Baby Quilt Mania

As two co-workers are shortly due, I simply must fly to get their baby quilts done. E. is due first, actually on Palm Sunday apropos as she is a preacher. What date could be more fitting for her first child's birth than one of the holiest days of the year. I have all the pieces cut out and am almost done with their piecing. It's the curse of cute tiny quilts. All those little pieces that will make this baby quilt adorable.

So its, been a little while since I started this.  E's baby actually came second as K. wound up going into labor first.  Even better she waited until after Easter Sunday.  Now as I am just passing their second birthdays still working on their quilts.  E's quilt is almost done, I'm just working on hand quilting it, and am so darn close to finishing.  Then its only three more for the other work colleagues who have had their children &/or are pregnant right now.

Close up of center

All laid out

Here are a few pics of her quilt from when I laid it out to sew.
Can you find the few that are mislaid?  While, I didn't find them before I sewed it all together, it just really emphasizes the homemade nature of the quilt. It also doesn't help my timeline that I've been hand quilting this one, a heart in each of the tan squares.

Part of the problem is that I like to design the quilt so much, but the actual follow through & quilting is not my favorite.  So I like to create an original design for each kid, thus I wind up spending time on that and not finishing up the quilt as I should.

Quilting Break

So its kind of nuts how long its been since I've had a chance to do some quilting.

I've been struggling to find the time, in between the changes in work that have increased my responsibilities & stresses and that I started going to the gym.  I would say its been at least six months, if not more for anything outside of some EPP on my grandmother's flower garden.

Test Block w/ sashing on 2 sides

So while I had a little staycation the last few days, I've been able to get some quilting done. I had to do a test block (pictured here) on W's wedding quilt to double check that my math was right. It's been so long that I was really questioning that it was right.  And what do you know, it was all right.  It was just a reaffirmation that I should stop doubting myself and trust that I know what I'm doing.  I love that I've gotten to do some test blocks, it will really let me RD the quilting for the overall quilt.

Since the design of the block, I've wound up going a different direction. The construction is easier, as a log cabin style block put on point; instead of the original design which involved paper piecing.  W. wanted her quilt to be made of kona solids in her wedding colors, the equivalent of coal and bright pink. Although I really liked it done with the batiks & color shifts in the original version of the quilt design, its her quilt and I want her to love it.

Piecing stack

I've really enjoyed getting back to quilting, and need to start making time for it again.

New Designs

As its nearly spring time again, I thought I would share some of my spring bounties. So check out my new designs.

Origami Wedding Rings

DNA

Robot Hands

Rainbow Twist Auction Quilt

Original Design - September/October 2010

This quilt was created for an auction. Originally, it was going to be the backing for another quilt, but I liked it so much that I decided to make it a top.

The simplicity of the quilt is striking and the colors are more vibrant than they appear in the pictures. I would love to find out more about how to photograph quilts to their best advantage.

I quilted each lengthwise strip, with a decreasing labyrinth in the color of the strip. And on the strips across the width I did diamonds between the colors. With a skinny strip of minky for the binding. I am really happy with how it turned out.

Plus, I heard it was a rather hot item at the auction. Yay!

Update and new quilt designs

Given that it has been over a year since I last posted. I thought I should share a little about my quilting over the passage of time in this period.

I have been anything but prolific in making quilts. I finished one quilt and two more tops. I have several others in development and design but I haven't finished making any quilts recently. Though I have designed several with witch I am really happy. So I thought I would share a couple of the designs I really like.

Crescent Circles

This is my take on the traditional orange peel quilt. I think it will have be applique. I am kind of excited getting around to it, as it will be my first applique quilt. I really like the bright vibrancy of the quilt, and think I would prefer it as very simple two-tone quilt.

Floating Bridges

I like this one. I don't really remember what inspired me. I think it would be fun to quilt with a bunch of names, kind of like graffiti artists marking up bridges.

Rectangle Shift/Sliding Doors

This is one of my favorite designs. I can't wait to make it. I think it would be great to make as a large queen size quilt. For whatever reason, the vertical aspect really appeals to me.

Well once I relocate, I will have to make a point of spending more time sewing. After my machine broke down, I finally replaced it but had fallen out of the habit of sewing and it has given me a hard time finding the time to pick it back up.

9-patch sew along and overall progress

Well, I just counted and I stand at 36 blocks. Due to the fact, that I am making four squares right now, I have been trying to make two a day. Though I must admit that I am not someone who sits down and does a little each day. It works much better for me to sit down and do a massive session to let me get ahead for the days when I can't do anything or focus on other projects.

I want to share photos of them, as I really love some of the blocks and would love to hear thoughts on some of the others as I just am not sure about them. If they are really unsuccessful is it better to hide in a massive project, on the back, or to deconstruct and try something else. Unfortunately, my computer is crashing every time I try to upload my photos so it has to wait until I can borrow someones, perhaps this weekend.


UPDATE: I just finished up the ones for today so I am now at 38. Enough for 19 days so I am good for another two days.

I have been keeping busy with my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I have finished two flowers with the third row of green. I several more that are the simple flowers with just the petals and center. I finally found a yellow that works really well for the center. YAY. I am still trying to figure out if I want a cream/white/none for the path between the flowers.

Grandma's Flower Garden (GFG)

I re-started my GFG. This time instead of using the paper pieces I cut, I am using June Tailor's Simple Shapes - hexagon, so that my flowers will be consistent and uniform. These are available via JoAnn's ($10/25 shapes) and really quite reasonable when using your coupons or they are on sale. I had a lot of problems with my earlier paper pieced flowers with trying to match up the sides, as my papers were not uniform. I cut them myself and got a little sloppy while making them. They caused my flowers to wind up looking really amateurish. Now with the uniform shapes, I am really pleased by how they are turning out.

I have quite a few flower petals ready to assembled. They are just waiting on me to find the right fabric for the center. I have been struggling with finding a good yellow that fits the overall theme of the quilt.

I am surrounding each flower with a ring of green, then creating a path of white or cream. I still can't decide which color-way will look better. I am also trying to figure out if I want to put a path between each flower or simply add another ring of the neutral color (white or cream). The difference is one row of white/cream between the flowers or two. I can't decide what would look better.

I am really pleased though that I was able to get enough of the green to allow me make my GFG either a large full or queen sized quilt.

I have to admit that I am a little surprised, I didn't think I would enjoy the hand piecing this much. Even better, with a GFG I am able to spend a great deal of time quilting without having to spend a great deal of money.

With my other quilts, it was starting to get a little expensive as it only takes me about two or three hours to piece a top. So I can piece a top in one afternoon/evening. Now, it takes me longer to quilt the tops, but even so its getting quilts done in a matter of days instead of weeks and the cost of fabric, batting, and thread really adds up.

The GFG takes up time, is portable, and cost effective. So, I highly recommend at least giving it a try.