It's about TIME!!!!!!

It's about time I finished a quilt, don't you think? I made this one for my newest niece. I've had it quilted for about 6 weeks, then the laundry room situation happened and it didn't get bound. My niece was due on the 18th of this month, but surprised us by coming last Thursday. I hurried and bound it on my garage sale, $20 Bernina and took it up to the hospital.

I love the velvet ric rac. This is it after it's been washed once. No rolling!

I ran out of backing so I had to piece a little.

I think this is the last quilt I will be making as a gift, at least until my kids are older. I'll be working on other things, but with three little kids, one of them not quite 13 months I can't handle having deadlines to finish. It was a nice thought though!

What's wrong with this?

The good news is I found my camera! Wait a minute, why is this underlined? I can't get the underline off! It's been like this a lot lately, but when I go out and come in to edit the underline is gone. Help!

Ok so now it's not underlined all of a sudden. Why? Also, while we are on the subject of not knowing what the problem is with blogger, why can't I move pics around anymore? Also, I have another pic to post of this quilt but it keeps deleting it without warning and when I try to repost it it tells me something about a path not available. AHHHHHH!!!!

Well, onto quilting. I've been making a baby (or rather smaller size quilt for a baby) gift. I'm not really liking it. I love the pattern. I was a little unsure of the fabric. It's not colors I would usually put together, but I thought it was cute. Plus, the mother of this not-here-yet baby is kind of a modern girl so I thought maybe I'd go for it.
I bought it as a kit. I shouldn't have used such a large print for the large flower. The small yellow flower on the bottom shows up better in real life than it does in the dark pic taken in my basement. So does the blue flower. I'm just not sure I'm liking it. There is still another small flower and some vines to add, but I'm not sure what to do to make them pop. I want to use an brighter blue with a bold pink flower or a lighter pink fabric, but it seems like something is missing. What is it?

I always stress about making quilts for others. I don't want someone to feel obligated to use it because of all the time I'm putting into it. I'm thinking this is my last baby quilt gift. I just worry about it too much!

Valentine's Quilt

I started this quilt YEARS ago. I'm not even sure when. I used a charm pack (can't even remember the name now). It actually started as a table runner, then got a little wider. Then I was thinking it could be a table mat of some sort. Once it was quilted I decided if I ever had a baby girl I would use it as a little Valentine's Quilt for her. Well... that day has come. I just finished binding it. It's now in the washing machine. She should get to used it a few times before Sunday.

Baby Shower Gifts

Saturday my mother-in-law and I had a shower for my sister-in-law. She's having a baby girl at the end of January, but with the holidays we decided to have her shower a little early.
I made some burp cloths . I love these kind made out of cloth diapers. They are so absorbent. I made some bibs at the last minute too, but for whatever reason the picture will not upload.
The other thing I made for her was this kitten quilt. The pattern is from American Quilting in Orem. I love how it turned out. I think I need to make one for my baby girl!
Here is a close up of the cats. I embroidered the faces and then appliqued them using a running stitch and black floss.

Hey Diddle Diddle

I finally finished binding this fun nursery rhyme quilt. I've had the binding on for about two weeks, but just didn't get to actually stitching it down. I love the fun fabric!

2 inches short

I've been busy lately. Not busy quilting, but busy potty training a 3 year old and busy in general with a 6 year old and a 5 month old. Oh, and the 3 year old is busy too, even when he isn't potty training. In my spare time I've been working on this super easy quilt. If I had had a full afternoon I could have made it then... but it's taken me a month. I was sewing on the finishing touches of purple ric rac (rick rack?) . I was on the very last part. I'm about 2 inches too short. Of course. Fortunately I measured before I sewed on the last row and didn't start sewing it down. Now the problem.... finding matching ric rac (again, rick rack?). I bought this in Orem, but I live in Davis County. That means driving around to fabric shops here with a 5 months old and a potty training 3 year old until I find what I need. Sounds fun to me........

Hey Diddle, Diddle

I found it! A few posts ago I was saying I found some cute nursery rhyme fabric I liked but could only buy it in a kit. I found it online. It's called Rock-a-Bye Rhymes by Alexander Henry and it's from 2008. I ordered some (enough for the quilt and back too... I really like it). It came today and I couldn't wait to show you! Here we have Hey Diddle, Diddle, Little Bow Peep and part of The Three Blind Mice up in the left corner.

I love Humpty Dumpty. He's probably my favorite on here, Hickory, Dickory Dock and you can see the top of Little Boy Blue's head.

Here is the Old Woman in the Shoe.

And a side wise Little Miss Muffett. Now, away I go to make a cute baby girl quilt! I forgot that I used some nursery rhyme fabric to back a quilt for Jake. Maybe I'll post a pic tomorrow of that one.

My Favorite Quilt Shops

I love living in Davis County. It's where I grew up and where home truly is. However, one thing I really miss about the almost 4 years I spent in Utah County is the quilt shops. Really, Davis County doesn't have anything great as far as quilt shops go. Utah County has three that I really, really love. We had a family reunion in Spanish Fork this weekend and I got to stop and visit my very favorite quilt shops.

When he saw me taking pictures of the outside of Broadbent's my husband questioned my mental stability. I told him it was for my blog. He asked if I'd be taking pictures of every shop we were visiting. I told him we would be, but then I forgot because I was too excited to get in and swoon over the fabric options not available closer to home. Yes, I did drag my husband and three kids into the quilt shops with me. Don't worry, they love Broadbent's because they have penny (OK let's be honest....nickle) candy. They went to stock up on root beer barrels while I went to see what Broadbent's had to offer.

I needed to look for an idea to make a cute quilt for my new little niece who will be here in January. I always worry when I make quilts for other people. The things I like are not necessarily what my sister-in-law will like. I had also been looking for a pattern to make a tree skirt for my formal tree in the living room. I was going to make a Star of Bethlehem using Quilt Smart, but I found this pattern instead. I think I'll make it out of the Christmas Three Sister's fabric. Broadbent's has lots of QuiltSmart. I had done my Christmas Lone Star Quilt before Broadbent's started selling it and wished shops around there sold more QuiltSmart. Of course just as I was getting ready to move they started selling it. I love traditional quilt blocks and love any short cuts I can find to make them. I had been eyeing this Apple Core pattern online for awhile now. They had the pattern there. I did promise myself I won't start it until my double wedding ring is finished though.

Next I went to American Quilting in Orem. I love all the quilts they have on display there. I also love 30's fabric and they have quite a bit. I really, really wanted to make a cute quilt out of some nursery rhyme fabric. I think the lady said it was called Hey Diddle, Diddle, but she didn't say the name of the company that makes it. They had some in kits, but I didn't want the kit, just the fabric since I already have enough fabric to make the rest of the quilt. They were out of it on the bolt though. If anyone knows which fabric I'm talking about and where I can get it please let me know. American Quilting was super busy as classes were just letting out and just starting. I saw a quilt I wanted to make for my sister-in-law, but wanted to think about it. I loved the quilt, but it was something I am not usually drawn to. I decided I'd come back on my way home from the reunion if that was what I decided I wanted to make.

We headed to Springville to check out Corn Wagon Quilt Company. I love Corn Wagon. They are huge and have a lot of variety. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did get lots of inspiration for the future.

I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law does not read this quilt blog... however, just in case I'll just show the fabric for this cute quilt. I ended up getting the pattern and the fabric to make the one I saw. I made the first block and it turned out really cute. I may need to make one for my baby girl........

One thing I've noticed since I had a baby girl is that there is tons of cute baby boy fabric and patterns out now! When my boys were born there was very little boy fabric and it wasn't that cute. American Quilting had several darling baby boy quilts and lots of fabric. I was very tempted to make another baby quilt for my 3 and 6 year olds! I also loved this Puppy Love pattern. I'm really, REALLY not an animal person, but I think this turned out so cute. I'm going to have to think about it.

Projects in the works

I had hoped to have this quilt finished to show you today. I'm having a hard time getting the right tension on my machine though so I had to unpick quite a bit of quilting, which is never fun. The pattern is Sweet Cheeks by Thimble Blossoms, although I didn't do the circles with the flowers. I put them on and it looked too busy with the fabric I chose so I had to peel them off.

My quilting goals for this week include:

Quilt and bind Jake's football quilt (it's been a year)
Work on Black Diamonds so I have enough done I can post a picture on here.
Finish Sweet Cheeks

Ok so these have been my quilting goals for the last few weeks. We'll see how it goes. I also want to paint my living room. We'll see which gets done.

Inspiring

The other day I was looking at my husband's, cousin's, wife's blog (my cousin-in-law?). She is a photographer and we are in need of a new family picture. I was looking at her photos and came across this little gem. Really, I had no idea she quilted.

Are you drooling? I asked Marcene about this beautiful hexagon quilt. She told me that she pieced it while she was expecting her baby. The hexagons are 1 5/8 inches across. She used a Fig and Plum jelly roll. She hand pieced it and worked on it for 5-8 hours a day for about 3 months! Once it was pieced she and her mom hand quilted it. WOW! I am totally impressed. Look at that binding too. It would take forever to sew the binding around doing the mitered corners every inch or so.

Marcene told me that this quilt is now hanging in the Springville Quilt Show in Springville, Utah.

Now I am totally inspired to start another hexagon quilt in addition to the one I've already started.... I'm thinking I'll use my jelly roll of Mill House Inn. I seriously doubt I'll be done in 3 months though.

Thanks for sharing your quilt with is Marcene!

Flutterby Complete!!!!

I was finally able to finish my Flutterby quilt. I ended up having to take my Pfaff into be fixed. It seems to be working well now though! Hopefully it will keep it up.

We have tons of big trees in our yard so everywhere I take pictures there are shadows. I'm not a great photographer in any way. I really like the colors in this quilt. I really like the way it turned out. Now it's off to the wash to make it wrinkly and soft!

So I have posted many times about how much I love 30's repo fabric. On Tuesday I had the rare opportunity to go to the quilt shop alone. I was actually looking for fabric to make a car seat blanket for my 2 month old (can you really believe she's 2 months?). Anyway, this particular shop used to have a wonderful selection of 30's fabric. In fact, when we lived in Saratoga Springs and I woulc dome visit my parents I had to stop in Bountiful every time to look through their 30's fabric. Anyway, I was looking at other fabric when I realized I was where the 30's fabric used to be. I looked around and didn't see it anywhere. I asked about it and they told me they are not going to be carrying it for a few years. Apparently they didn't like what was coming out and so they had a sale (not a great sale, I saw the flier) and got rid of what they had. They may not be carrying it for a few years! I am so disappointed. I really hope this isn't a trend. Please tell me that your local shops are still carrying 30's fabric!

Baby Quilt and Burp Cloths

I used my first honey bun this last week. It's Hello Betty from Chloe's Closet. I can't say that I loved working with a honey bun. There aren't many patterns out there so I made up my own. I was thinking I'd have a good sized baby quilt. WRONG! It's a small baby/ doll quilt. I haven't put a border on it yet and I'm not sure if I will. It's so busy that I don't really want one. I may just wait and she can use it now and then use it as a doll quilt when she is bigger than a doll herself.

I also made Olivia some more burp cloths. Really, can you ever have enough? I feel like I need at least two a day, especially if we go somewhere so that I don't have to take one that already has spit up on it.

This one totally clashed with the others so I took a picture of it separately. I still feel like I need a few more. I made some others earlier when she was very first born, but they were in the wash and I never got around to posting pictures. These are the most absorbent burp clothes I own made from cloth diapers.

I really, really want to start a new quilt. I would love to buy jelly rolls of American Jane's Snippets and make Black Diamonds. However, I'm trying to first finish what I've already started and second only buy fabric I need to finish what I've started. I keep telling myself that I can buy the fabric online after it's no longer in stores and also new fabric that I always LOVE is always coming out. Hopefully I can resist, but I just had a birthday and my birthday money is screaming to be spent on fabric.

Blossoms!

Finished! I finally finished the quilt I've been making for Olivia's crib. Sorry the picture turned on it's side. I don't know how to set it the right way. Anyway, this pattern is called Blooms for Annabelle. I made it using Bubblegum Basics fabric.

The pattern calls for two charm packs, but I just cut my own since this fabric is not by Moda. I started appliqueing the first row by hand, got it done and decide machine would be just fine for the rest! I did press the seam allowance under and then do invisible thread to stitch around. The pattern also said to use bias tape for the vines but I chose to use ric rac instead. Saved time!
Here's a closeup. Sorry about the dark picture, it was raining when I took it. I do love the bright happy colors! Cute for a little girl's room.

Olivia's First Quilt

I finished my lady bug quilt! I finally had a reason to. Since I had no finished baby quilt for Olivia when I got home I needed to get cracking on this one. I had the lady bugs finished so I just had to add the outer border and then last night I quilted it last night and bound it today.

Sorry about the shadows. I took the picture outside and we have tons of trees in our yard.

I found the pattern years ago in Quick Quilts. Quilting Cottage in American Fork had a sample made and I loved it. I bought the fabric and it's been sitting around waiting for a baby girl until this summer when I pulled it out. This was about a year before Jake was born so probably a little over three years ago.

Now onto another quilt out of Bubblegum Basics.... I'm loving girl fabric.