Sewing and quilting is cathartic and peaceful.  I love the creative process and the accomplishment.

And so we start a new year and 2012 promises to be filled with lots of quilts! Yipee!

2012 musts:

• Make quilt for a bff who moved recently
• Finish quilt for a cousin’s wedding (ahem…she got married a long time ago…gack!)
• Make quilt for another cousin’s upcoming wedding present
• Make baby quilt for a cousin’s first baby
• Finish Ellie’s quilt
• Make a quilt for myself

First up is called Urban Blooms (unless I come up with a more creative title ).  I’m loosely using the Lemon Squares pattern by Fresh Lemons.  More than a year ago I bought a quilt kit that was on sale.  It didn’t have the pattern with it, but that was fine, because I bought the kit for the fabric anyway.  I loved the colors and I loved how the colors were out of my normal repertoire/comfort zone.  I’ve been waiting for the perfect occasion and perfect recipient, and I found it.  This one’s for you B:

City Blooms by Benartex

Block “A”

I was told the new mama likes light green, purple, and brown.  I had a bunch of Hushabye (by Tula Pink for Moda) charm packs and I pulled out all the green and browns, and then I added some purples to the mix.  I love this color combination!  And because I love me a polka dot binding, the green dots on brown was just perfect!!! The purples, the green geometric backing, and the brown with green dots are all from different lines, but they coordinate perfectly with the greens and browns from Hushabye.

The post wash  measurement is 37 x 45.

I hope my cousin and the new mama like it!

Welcome to the world Samantha!

I’m having a heck of a time coming up with a name for this quilt.  Sometimes names can be so hard!!!  So far I’ve come up with Lavender Fields.  Do you have any other suggestions?

I tried something new with this quilt.  I used a sheet for the backing because I liked the polka dots (shocking, I know, but I love me a polka dot quilt back!!!!).  But, the sheet was not 100% cotton, but since this quilt was for Ethan and I could test it out, I decided to give it a try.  I must say it was nice to lay the sheet out to sandwich the quilt rather than to piece the backing (although I do love a pieced back).

Here’s my review on the cotton poly blend sheet backing: I don’t think it shrunk at the same rate as the quilt top and the batting.  But I think the biggest drawback is that it didn’t give me the super crinkly look that I so love.  So I think I’ll stick with 100% cotton for the backs (unless of course I find some really cool blend fabric) whether it be from sheets or quilting fabric.  I’m working on one more quilt with a cotton poly blend back and that’s Ellie’s quilt.  It’s been quilted for some time, and I just need to bind it.

Fabric is Make Life by Sweetwater for Moda.

Post wash measurement: 55.5 x 64.5.

I also made this quilt super special for Ethan by quilting his name.  He loves that!!!

]]> http://southernquilter.com/2011/05/ethans-quilt-make-life/feed/ 0 http://southernquilter.com/2011/04/hawg-wild-2/ http://southernquilter.com/2011/04/hawg-wild-2/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:59:00 +0000 Rachel http://southernquilter.com/?p=871 I took a deep breath and opened the washing machine and smiled broadly…no reds or blacks ran onto the white!  Woohoo!!!!

Here’s a little background on the quilt’s name.  My son swims competitively for the AquaHawgs, and my daughter will also swim on the team this fall.  The reason we are a part of the AquaHawgs is because of Coach Amy.  We all adore her, and she really ignited the swimming passion in both of my kiddos.  If not for her we likely would not be a part of the AquaHawgs.  So with her departure comes lots of sadness, but also true excitement for her and her husband as their life’s journey takes them elsewhere.  Our family has truly been blessed to have had Coach Amy involved in our lives for the last 2 years.

When she told me she was moving, I of course knew I needed to make her a quilt to thank her for everything she’s done for us.  Since the team’s colors are red, black, and white, I thought a quilt with those colors would be perfect.  Wherever she is she can wrap herself in some AquaHawg love and some Chriss family love.

For the quilt’s label, I had all 4 of us sign our names…for an extra special touch.

We love Coach Amy so much, and we are going to miss her!

Post wash measurement is 56.5 x 63.5.  The pattern is Quilted Windows, and I modified the pattern a bit to make the quilt wider.  The fabrics are mostly Mingle by Monaluna for Robert Kaufman.

I absolutely love how this quilt turned out.  I’ve had this post sitting as a draft for nearly a week, because I didn’t want to post it until I gave Coach Amy her gift.  We are bringing her gift to her today…hope she loves it!

Back…I love a polka dot back!

The quilt label.  I incorporated it into the pieced blocks of the backing.

Solid black binding

I put the quilted and bound quilt in the washing machine along with 4 color catchers (yes, 4!) and said a little prayer: oh please, color catchers do your job and let the white stay white.  I hope it works!  I will be devastated if it doesn’t, because I won’t have enough time to make a new quilt before Amy leaves.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

So I think this occasion calls for a quilt, stat!  The swim team’s colors are red, black, and white, so how about a little red, black, and white quilt?  I think that sounds perfect, and luckily I had mostly everything I need to get this quilt started and finished asap!

Aren’t these pretty?

It’s a late wedding present for my cousin and her new hubby who happen to live by the beach, so hopefully she and her hubby love it!

The post wash measurement is 56 1/2 x 65 1/2.

Back

I heart a striped binding!

I must give a huge shout out to Stitches N’ Giggles!  They’ve got great fabric at superb prices.  Not only that, but you get your order super fast….I placed my order Monday and got my lovelies today (WEDNESDAY!!!)  Now that’s service!