Circles Quilt

I saw a quilt in a quilt shop not too long ago that was inspiration for this one. It was very floral and girly. They had cut out flower shapes and leaves and then just free-motion quilted them to the foundation squares and backing. I went with something more boyish and clean, although the idea is the same. The edges will be free to ruffle up when it's washed. Our friends are having a boy in a few weeks and wanted something more for everyday use rather than a fancy quilt. I think this is a great solution, plus it'll be warm for winter and it's big enough to be spread out for a play mat. I also have been using my new label paper and printing out all sorts of labels. It's a really nice touch, I think. I wish the fabric was a bit softer, but then again, it might soften up after you wash it.
I have been doing some sewing and quilting, but overall, have been wrapping up a busy summer that slid right into a busy fall. I sneak some sewing in here and there, so I'll try to get some pictures of what I've been up to.
I'm also working on a charity auction wall hanging. I thought a lot about what to make that would appeal to a lot of people so that it wouldn't sell for $6. (maybe I'll tell the horrible story of the $6 quilt sometime) The North Liberty Food Pantry is raising money to build a new building, and so I'd like it to raise some money for that. Families coming to get assistance has increased dramatically over the last couple of years and they need more space to serve people better!

New Etsy Items

I finally got around to posting my new items on Etsy. I made some really cute fabric baskets to sell my burp cloths in. They must be a hit, because I sold two last night when I showed them off before even posting them! I can't wait to make more of them!
I've been working diligently on the T-shirt quilt and am going to get batting and backing fabric for it tomorrow after work. I also pin-basted my mango salsa quilt to get ready to quilt it. I think I'm going to rename it "Salsa King". I like that name better than "Mango Salsa."
Other than that, we've been busy traveling and buzzing from one place to another so I haven't spent much time in my sewing room at all. Hopefully that will change soon, but I kinda doubt it!

Busy Week!

It has been some time since I posted, but I've been up to all sorts of quilty things. :) I took this week off and managed to get quite a few things off my to-do list. Of course, several things were waiting in the wings to take their place, but I still feel like I made progress. My sewing room is a mess to prove it!

I have been working on a T-shirt quilt for a friend's daughter. I'm really excited about how good it looks so far. I always struggle to find a good layout. I've seen several T-shirt quilts that just use blocks of one size and they are ok, but often what makes these special are the T-shirts that people sign at camp or little logos on sleeves, so I'm trying to incorporate them. Tshirt is a rather tricky medium and it comes with a special set of challenges. I backed each shirt with a woven backing though and that really helped with stretching. It's a little bigger than I planned, too which should make quilting it interesting. I just have to find backing now!

This is going to be part of a wedding present for some friends who are getting married over Labor Day Weekend this year. These are Left-Out blocks from a larger quilt I've been working on. I'm stuck on the quilting because I got so far on it, and then took a look at it. It looks great from the back, as maybe you can see from the picture below, but it looks weird from the front because I quilting it in red and every once in awhile it comes through on the lighter yellow fabrics and just looks weird to me. We'll see. I have time to think about it! I DO love how the backing echos the front blocks because I made it into one giant pinwheel of sorts.  Oh, and I have called it "Latino Flair" in honor of the groom, Ryan, who although Irish, always did things with "latino flair".

Next, a house-warming gift for a couple of friends. They are looking for that perfect place, and when they find it, I will give them this as a present. They love birds, so I worked a bird print in. They actually came over for dinner last week and Molly saw some of the fabric out. I had pulled some to look at and just left them so I could come back to them with fresh eyes. But it worked out, because she commented on how beautiful they were, so I think she'll really like it. It could be a table topper or a wall hanging.

Lastly, a rag quilt for myself. I figured I should make something for myself this week. It went really quickly. I saw a similar one over at Sweetwater and thought I'd give it a try. I made mine bigger than they suggested and with wider strips. I think it's great!  

Just finished up a quilt for friends who had a little boy. I saw a similar quilt on the Moda Bakeshop website, but I tweaked it a little to make it the way I wanted it to be. I think it turned out really well except that I would probably only do it with letters that didn't dip below the line. I think the "g" looks a little funny. I got a new walking foot (hallelujah) so quilting it was a breeze. I know white is tricky with kids, but I think it's a cute blanket.

Springy

 
I used some scraps from a sewing project to make this baby quilt. It came together pretty quickly and I think it's cute. It's not as cute as the original project, but it's soft and light and cute!

This is a quilt I made from a Moda charm pack. I was really against it at first, which is why it took me so long to get past the block-stage. Then I just wanted it out of my sewing room, so I put it together with some borders and quilted it. I actually really started liking it towards the end. I had started out doing the disappearing nine-patch block. But then it was too mismatched and I started regretting jumping in like I did. I bought the coordinating yardage for the borders and the back, and I think that tied it together for me. I quilted it using a pattern of one of the flowers in the fabric and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I used a very neutral color of thread and it blends in well.

Two Quilts!

Well, I'm annoyed that I can't get these pictures to load correctly even though I've saved them...bAh! The Pink and Black quilt was made for a co-worker that got married last weekend. Of course, I decided to start it at the last minute and I finished it the morning of the wedding. I had not tried a log cabin block like this with the pattern zig-zagging down the quilt. I thought it was pretty easy, although I messed up some of the blocks. I don't think you can really tell, but I can tell I sewed some in the wrong order. Oh well. Not messed up enough to re-sew. 

The monogram quilt was the quilt I sold on Etsy! I hope they like it! 

Etsy!

I finally sold something on Etsy!!! Whew. I've had things listed on there forever and I was just waiting for something to get snatched up! I still don't think that I'm going to start raking in the money, but it feels good to just having something sold. :) So if you get a minute, go look at what I have available! I'm also willing to do custom projects including but not limited to: quilts, crib skirts, curtains, pillows, bags, and nursing covers. Yay!

Here are some pictures of the sewing I've been doing lately. It was my first attempt at sewing several products for one space. Quenby has a great eye for color and texture and scale so she picked out all the fabric. She appologizes for being picky, but that just means she knows what she likes! (And there's nothing wrong with that!) I'm really happy with the way it all turned out and I think she put together a really great space for Miss K! I also had to try to be picky about how everything turned out. Sometimes I just let it go if it's not perfect because I can live with it. But I really tried to be more of a perfectionist about these items. I can see myself doing more of these types of projects in the future.

Little Owls

I quilted this little baby quilt this week and put some binding on it while sitting by the fire and watching TV. It has just been that kind of weather lately! Lots of snow and negative temperatures means turning on the fireplace. I'm really happy with the quilting I did on this. Of course, I managed to get a close up with some loose strings in the picture. Oh well. I have also been having a hard time getting pictures to rotate. I save them the right way, but then they won't upload correctly. I need to work that one out. I backed this with a cute little owl print. I bought it because it was cute, but wasn't sure what to do with it! Turns out the colors were a great fit for this one, so it became the backing. Love love love striped binding! This one will be on it's way shortly to a friend who is going to be a great daddy to a beautiful little girl!

Is it the weekend yet?

 This is a quilt that I made for a friend. I gave it to her for her baby shower last weekend. I'm still working on some other projects for the nursery! I can't seem to get the other pictures to flip around, even though I saved them the correct way. They are of a Valentine's Day wall hanging that I finished tonight. I got it on sale for $1.99 for the panel! I don't have a lot of red and pink decorations, so I'm glad to hang it up for February 14th!

Etsy

I finally put more things on my Etsy site last night. It feels good to have some of those things listed. I get the impression that people on there are looking for a more modern aesthetic and I get that. But I have put some quilts on there that I made because I liked a certain fabric, etc and although they are not my preference, they are still cute. I don't have anybody I want to give them to, and so I'm hoping to sell them. Hopefully the right person will come along and decide they can't live without one of them!
I started making burp cloths when I had my son because he was always spitting up and spilling milk, etc. I started with about 5 in the rotation and quickly upped that to about 30 just to keep up with the laundry! They are so useful and who says they can't be cute?
I never used a nursing cover just because I rarely nursed in public. But I made myself one because I thought I might need one. I can see how they would be great, though. Maybe with my second I'll get more comfortable with sitting at the mall on a bench and nursing. Doubtful, but you never know!
I need to clean out some projects from my drawers and cupboards and then I could sell those, too. I have this great cathedral windows piece that would be a great pillow, but I'd have to make it into a pillow cover. But I should try to do that. It's really pretty but it doesn't really match any of the colors in my house, sadly. That was something I just did because I saw it on the Internet and it caught my eye. Actually I think there's a picture somewhere in my past posts. It was really fun to make, and it was sort of quilt-as-you-go so it was easy!
I'm trying to get some more time in January to sew. I have a quilt to show, but it hasn't been given yet so I'll wait to show pictures.