieces to make it look planned.  A happy accident, and I actually love the effect, it's very subtle.

previous pow wow posts here, here and here.

sherbet quilt

My daughter's sunday school teacher just had her first baby, and the girls wanted to do something for her, so I made a quilt top and the girls got together and tied it.

I think it turned out so cute, and it is so soft and cuddly.  Plus, the girls had such a fun time together tying it, they wanted to do another one right away.  (I do think it could use a few more ties, maybe on the corners, the fabric/batting shifts a little...not terribly though.)

It almost feels like tying quilts has become a lost art. You don't see it much anymore...or maybe it's just because I don't do it anymore.  

It was so fun to listen to the girls chatter away as they tied each thread.  Nine year old girls are a very chattery bunch.

We didn't even use a frame for for this, I don't have one and it was small enough that I basted the quilt and sewed the binding on it, then had the girls tie it.  It worked out great.

I very happily used all fabric from my scraps and stash.  I should be doing more of these.  I love these squares.

Pirate Pow Wow

Yep, another Pow Wow, for another baby.  What can I say, it's a favorite, and one of the quickest quilts to put together from your stash.  You can use what you have, mix and match colors, or use fabrics from one line.  I love it.  (I still have one more pow wow to show you after this one.)

I don't have a lot of pictures of this one, I snapped 3 quick ones as it headed out the door to it's new owner.   I was hesitant about this darker background fabric at first.  I didn't know if it was too brown for a baby, but it was all I had at the moment, so I went for it, and I like it.  It's not too dark (which was a big concern) and it's different.

The Pirate fabric on the back was the starting piece for this quilt.  I knew I wanted to use it, it's a bright tomato red nice surprise on the back.

On another note, I have been getting a lot of spam comments lately, and am thinking about turning comments off completely.  I really don't want to, but it's just so irritating.  Anyone else having these problems?  Any suggestions?  I hate to turn comments off, they are fun, but I also get so sick of them clogging up my inbox.

Another pow wow

Well, my sewing machine is in the shop, again--this is the third time for the same problem.  I'm kinda wondering if my machine is dying...I sure hope not, because, dangit, sewing machines are expensive! 

So, I haven't been sewing, but I have been sorting and cutting scraps.  I've got a sore back and shoulders to go with my organized scraps.  But, I have finally taken the time to photograph quilts to share here.

Another baby quilt.  I LOVE this pattern.  I made a similar one almost exactly a year ago.  I have got to make this one bigger.  It goes together so quickly, and is fun for me.  

I used this super cute Heather Ross print for the backing...

 Bound in an older blue stripe.  I'm really into striped bindings lately.

I quilted it in concentric circles and I really love the look, but do not love the process.  It's fine once I'm out of the middle, but the center is kinda torturous for me.  So much shifting of quilt through the machine. 

Briar Rose Quilt

I have a finished quilt to show!  I actually finished this a while ago and forgot to share!  I gave it away and I guess it slipped my mind.  

I love Heather Ross, so when she released her Briar Rose line (first in a LONG time), I couldn't wait to put it to use.  

Pattern found in this book.  (as a sidenote, I can't buy EVERY quilt book out there.  There are so many now, and most are good.  I usually check them out from my local library first and if I love it, then I consider buying it.)

The pattern is a modern take on the log cabin.  If you look closely, you can see each block is made up of small log cabin blocks.

I quilted it in circles, first seen here, except I tried to do it free-motion, and it's kind of sloppy.  I feel a little bad about that, but not bad enough to not give it away.

 Bound in a pretty orange, (looks like mac and cheese), which worked perfectly with the other prints. 

 The strawberries from this line are my favorite, so I used the pink ones on the back.

this little piggy

For years I have in my mind that I will always have a couple baby boy quilts and a couple baby girl quilts ready to give away.  Baby quilts are my favorite thing to make...but I have never been able to make it happen, until recently.  I finally have a stack of quilts that are ready when a friend has a baby.  Yay!

The quilts in this pile are simple, quick and easy to make.  They tend to be my favorite baby quilts anyway...

 This strip quilt came about because I wanted to use these cute Heather Ross pigs (finally).  I wanted it to be suitable for a boy, and it is, but I am going to admit outloud, officially, that I stink at putting together fabric for a boy.  I tried so many different fabrics, and nothing really stood out to me.  I finally settled on this, and it's fine, but I feel like it is missing something and I CANNOT figure out what.  

It's frustrating.  I feel defeated?  (It's a little ridiculous--it's just a quilt).

then it spills over into all my quilts.  

I have struggled for a while now, feeling totally uninspired.  Everything I make feels like a copy (which I am totally okay with), but it takes me so long to finally finish a quilt, that everyone else has already made one just like mine that is way cuter than mine anyway. 

 It's all silly really, it doesn't cause me to lose any sleep, I don't type this because I want or need anyone to buoy me up.  That's not my intent... 

I have come to realize though that I quilt because it is an outlet, it is therapeutic.  Raising children is hard, and raising them to be good people is even harder.  Being a mom is the greatest and most frustrating thing I do.  And so I need something that is my own...my husband tells me (in a very loving and understanding way) that when I quilt, I plug my headphones in and everything else disappears.  And it's kinda true.  I have those noise cancelling headphones that enable me to not hear the whirrrrr of my machine or the noise of my kids...

I quilt away sometimes for 20 minutes and sometimes for an hour.  But it helps me to be more patient, it gives me something to look forward to, it is exciting to me, even if it's nothing 'new'.

High Five

This quilt is from Amanda Jean and Cheryl's book, Sunday Morning Quilts.  This is one of those quilts that sometimes I love and sometimes I don't love.  I love the pattern and I love the original in the book, I just don't love mine.  I wish I would've used another color with the pink and blue, so the blocks would stand out a little better.  

But then, other times I look at it up close and LOVE all the little pieces of fabric (they are little, this block finishes at 4.5 inches).   

I started making these blocks at least a year ago, probably more, just so I could use up my overflowing pink and blue scraps.  I thought it would end up bigger, but as other projects started piling up, this one got pushed to the back burner.  

 Eventually I settled on baby size (a good friend had a baby girl), and I was pretty much done with all the blocks.  All I had to do was sew them together.  I love a quick finish.

 I did add some color on the binding...a pretty yellow stripe.  I think this helps it out a lot.

I quilted it in loops going across the quilt.  I love this quilting, it's fast and easy.

Then as I was getting ready to package this quilt up, I noticed a tiny hole (looked like scissors had snipped it) on of the small scraps.  I was frustrated.  Part of me wished I hadn't even seen it.  What to do???  The quilt was totally finished.  I HATE starting over or unpicking.  

I ended up making a small patch out of the same fabric, and hand stitching it to the top.  I think it worked out pretty well.  I'm don't know that anyone will ever notice.  I hope it holds up...

 I backed it in pink dots and grey presents. 

 Hopefully I can get this shipped off to that sweet new baby who is already 6 months old....

sadie quilt

my neighbor down the street had a baby a couple weeks ago and I could not decide what to give her...her mom and grandma and aunt are all quilters, so I just felt like a quilt would be overkill...but she was in need of nothing else.  In the end I made her a simple quilt.  

Quilters like to receive quilts too!

I used leftovers from this quilt, I still really like the colors, and sewed simple squares together.  I always love these simple patchwork quilts.  Plus it went together FAST!