6 x 7

Some quilts make a mark on you and this is one of those quilts. I bought a set of 9 1/2" squares of Amy Butler fabric from a destash on Instagram and set it aside. It was one of the those impulse purchases and after I received the squares in the mail, I was like, what was I thinking? I have nothing that coordinates with this fabric and all of the quilt shops around me don't sell Amy Butler fabric, so I set it aside.

A few months go by. I was edgy and restless and needed something to sew that was quick and easy, so I pulled these out, and sewed them up quick as a flash.

 I knew as soon as I finished the top that this quilt would stay with us, so I decided to try something new and ordered some Amy Butler voile fabric for the back! I couldn't tell you what the fabric lines are in this quilt, but they all seem to clash well together (for lack of better words).

I also used a different type of batting (Polyester high loft) than I normally use (Warm & Natural) and it resulted in a nice, squishy quilt. I quilted with simple diagonal lines because I wanted it to stay poofy.

It's like snuggling a silky cloud - I love it :)

I have a couple of other projects in the works, which I'll share next time.

'Til then, best wishes,
Michelle

My First Commissioned Quilt!!!

Can you tell that I'm a little excited about having completed my first commissioned quilt???! This came about when a coworker saw the quilt that I made for another coworker for her little baby boy (here), and she asked me to make her a quilt for her first grandbaby, a girl.

I showed her some fabric ideas, and she picked Moda's "Lil' Red" by Stacy Iest Hsu, which I just happened to love! She also wanted minky on the back, and let me pick the quilt pattern. Even though I have made several quilts, I completely doubted every single choice I had to make on this quilt: questioning the pattern I picked, the fabric, the piecing, the quilting, everything to the point where it wasn't enjoyable for me to work on it, but I powered through and love the end result! I just need to lighten up and believe that everything will work out for the best, which it did.

I chose this pattern after going through my Pinterest board of quilts, and realizing that I had pinned a quilt like this several times. I liked it because it showcased the fabrics, but it also has an interesting secondary pattern. The pattern is just a 5" square of printed fabric with 2 2.5" squares sewn on opposite corners and then trimmed. Super easy!

I added a border to frame the prints, and then brought the backing minky forward to use as binding, so that the baby could have a soft corner to snuggle with.

This was the first time that I have spray-basted a quilt, and I have to say...I love it! I have been really frustrated lately with puckering/gathering on the backside of my quilts and honestly, it's probably because I don't use enough pins when basting, so I decided that since this quilt was commissioned, I better hedge my bets, and spray-baste, especially since minky was the backing.

The only problems I had were some rolling when I brought the minky forward to be the binding - and that was probably from pinning it and accidentally stretching it when I was sewing it to the front. Other than that, the spray-baste was great!

I also made the doll from the panel that is part of the fabric line and having never made a stuffed doll before, it was a little tricky. I kind of sewed through her neck a little bit and it ended up looking like a fabric vampire bit her or something, so I had to patch that by hand sewing over it a few times. Hopefully it's not too noticeable... :/

Until next time,
Michelle

Green and Blue Quilt

Wow, where has the time gone?! The last time I posted it was still pretty chilly and grey outside...I blinked and now it is summer, with all of its bright colors! You know what that means...better lighting and backgrounds for photos :)

I made this quilt in January/February for a coworker of mine who was having her second baby. I made her a quilt for her first baby, a girl (here is the first one), and kind of felt that I should make her one for her second, who is a boy. I wrestled with that decision though, something I've talked about here before, that line between the desire to give and obligation to give because it has been done before.

In the end, after I chased my tail a few times, I settled in and made a quilt for her. I wanted a simple pattern, and wanted to use fabrics that I already had, so that it didn't feel as much as an investment, more like a gift, so I chose a pattern that is called "Mini Super Six". It uses six half-yards of fabric, which I just happened to have in my stash :) The fabric is from Jo-Anns.

The backing is a really thick fleece that I bought for my stash, just because it was too cute not to come home with me. I also used batting, so this quilt is a little heavy, but will be super-warm as her little boy grows into it. I used the backing as the binding, so her little boy will have a nice, soft edge to snuggle with and will totally use that method on more quilts from now on!

I have since misplaced the pattern, but the size was around 48"x60", plenty big enough to grow into! I kind of shy away from smaller baby quilts, mostly because smaller quilts can only be used for so long, and if I am going to put the time and effort in to make one, I want them to be able to use it for as long as possible!

Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon with more pretties :)
Michelle

A Quilt for a Boy I Don't Know

I am a strong believer that quilts have the ability to bring comfort to the troubled and hope where there is little to none and I love to give them as gifts to people who seem like they need a little extra something in their life. But I have also struggled with the line between giving a quilt because I want to and feeling obligated to gift a quilt to someone because I feel like I should and that there is an expectation of some sort to give one. I will probably always wrestle with this, because I want to make and give one to everyone I meet (seriously, I'm crazy like that!), but have limited time and resources to make that happen. So, whenever I make a quilt to gift to someone, that must mean they are super-special indeed!

A friend of mine recently got her license to become a foster parent and I told her that whenever she got her first placements, to let me know and I would make a quilt for each of them. I felt a calling to do this, especially after reading this blog post from Pretty Little Quilts. Our Project Linus chapter seems to have plenty volunteers ready with quilts and I wanted to get involved in a way that seemed more personal. My friend quickly ended up with a nine year old boy and his six month old sister and I got right to work to make them something special.

I still had this quilt (the yellow and gray one) which seemed perfect for a baby girl to grow into, so I set that aside for her. The problem I had was that I didn't know what fabrics to use for an older boy (mine are still pretty young) and I fretted and moaned about it for a while, until I found this awesome line by Moda called "Boathouse" by Sweetwater & Co. Perfect!

I used two Jolly Bars and the pattern that was included in the Jolly Bar, but made it bigger than the original pattern by using the second Jolly Bar.

It was quilted in a meander pattern, which was quick and added a nice texture to the quilt. The backing is a Dear Stella print with blue and white striped beach-chairs and the binding is a red stripe from the Boathouse line.

I had the honor of giving them their quilts and I am nothing if not awkward around kids, but the boy seemed to like his and was happy to carry it around, while his baby sister got tucked in with it in the stroller.

They were gifted their quilts in the beginning of August and have since gone to live with family in a different part of the state. The bittersweet part is that I will probably never see them again or hear any updates about how their lives are going, but I sincerely wish the best for them.

Until next time,
Michelle

A New Start

I have a confession to make...you may have noticed that I have been missing and the truth is that I got swallowed up by the hyper-delivery that is Instagram and have been lounging there for the past few months, absorbing all of the instant updates about up and coming fabric lines, new patterns, and gorgeous quilts that people seem to make at the blink of an eye. It wasn't as satisfying as reading a blog post, where someone has taken the time to take lots of pretty pictures and write a few thoughtful words and curate it, rather than a quick update with a ton of hashtags.

For me, Instagram felt like having McDonald's for dinner, instead of a homemade meal made from scratch at home, all nice and quick and convenient, but then an hour later you're hungry for something else that's just as brightly-colored and fat-laden. Not that I am against Instagram; I will still check in to see what all the news is, because some bloggers that I have loved following are only posting updates on Instagram, rather than their blogs, but lately, I'm feeling the need to come back to the blog and work on it.

I like having this space to post pictures of things that I've done or made, and writing up little snippets about them, but I don't know that it reflects who I truly am and I struggled last year with keeping everything bright and happy and quilty, when things were not necessarily bright and happy and quilty in my world.

So, I'm revamping the blog a bit. It'll have more depressing stories about tragedies in the world -- just kidding. I do plan on adding a few tabs at the top of the page and writing more posts that include more of my thoughts, instead of just quilt stats like I have been doing. Nothing depressing or heavy, because who needs more of that in the world :)

And I can't leave you without a pretty picture of something, here you go:

Until next time,
Michelle