G'ma Miller's 89th Birthday Quilt

My Grandma Miller has made quilts for all of her grandchildren (25 in total) and who knows who else. She is a quilting machine!! I thought it was her turn to be on the receiving end for once, so I whipped up a bordered periwinkle quilt for her. She loves flowers and this colorful fabric line reminded me of a beautiful garden. Her birthday is tomorrow, but mom was there visiting over the weekend so she took it to Gram and I got to watch her open it over google hangouts. She loved it, and I am happy for that. She's a pretty amazing lady. Happy Birthday, Gram!

Diagonal HST Quilt

Here is the finished diagonal half square triangle quilt for Maggie and Tom's baby boy. They are due mid-February so it is time to get this thing in the mail!

I Haven't Stopped Sewing!

I didn't stop sewing in July, I just haven't gotten around to posting any of my projects for the past 5 months! I made an extra-long twin size bed quilt for Silas. This was a fun project, a twist on the traditional log cabin block. It took forever to cut all the fabric, but once that was finished the piecing went rather quickly. Besides being too huge for his bed, I think he liked it.

I made several monkeys this Christmas. Cousin monkeys for Peter and Lainey, and another for Lilly, the daughter of a friend. I am hoping Peter becomes attached to Spidey, whenever I hand Spidey over to Peter he grins and gives him a big hug. Super cute. I hope Lainey loves her monkey, too, but it might be a little while before she has much of a reaction to her!

                

I also made fabric books for Peter and Lainey. These were fun to make. I took Peter down the costume aisle at Hancock Fabrics and he picked out the sparkly fabrics. He's really into textures and striking patterns right now, so it holds his attention for a good 5 minutes before it's time to move onto something else.

And now I am working on this baby quilt for some friends in Santa Barbara who are expecting a boy in February. I have the quilt top together, I am just waiting for backing and binding fabric to come in the mail any day now. I used the half square triangle scraps from Lainey's pow wow quilt to make this one, so it didn't take that long to put it together.

I am not sure what 2015 will bring in terms of sewing, but Peter is on the verge of crawling so I'm guessing the prospects are not good. We'll see what I can get done!!

Baby Banana Pants' Pow-Wow Quilt

Peter took a three hour nap this morning that allowed me to get the quilting done on Baby Banana Pants' quilt. I decided on straight lines down the length of the quilt in sets of three, two and three. It's hard to see in the photo, and it didn't photograph well, so you'll just have to trust me. Later in the afternoon he was happy to sit in his swing and watch me bind the quilt. Peter was very cooperative; his cousin will have to thank him someday as I wasn't sure I was ever going to get this done, or at least not in time for BBP's arrival.

When I went to make the backing a couple of weeks ago I thought I remembered how to make the arrow blocks so I set in without re-reading the directions. This is the result of not re-reading the directions; I guess I didn't actually remember. Mike commented that he liked it and thought it was cool because it was complimentary but not identical. So yeah, I meant to do that!

I can't say that this is my favorite quilt I've ever made. I underestimated how much white was in the prints, and I think the prints are too large for the pattern. I should have gotten fabric that was more solid with smaller prints. Oh well, not every quilt can be my favorite. The important thing is that it is made with lots of love! I can't wait to meet BBP in October!!

Baby C's Quilt

Mike gave me a Sew Steady extension table for my sewing machine this past Christmas. I finally got to use it while quilting Baby C's quilt. It is different from what I am used to, so it took a little adjusting, but the extra room to work is great. I think it will be especially useful for smaller quilts that I might want to do free form quilting on.

Anyway, I finished the quilt last Friday, but it was raining most of the day Friday and Saturday so today was the first opportune day to take some photographs. So here it is:

Baby C's Quilt Top

I finished the quilt top for Baby C today. The partial seams were much easier to conquer than I initially imagined, but the pattern directions were good, which helped. This was a slightly tedious quilt top to put together with all the 1 inch white sashing between the colored blocks, but it helps break up the colors, so I'm glad it's there. With the colors all mixed up, it doesn't look like a rainbow, so I'm happy about that. Once my Jo Ann order arrives with batting and a thread stand (so I can use some of the thread Grandma Miller gave me), I'll be set to quilt and bind this thing. Just two months to go until baby arrives, so I hope the supplies come soon!

A Quilt for Baby C

After suffering through our second trip to the DMV in as many days, we, meaning I, celebrated the successful issuance of our vehicle registrations and South Carolina drivers licenses with a stop at Hancock Fabrics. Mike was very patient as I first slowly browsed the fabric options and then started the long process of putting bolts of fabric in the cart, putting them back on the shelf, and so on and so forth, until I found just the right combination of fabrics. Although the fabrics are more rainbow colored than I imagined in my head during the planning phase, I am happy with the colors and their coordination with the wall cards we purchased for the nursery.

I am going to make the quilt pictured below. It is a little tricky as it requires partial seams, which I've never used before. I always enjoy learning a new sewing technique, so I'm looking forward to getting started. Mike starts work officially this coming Monday so I'll have lots of time to get this put together.

Just as a side note, at the fabric cutting counter I joked with Mike that this was probably his worst nightmare of a day -- the DMV and then a trip to the fabric store. He was a good sport and that's just one reason why I love him and am thankful for him :)