Hexagon quilt #2

Hexagon Baby Quilt #2

Ugh!! Just a side note- I'm so sick of blurry quilt photos! They make me sad. So, my apologies. Have a few older projects to post and from now on my photos should be better as I have finally purchased a nice camera... now I jut have to learn how to use it and I'll be on my way... to stardom! JK.

Close up on cute baby elephants

I was so happy when my old roommate from 2004-2006 emailed me requesting a baby quilt! I had made one for her baby last year, but it was a gift from me and another friend, so I never got to talk to her directly. It was so fun to catch up, and also make something for her brother who is expecting a baby with his wife. Fun fact, they met at Loyola and used to come to parties at our apartment when they were freshman and we were juniors! Good times. I really love making quilts for people that I know, I tend to think a lot about the recipient as I sew, so it was nice to remember people from my past this way.

Baby's name

We went with a girly yet slightly whimsical feel and it was fun to pick out fabrics! I like all the little objects hiding in the quilt, from elephants, to balloons, to bees, and flowers, and feathers. I hope babies like looking at those things as they grow. 

Headed to Kansas City!

I used a Cloud 9 voile for the binding, which is so soft and nice. I also did straight-line quilting to echo the lines of the hexagons, and used my little knee bar on my sewing machine for all the pivot points which made it a thousand times better than having to manually lift the foot on every corner!!

Close up on the back

I really love the back too, I think all the fabrics are so sweet! As you know I adore this elephant balloon print, the bows are great, and I love that top fabric with the kids and the animals, and I think they work really nicely together, and the pink quilting thread shows up well but isnt too bright.

All done!

Another fun baby quilt in the books for 2015! Thanks, Lauren, for the order :)

Patchwork Plus Quilt

Navy, green, yellow, grey Plus patchwork quilt

Greetings from The Fabric Studio! Finished another fun quilt today, this one was an order from my top customer, my cousin Stephanie, for her sister and brother-in-law who are having a baby boy. She send me photos of a few things they had bought for the nursery, one being a graphic, modern green and white rug, and the other being some grey and navy sheets that I believe had sailboats on them. 

Diagonal straight-line quilting and close up

I really liked the idea of bright green, which I must not work with much because I had to order a few more pieces. I added in navy and bright blues, a few yellows, and then some neutral greys and whites so it wasn't quite so crazy. I cut 4 1/2" squares for this one, just like the last quilt I made, because I really like the size the end up being. It's a good size for showing off fabric, but not too big, and not so small that you have to cut a million squares (just 120 instead :)  ). Then I laid them out in a plus pattern, which is fun to do and gives a more modern look to what is essentially just a patchwork quilt. 

Pieced back

I've been doing a lot of quilt backs out of just one fabric lately, because it's quicker, but I had some squares left over, and I really ended up liking the combo of green and navy fabric on the back. I may go back to pieced backs, because I really like this one, and especially on baby quilts it really doesnt take that long. 

Bridge fabric by Michael Miller, available here

I did a simple straight-line quilting going diagonally through the patchwork squares. I was going to go back the other way to make an X through each box, but I ended up using green thread and didnt want it to stand out too much on top of some of the lighter colored fabrics. I think this is enough quilting, and the quilt is still nice and soft! 

I used a nice green solid by Michael Miller (Cotton Couture in Apple), which I think both contrasts and blends, which worked out! Sending this quilt off tomorrow, and then on to the next! I dont usually work with such dark, bold colors, but I must say I liked it! I think I'll look for a few good bright greens for the store (but they arent easy to fine!)

What are you working on right now?