My baby girl's quilt

Well, I finally finished my baby girl's quilt... and I'm finally posting some pictures!  I really enjoyed making this quilt as I pushed myself to try some new techniques.  And even though I took forever in working through the process in my mind, drawing it out, taking notes, scribbling pictures, and so on, I still made a big mistake!  There is something to be said for planning, but I think diving right it might have worked just as well.  But, I was able to correct the mistake and it all worked out.

I used the GO! Baby machine I won from AccuQuilt to cut most of the flowers for this quilt.  When I was asked what dies I would like to choose, I specifically chose two of the dies for this quilt.  The little machine worked like a charm, too.  My baby girl even helped me cut out some of the flowers.  I used Lila Tueller's Soire'e fabric charm packs that were given to me a while back.  It was perfect for this project.

 

I used Bari J. Ackerman's book, "Inspired to Sew" for instruction and inspiration.  It is a wonderful book with lots of great projects.  Love, love, love it!  After I got the foundation of my quilt in order, I placed all of the flowers and leaves where I wanted them and pinned, pinned, and pinned!  Then, I used free-motion quilting to sew them on.  It did take some time, but I thought it was well worth it.  I found that using a fabric glue stick helped keep the pieces in place as I moved around.  I kept some pins in place except for the immediate pieces that I was sewing so that as I went along, I could reposition pieces as needed.  It also alleviated the hassle of trying to sew around the pins. 

Below are some of the close-ups where you can see a little more detail.  I wasn't too picky about perfect applique here.  I just moved all around at a fairly even speed and tried to make sure all the pieces were sewn down well.  I enjoyed making the bark on the trees, the clouds, and the grass.

  

I also added a few dimensional pieces to the center of some of the flowers.  One of my favorite parts to this quilt is the bunting.  I love the way it pops right off of the quilt!

 

 

 

 

 

The big blunder I made?  I didn't sew the border on to my quilt top!  When I finished all the quilting and started to make my border, I realized this.  I had to sew on additional batting so that I could add my border.  But, like I said, it worked out okay because I decided to add a ruffle and facing strip to the back.  Several new techniques later, and I was happy!

This is the back of the quilt.  I like the way it looks, too.  Fun.

And, here is baby girl's room.  I made the quilt to the dimensions of the width of the mattress and a little bit shorter to allow for the pillow (and a billion stuffed animals), but wished I had made it a little bit longer and wider.  I'm not sweating it now, though! I guess I better get busy on a pillow sham... and I think it might be time to put away the flannel snowflake sheets!

I'll come back soon to share a little more about the tree in her room.  Thanks for stopping by! Pin It

Fall Retreat 2011- Part 2

We changed up our routine a little bit this past retreat.  Most of us came in on Thursday night this time, but unfortunately I couldn't.  I got there as soon as I could on Friday morning and the road trip was on!  All ten miles of it!  Turns out that there is a "little" quilt shop just down the road.  Literally.  This was  my seventh retreat to Mineola in four years and I never knew what fun was just around the corner!

Stitchin' Heaven is in Quitman, Texas.  Go to their website for all kinds of information - they have everything a quilter needs and retreats, classes, etc.  Ooooh, look at all that fabric!

 

 

 

 

They had another huge room with cutting tables and work tables.  Great space!

Afterward, we grabbed lunch at the Texas Tea Room and Grill.  Lots of fun things there from souveniers to boots, clothes, and jewelry!  I had the chicken and spinach crepe and fried okra which was quite tasty.

So if you ever get a chance to swing through Quitman, Texas, don't forget to check them out! Pin It

Coasting...

With the crazy weather and the kids having a few "snow days" away from school, I decided I would indulge in a little bit of holiday myself.  They were all content to stay bundled up in their rooms (teenagers) or come in and out repeatedly from playing in the snow (young in's).  

I finished a skirt that had been sitting there for the past week or two.  My youngest claimed it for herself.  Fortunately, it was her size.  Wow, who would have guessed?

 

I'm sure everyone else (and their dog) has this awesome little light, but I just bought mine.  Having held off from spending the $50 on it, I had a weak moment at the local quilt shop.  That little person (not the lady at the quilt shop) was tapping on my shoulder saying things like, "You deserve it" and "Its a tool, its totally necessary" and even worse "You're old - your eyes need all the help they can get."  Thanks, thanks a lot.  Anyway, I held on to the guilt for a few moments and after using it, I don't know why I didn't buy it sooner!  HA!  (Little voice.. "See, I told you so...")

 

Another great tool in my arsenal of studio goodies - my new walking foot.  Oh yeah, it rocks!  Again, don't know how I lived without this little puppy!  Making these little coasters was a breeze, I tell ya!  I'll be making more of these very soon!  I found the tutorial on Martha Stewart's website.  Nothing fancy.  Just straight lines.  

 

 

Maybe now that I've made friends with the walking foot, I will venture out to sew some cool "mug rugs" like the these from Morgane from Bear, Dolly and Moi.  She even made a tray for them!

And this one from Jennifer of That girl... That Quilt.  Apparently, she is a neighbor of mine.  Well, here in the metroplex anyway!  These ladies inspire me to further this whole quilting experience!  Look, a place for her tea and spoon!

So what have you been doing during the blizzard of 2011? Pin It

Who wouldn't want this fabric?

Oh how I would love to get my little paws on this!  I'm giddy over the possibilities!  Check out Retro Mummy's awesome Flower Sugar fabric giveaway!  You could be the lucky one - but, let's just be honest here... I hope its me!  Hahaha!

Good luck!

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Taaaaah-Done!

Sorry to keep you hanging on the edge of your seat.  I know you were all just pacing the floor to see the finished quilt!  (*snicker*)  So here 'tis!

I don't have a walking foot so some of the stitching was a little off and some of the fabric shifted and pinched.  I did use my ditch foot which helped a little.  I only quilted where the blocks met and then just free-motion quilted around the large border.

Remember my "little friend"?  Well, when I went into the quilt shop to purchase it, I showed the almost completed quilt to the sweet gal working and asked her what she thought.  She liked it and said it looked very good but that I had a tension problem.  I had to laugh.  She was referring to the long and irregular stitches where I first started the free-motion work.  I explained that the tension was fine - it was operator error!  I was sewing too slow and moving too fast - totally opposite of what I should have been doing.  But, I got in a bit of a sewing groove and the rest looked a little better!

All along, this little quilt has reminded me of my Aunt Marie.  She is the sweetest woman and was so very close to my mom.  She lives in Indiana and we don't get to see each other much at all.  I'm going to send this quilt to her as I know she will appreciate and enjoy it.

I'm pleased with it.  It was fun to make, I learned a lot, and I still have much to learn.  That gives me two new excuses - #1 get a walking foot ("But, honey - I neeeeeeeed it"), and #2 quilt some more! Pin It

My new best friend!

I found a new friend!  Yes, it is a thimble.

I decided to finish my quilt binding by hand and by the time I had completed one side I had a nice little blister on the end of "that" finger.  Owwwie!  Thank goodness for the quilt shop just about 2 miles away!  "And say hello to my little friend!"

It was well worth the $8.95 sticker shock price to save "that" finger from any more torture.  And, the little rubber part kept it from falling off.  Best part?  It's pink!  (I see you grinning, Sissie!)

See those pretty little pins?  My mom and I sewed many things with those and therefore, I will use them as long as possible and keep them always!  I can still picture her pinning things together and always with one or two pursed between her lips!

I'll show my quilt in the next post as I forgot to take it outside earlier to get some nice pictures!

Til then, Pin It

Mini Quilt in the making

In my last post, I shared with you a little bit about my most recent project.  Now, let me show you the quilt a little more.  Having the top already pieced together, I just needed to add the borders, backing, and quilt it.  Fortunately, I had the book from class to refer to!

Our teacher gave us this handy little swatch card to help us pick our fabrics.  This was so right up my alley!  Did you know that I love to make graphs and drawings for almost every project?

I liked this little project because I was able to learn some of the basic blocks but not be overwhelmed with the size of a normal quilt.  The finished size will be about 43" square and actually makes a nice lap quilt.  Here are a few of the blocks I made.

The borders are on and its begging to be quilted!  More to come...

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