Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Liberty Dots Mini {a finished quilt}

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Have you heard of the Sew the Library challenge hosted by Fabric Mutt and some other bloggers?  It’s to encourage us book-buyers-but-never-makers to finally make some of those patterns we’ve always wanted to get around to.  My friend CeLynn and I decided to join in the fun, because it’s always more fun with a friend, and picked a sweet quilt called Butterfly Effect for January.  Hers is pieced; mine is still in pieces.  But, I did finish another quilt from a book (in a record 3 days time, albeit it’s just a mini quilt and “based” on the pattern in the book), but it’s still adorable, still a quilt, and—most of all—still finished!!!

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The idea for this mini came from the book Quilts, Baby!  Oh, how I love looking through this book, and now I can count TWO whole quilts I’ve made from it (the other was this elephant quilt for a friend’s baby shower). 

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There are two reasons I decided to make this quilt—#1 I wanted to make something small with Liberty lawn and find out what all the fuss is about and #2 when I was thumbing through the book daydreaming about making something, I saw this quilt and realized it would make the perfect project for January’s Le Challenge theme…dots!  A win-win if there ever was one!

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I can report that I’m still not sure what all the fuss is about (in fact I accidentally bought Robert Kaufman lawn too—the green print—and I can’t tell the difference between it and the Liberty).  I’ve bought quite a bit this past month to make a larger quilt and I wanted to practice on smaller pieces before embarking upon such a costly undertaking.  Should I interface the fabric?  What kind of fabric should I pair it with?  What kind of needle to use?  I asked a lot of bloggers and got a lot of advice.  Based on all the advice I received, I ended up using Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in latte as the background fabric…and I bought a Juki TL 2010.  Whenever I do end up making the larger Liberty quilt, it will be worth its weight in gold!

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The background fabric is Heather Ross unicorns and the binding is an unknown Art Gallery color.  The finished size is 24” x 24”. 

I am having a baby in about 3 months and figure this will make a nice, light blanket if she needs one during April or May, and later it will make a super-sweet doll quilt or wall hanging for her room. 

Just to recap:

  1. #Sewthelibrary project completed
  2. #Lechallenge project completed
  3. Practiced sewing with Liberty fabric
  4. Made my first handmade item for baby
  5. Bought a new sewing machine

That’s one heck of a finish!

Thanks for visiting!!!

20 comments:

  1. Love your free motion quilting, it looks great in the negative space with this pattern!

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  2. Cute! I haven't bought any Liberty....yet. It's beautiful, but there's so much beautiful fabric out there....for less. Your quilting looks great :)

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  3. And I thought I would just read about a sweet little baby quilt! It really is a sweet baby quilt, but there's so much more in this post. Congrats on the new baby!

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  4. The quilt is very nice! But the few words hidden in the post are fabulous, amazing and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (I've just visited the musical Mary Poppins !!!)

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  5. First of all- congratulations on your impending arrival! This quilt is lovely- perfect for a Spring baby! I also love the idea of making from all the books we have! I think I need to explore this further....

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  6. Your pregnant!!!???? #5?? So excited.

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  7. what a great finish - it really is super pretty :-)

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  8. Love the quilt - it's all round. I had heard somewhere that you were expecting. Congrats again!

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  9. Jamie, this is darling! I really need to get myself a rainbow stack of Liberty scraps one of these days. What a perfect little baby quilt, and I love the backing you chose. I hope you have a safe delivery too!

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  10. Wow - eventful week! I love your mini. I've also been wondering about those Liberty Lawns... :-)

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  11. How do you like that new Juki? Love your FMQ it looks perfect! You have been pretty busy this month too! Hope your pieces are now a quilt top.

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  12. Wow, you've been busy! That unicorn print is so sweet. Can't wait to hear all about the Juki. ;-)

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  13. LOL!!! You bought a new machine when you went to buy fabric!! That's great!! Your little quilt is gorgeous! The Liberty looks great with the shot cotton, really pretty. I love your loopy quilting too.

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  14. She´ll love to snuggle in her very first quilt! Isn´t it the best feeling when you can finally sew for the baby? ;-)

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  15. Visiting from Le Challenge. Cheers on the finish and on the expected baby.

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  16. HI, love this Mini Quilt>love that FMQing too!
    Thanks for sharing!

    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  17. Hi, I love your baby's first quilt! I have a crocheted blanket that I made 29 years ago for my first daughter and it is still special. I didn't know how to sew, I just couldn't figure it out until someone told me to buy a decent sewing machine! 4 machines later I have a Juki and I love it you will too! You had a great month!

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  18. Love this quilt - I love the idea of sew the library! Thanks for sharing on le challenge.

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  19. I love the liberty fabrics, but unfortunately I cant sew curves as well as you.

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Some days the only adult I talk to is my husband...help him keep his sanity by leaving a comment so I have another adult to talk sewing with:) I will make sure to reply!