I am so in love with this quilt!!!  The pattern is so easy, I and am loving it.  It simply uses a layer cake plus yardage, and since I’m always looking for patterns to use with layer cakes, this one is definitely a keeper.

The post wash measurement is 52 x 63.

For the label I incorporated it into the backing design.  I used a Sharpie and wrote on the white fabric.

I don’t often get pictures of my finished quilts with their recipients, but I am hand delivering this quilt to the recipients tomorrow, so hopefully when I get back from vacation I’ll post some pictures of the hopefully delighted recipients with their quilt.

I started a new project (I really shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t resist).  I’m using a layer cake of A Breath of Avignon by American Jane for Moda.  I so love the colors of this line, and this fabric line definitely brings me back to France…love it!

I’m using the Sweet Garden pattern by Carolina Patchworks.  This pattern requires a good bit of organization and planning, so I organized my layer cake and then cut all the pieces.  I then laid out the pieces to my liking.  Now I just need to find the time to piece the top, but something tells me that this project is going to have to wait until July when I get back from vacation.  Before vacation I have so much work to do (you know for my part time job that actually pays me to do work), and I have to finish the binding on the 30’s Squared quilt.  Oh, and I also have to finish the binding for the Black, White, & Red Allover quilt.  I think a baby quilt for a friend may also sneek in the to do list.  Sheesh I have a lot to do!

Here’s a fun table runner made with Nautical and Nice by Sandy Gervais for Moda charm squares.  The quilting is simple, just a few straight lines.  The more straight line quilting I do the more I realize I’m a stippling kind of girl.  But I do like this runner, and it’s patriotic with the red, white, and blue.

A few weeks ago I finished up the Baby Blues quilt for my good friend.  We went to their house for dinner and she opened here present and loved it!   Yay…always a good feeling!!!

I love the colors, and I really liked how it turned out.

I marked this quilt for straight line quilting, and I have to honestly say that I’m not sold on marking my quilts prior to quilting.  I also used flannel for the backing, and while it is soft and cozy I’m not sold on it either.  If you use flannel, PREWASH it!!!  Even if you don’t prewash your fabrics, ALWAYS prewash your flannel.  Flannel shrinks so much more than regular quilting fabric, and the weave is bigger.  Once you wash it and it shrinks, it shrinks the weave, which makes the quilting stitches much more secure.

I managed to hammer out the quilt top using the Snippets layer cake 2 weeks ago.

The quilt top stayed nicely folded for some time, because I couldn’t find the time to actually quilt it.  When I quilt I like to have a big block of time to just sit down and quilt.  Sometimes those big blocks of time are few and far between.  Most of the time I quilt when Steve is out of town on business.  He had a series of canceled trips, so no quilting time for me.  But now he’s on a trip, so after my kiddos were in bed last night I decided to quilt.

Today’s project is binding.

I stocked up on Snippets layer cakes when they were in closeout at Cotton Patch Quilting.  I knew I would eventually put them to good use.  I broke into one of those layer cakes this weekend and can’t wait to to get the quilt top together.  I’ve got the blocks done, but I still have to lay them out.  I’m excited about this quilt.  For starters, I love the fabric…the 30’s reproduction that reminds me of feed sacks.  And secondly, it’s a super easy pattern that uses 1 layer cake plus some yardage of a neutral, and the pattern is all mine!

Hopefully I’ll make good progress in the coming days, that is of course as long as my 4 year old gets over the virus she has.

I put the Black, White, & Red All Over quilt aside (for now), and started on a baby quilt.  My friend is due the beginning of June, and she’ll likely deliver sooner, so I wanted to be sure and get this done quickly.  She requested a blue and brown quilt, and never haven worked with those colors before I was excited….I love that color combination!!!!

I used the boy pattern of the Baby Mine pattern, and I got the whole thing pieced. It took me a few days to figure out how I wanted to quilt it.  Usually quilts “speak” to me and tell me what what I should do, but not this time.  Bah!

I’ve never marked a quilt top for quilting before, but I tried it this time.  I wanted to do some straight line kind of stuff.  I’m still kind of on the fence about marking, and while I really like how some straight line quilting turns out, by and large I’m an all over meander quilting kind of gal.

I’ll show pictures of the quilting soon.

Spring Flowers is done!   And I LOVE it!!!!!!  For starters I used Camille’s Baby Mine pattern.  The pattern is a great deal because you get 2 patterns for the price of 1–a girl quilt and a boy quilt.  I wasn’t 100% sold on the flower applique pieces that go with the girl quilt.  So I hunted through my library of patterns and found one that I love…it’s called French Roses by Heather French.  Some day I’m going to make an entire quilt of French Roses (I even have the fabric for it), but since that’s down the road I figured I give the French Roses a whirl by substituting these flowers for the ones that came with the Baby Mine pattern.

The French Roses pattern  uses the soft edge applique technique, which I thought is perfect for a baby girl’s quilt.  I’m certainly in love with soft edge applique!

I’m so glad I made this modification.  I think the French Roses flowers are softer, more feminine, and just downright adorable.

The quilt measured 40 x 50 prior to washing and measures 37 1/2 x 47 1/2 after washing…perfect size for a baby.

Front

Back

Polka dot binding matches the inner border

Label: I used a piece of muslin, cut the edges with pinking shears, wrote on it, then soft edge appliqued it to the quilt

Fabric: Butterfly Fling by Me & My Sisters Design for Moda, the white is a white on white design with butterflies, the polka dots and some of the fabrics in the flowers are from my stash.

Side note: I started working on an improv project tonight.  I got everything out and set up (machine, ironing board, started cutting fabric etc.), then went to sew, and my sewing machine won’t sew! Grrrrrrr!  So I’m bringing it in tomorrow to get serviced, because one can’t have a non working sewing machine when one NEEDS to sew!

My daughter’s preschool is having a silent auction, and I volunteered to make a baby quilt.  I love baby quilts, because they are quick to make and oh so satisfying.

I chose 2 charm packs of Sultry by Basic Grey for Moda and set them 8 x 10.

No matter how many quilts I do and new styles I try, I absolutely love the simplicity of the 5 inch squares.  It’s probably quiltmaking at its simplest, but I’m so drawn to these quilts.

The post wash measurements are 33 x 42.

The back of the quilt is white muslin, and I quilted with Sulky Blendables Vintage Rose (#4030) thread.

Thanks for all the votes for naming this quilt (both in the comments section and in person).  While I liked both names best I think that Caterpillar’s Meadow fits both the quilt and the new mama the best.

The post wash measurements are 33 x 41…just the right size for a new baby.

I think this quilt is really pretty and the new mama is going to love it!

Front

Back

If you remember I used the Sulky Blendables thread…see how nicely it blends

This is the back and you can see how nicely the thread blends into the blocks at the top, but in the rest of the white backing you can see the color variations, which I think looks really cool.  And since I used a light blendables thread it still hides mistakes on the white fabric.

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