Easter Recap

This year I got it into my head that I was going to make baskets for the kids.  So the night before Easter, around 11pm, this is what my desk looked like.

The three baskets took about 3 1/2 hours to make.  I ran out of interfacing and spent a significant chunk of time frantically searching through closets, and miraculously came up with a piece big enough to cut the rest of the squares.

The butterfly, bird, toadstool, and coordinating polka dot fabrics are all from a collection called Flo’s Garden.  I let my daughters pick which color they wanted before I made them.  The idea is that they can use them in their room when Easter is over.

I just love how they look all in a row.  The colors are so perfect for spring (and girls)!

We started a new Easter tradition this year.  A few months ago I took Bea and Esther to an estate sale—our first.  We found this bunny basket on a shelf and bought it for $2.  When we got it home we realized there were small egg ornaments wrapped in tissue paper inside.  So we thought we’d have an egg tree this year.

I asked my hubby to pick up a tree from Lowes that we could plant in the yard after Easter.  He came home with this flowering quince tree.

The girls hung them all up and we’ve had the tree decorating our front porch the past few weeks.  It’s time we find it a permanent place in the yard.

How cute is that little blackbird?  Some of the eggs had stickers that said “Made in China,” so they aren’t the priceless heirlooms I was hoping to discover!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  Tomorrow it’s back to the old routine at our house.  I’m going to miss sleeping past my husband’s alarm clock.

Rainbow Brite {a finished quilt}

I’ve never been much for making ornamental quilts, more interested in utilitarian and larger projects, but lately I’ve been focusing on smaller and more decorative creations.

Before Christmas I started a scrappy rainbow quilt intended to be for a baby with foxes as the focal point.  I was using different colors to frame each fussy cut fox, but plans for that quilt got sidelined when I didn’t like the way it was turning out.   As I found out later when reading a magazine article about color, the value of the gray and light blue sections were outshined by the jewel tones of the other blocks.  I didn’t realize exactly what the problem was at the time, but something about the quilt felt “off.”

So I took out all the foxes, used them and the gray and blue sections to sew this pillow, made squares to fill in the gaps in the blocks, and chose two other intense colors to replace the lighter colors. 

Score!  The quilt turned out better than I imagined!

 

It may sound boring but stippling will ~always & forever~ be my favorite look for a quilt.  Maybe because the modern quilt movement was just picking up steam as I was learning to sew, and stippling was on every quilt I admired, but there’s just something about that texture that appeals to me.

How cool is the back of this quilt?  The fabric is an Alexander Henry print.  Colorful and bold, a perfect match for the front.

The binding is also an Alexander Henry print called heath in a light violet color.  My husband actually gave me lots of advice (some solicited, some not!) about the fabric choices in this quilt and helped me pick out the binding.  He was right about the lighter colored binding; it really reins in the bold colors of the front and back.

A big thanks to Bea for holding the quilt a million different ways for photos.

And thanks to Ronnie for helping me figure out a layout.

And a super-huge thanks to CeLynn for sending me the Sew Red glasses that helped me “see” the perfect layout.  What a difference they made for those of us who are “color-challenged!”

Now it’s hanging in my sewing room as a bright and cheerful reminder that even if things don’t work out how you planned, you can still make something beautiful out of it. 

Have a wonderful weekend!  Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

Mooshka Quilt

This quilt has been on my to-do list for the past few months, ever since we checked out the book “Mooshka” from the library. 

It’s about a quilt that talks.  One day I saw the “Mooshka” line of fabrics for sale on Winter Creek Cloth and we were on our way to making our own.

It is a little smaller than a full size.  Probably should have overrode my daughter’s decision to put the blue hst in the corner, but oh well, she helped and it’s her quilt.

I love a pieced back.  The backing fabrics are mostly other prints from earlier Julie Paschkis lines that I got on clearance.   Hearts, butterflies, birds, and roses…the perfect combination!

Hungry Caterpillar

The quilt is finished!  It is washed and dried and my daughter is sleeping under it as I type.

I tried so many different free motion quilting designs on this quilt, many from Angela Walters’s book.  My two favorites were the flower and the wonky diamonds.  I could see myself getting pretty good at both of those. 

I really like the way the back of the quilt looks with all the different quilting designs.  The pebbling was difficult but I love the texture it adds to the front and the back!

My daughter was thrilled to see the quilt when it was done.  She loves The Hungry Caterpillar book and it’s that time of year when caterpillars are making their appearance.  Every year we order Painted Lady caterpillars.  She was old enough this year to help release them.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Pave The Way…for another finish!

A few days ago I finished up a quilt I started almost two years ago, which feels great. I cut all the pieces for the quilt and then promptly put them in a Ziploc bag never to be touched again until a week ago.  The pattern is called “Pave the Way” by Karen Gray and was featured in the Quilt Sampler magazine from Spring/Summer of 2011.  It was fun, easy, and fast to put together.

 

The background solid is Kona sand and I stippled in cream thread.  The finished size is 50” x 66.5”.  The fabric I used is designed by Carolyn Gavin and called “Soul Garden.”

I love the pretty butterflies! 

The backing is a pretty floral print from the collection.  I used a green pindot from my stash for the binding.

My cousin who just had a baby last month was admiring the quilt top a few days ago, so I knew just who to give it to and it gave me the extra motivation to get it finished.  It’s perfect for mom and baby to snuggle under!

Up next, finish up the Valentine’s pillows I started last month.  I am linking up to “A Lovely Year of Finishes.”

Baby Elephant Dance Complete!

This quilt measures about 39” square. 

The fussy cut fabric is called Kharma Baby, most of the log cabin fabric is DS Quilts and Metro Circles, and the sashing is Kona ash. I used warm and white batting and the backing is a wonderful fabric from Connecting Threads from their Quilter’s Candy collection. It is light gray with little stars all over it.

I used a zig-zag stitch to machine bind this quilt and you can see it’s getting more and more accurate on the back as I’m sewing from the front.  It’s just taken a lot of practice.  This is probably my tenth quilt I’ve completely machine bound.

Here is a peek of the next project I’m working on.  The fabrics in this one are from the Maya collection. 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday!