Throwback Thursday - Butterfly Kisses

This is a baby quilt that I did in 2010 for a colleague's baby girl. A simple 16 patch with circles at all the intersections. The circles were attached with Pellon Wonder-Under Paper-Backed Fusible Web - (one of my favorite quilting techniques) and then machine blanket stitched.

Once I got past how to make the circles -- I used a compass and butcher paper, the quilt came together really quickly. The materials were pretty and spring like and it still makes me happy to look at it.

Giving a quilt to someone's baby is a real joy -- evidence is here!

Happy quilting!!!

Skull Quilt Blocks

I posted a couple of these pictures on the Quilting Board that I occasionally frequent along with the message that I was making this quilt for a baby and got some very different opinions. Some people were horrified that I would make a skull quilt for a baby and some people thought it was very fresh and "out of the box". While a skull quilt for a baby has its nay-sayers, it is what the mom of the baby likes and she has already decorated with skulls. A somewhat older sibling (6-ish) is also just "gaga" over skulls.

Skulls are everywhere, on t-shirts for both genders for all ages (and even dogs), on shoes, the subject of video games for girls, on fabric, and toys such as stuffed skulls, etc. This trend has been out in pop culture for quite a few years now. I thought it would die off quickly, but no. I have done a bit of internet reading and there are two lines of thought as to where this trend came from: 1) popularity of pirates and 2) the Mexican holiday of Day of the Dead or El Dia de Muertos.

If you have an opinion on why skulls are popular or if a skull baby quilt is horrific or cute, I'd love to hear your comments. Regardless of why skulls are popular, I don't think it will disappear overnight especially for this baby's mom. I think it will be an interesting baby quilt, and if the baby is scared of it -- I know mom will love it. I will post more pictures when the quilt is finished.

Happy quilting.

Come Fly with Me! Let's Fly, Let's Fly Away. . .

"Flying In Formation" is on its way to the quilter! Obviously, I did finally decide on a name for the yet-to-be-named-quilt. While I was sewing the quilt top, I kept singing a song made famous by Frank Sinatra:

          Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
          If you can use some exotic booze
          There's a bar in far Bombay
          Come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away. . .

I had fun with the boarders and used a different fabric for each side that matched an airplane in the quilt. I little easier than piecing all of the wonky piano keys that have been on the last four or 5 quilts. Hopefully, this quilt and the too pink quilt will be back quickly and I can get them out to their respective owners!

Happy quilting!

Quilt Ready for Delivery No. 3

"Cars go Vroom" is the name of this quilt. Same format, different subject. Enjoy the photos!

Happy Quilting!

Quilt Ready for Delivery No. 2

Quilt No. 2 is called "Captain of the Team". I love the little shoes. I found the coloring page on-line, but they didn't look right. So, I got on line again and looked up the Converse logo and added the star on the shoe. Now it looks right!

Again, just like quilt No. 1 I've done lately, four blocks and a wonky piano key border. Kind of formulaic, but it works. Stay tuned for Quilt No. 3.

Happy Quilting!

Quilt Ready for Delivery No. 1

This is one of the "semi-mass-produced" quilts that I have been trying to complete for the now thirteen (yes, you heard correct: 13) babies that I need to create quilts for. Two of them are for a girlfriend of my daughter and she has done some of the work on them. The balance of the eleven are all co-workers that have had or are having babies. Must be something in the water.

This quilt is named "I <3 U" (or I heart you) and is for a co-worker's daughter  who turned 1 year old last month. OK, yes, absolutely, I am a little behind on the job, but they will be catching up here quickly as I finally got a fire lit under my quilting patootie. I had some issues getting started and finding inspiration; there has been a lot of knitting and then the remodeling efforts.

These are easy fast quilt tops for me to construct, even with "quilters block". Notice, however, that it is very similar to "Is There Enough Pink in This Quilt?" I do need to come up with something a little different or every little girl born to someone in my office will have pretty much the same quilt. I had the airplane idea, but I have to come up with something else new. Ugh, why can't I think?


Happy quilting!

The "Yet-to-be-Named" Quilt

I am slowly working my way through the blanket stitching on the airplanes of this quilt. This is the quilt that I mentioned the other day that will be for the baby brother of the recipient of "Bunny Bright". I have been through a long list of quilt names, but have not settled on any. How about "Flying in Formation", "Air Traffic Controlled", or "Come Fly With Me"? Do you have any suggestions?

 Some of these fabrics have been in my stash for years and have never been used. This one I remember purchasing with one featuring safety pins (which I cannot find) to make a sewing bag. But since the bag is long gone off of my to do list, I might as well use it on a baby quilt. I love fun and funky fabrics on baby quilts! (Note the carrot fabric airplane above!)

 This fabric is a left over from a baby quilt that I did for a great niece
several years ago. It made a fun and funky striped border then and now it is a fun and funky striped airplane.

This airplane is being flown by a turtle! He'll never break any speed records. Again, left-over fabric from a baby quilt of long ago.

I have not yet decided what I will do for the borders on this quilt. I do have plenty of fabric of some of the airplanes left, so I may do each side as a different fabric just to tweak up the level of fun on this quilt.

Happy quilting!

Newest Baby Quilt

I was able to get another baby quilt top completed this week. I have named it: "Is There Enough Pink in This Quilt?" It is along the same lines as my other semi-mass produced quilts. This is for a "co-worker" in our Florida offices who has been a great help to me in my work. She is also the person for whom I knitted the cutest baby dress last summer. Wonderfully, I found out that there is yet another baby due in my office late in this year. I gotta get another job! LOL!

I am also working on another boy quilt that is not of the mass produced group. This one is for the newborn brother of the recipient of "Bunny Bright" that I put together a couple of years ago before I even started this blog. "Bunny Bright" was probably my very favorite baby quilt of all time and was one of the first quilts that I did using online coloring pages as patterns. I even used a set of alphabet coloring pages as the template for the title.

The new baby boy's quilt will feature airplanes and even has some of the same fabrics that are in "Bunny Bright". I will post photos of it later in the weekend when I have gotten a bit more accomplished on it.

In the mean time, Happy Quilting!!

Two Quilt Tops Completed

I finished two quilt tops and sent them off with my knitting sister to my other sister who has a long arm quilting machine. I love to design the quilt tops, but I am not so fond of the actual quilting. It is not really easy on a regular machine and since one of my sisters has her own long arm, I avail myself of her talents a lot. The picture above is the finished boy design shown in my last post.

The other two pictures are blocks from the girl designs in process. We made six total girl quilt tops in different combinations of hearts and butterflies. It was two more girl quilts than I needed to finish, but babies seem to come quick and I can always use extras!

Happy quilting!

Quilting in a Post Thanksgiving Carbohydrate Coma

 Teaming up with my knitting sister and my beautiful daughter, we decided to knock out as many baby quilts as possible for some newly arrived residents of this world (and a couple that have yet to make their appearances). We are trying to make the quilts bright and colorful, while keeping the complexity low. Hence all of them will have 4 big blocks and a pieced crazy piano key boarder. Using my favorite method of fusing and coloring page designs,we came up with a couple of "girl baby designs" and a couple of "boy baby designs".

My knitting sister came up with the crazy piano key boarder idea. I had suggested a piano key boarder (see the one I did on another quilt, here); however, she hates cutting fabric, so since wonky cutting is easier -- little measuring -- and faster -- again, little measuring, she suggested crazy piano keys. Knitting sister quickly started cutting out fabrics in color palettes, some for boy quilts and some for girl quilts.

Reds, browns and blues in one boy palette for for a sports themed quilt and pinks, oranges and yellows for a butterfly and hearts themed girl quilt. I have finished applying machine blanket stitching on one 4 X 4 block center of a heart themed quilt and have completed parts of two other baby quilts. But I have seven baby quilts to make in all.

With so much left to do, why am I still blogging?

Happy Quilting!

Autumn Days

I have been trying to finish this quilt. I have been so involved in knitting, that I have been ignoring this quilt. But I have to get it done soon as the baby is already 4 months old and I haven't got her quilt done! Since I last posted about "A is for Autumn", I have gotten a little done. I have finished the three other motifs that I wanted to do on the quilt: pumpkins, a basket of apples and a squirrel gathering nuts. I have not put the top or bottom boarder on the quilt as it is less fabric to get the blanket stitching done in the center.



I use a sewing machine to apply the blanket stitching as I am not very fast when doing it by hand. Actually, I think that sewing a blanket stitch by machine is two slow and would prefer waving a magic wand. But since magic wands are expensive, I make due with a machine.

The thread that I use for the blanket stitch is mettler silk finish cotton thread. I must have about 30 different colors. It helps give some dimension to a bunch of red apples in a basket if you have more than one red.

But the blanket stitch is more than just a design element. It also helps keep the fusable edges of the quilt motifs from fraying and falling apart. I always tell the recipient of the quilt that if it falls apart, they should bring it back and I will fix it. Either people are really shy or the blanket stitch works because I have never gotten a quilt back from anyone to fix.

Happy quilting!