Ombré Half-Square Triangles

Ombre half-square triangles

My most recently finished quilt, which was ordered by a friend of a friend, is for a baby who lives in Bermuda with his parents who just moved there from Chicago. The pictures of the nursery showed it to be really modern, mostly white with dark, dark grey-ish blue walls.

Peak of the back

I didnt really have a plan going in other than that she wanted some fabrics having to do with the beach/ocean and some having to do with the city. The city ones were a bit harder to find, but there's a line from Art Gallery that just came out called Gramercy that has a cool black print with brownstone-type buildings on it.

After I had the fabrics picked out I grouped them into light, medium, and dark tones, then cut them into squares and matched them with a square in a similar color shade family. Then I just made a big stack of half square triangles!

I tried a few different layouts, and eventually had to make a few more light-colored squares. I tried having it light in the middle, radiating out to dark, but I think this way worked out a little better. And it kind of reminds me of the ocean too!

Embroidered initials and birthday 

I used teal thread to quilt with, and did my usual straightline grid. The aqua really only shows up on the light sections, and then it blends into the background. Its a good color though! The back fabric and binding are all Art Gallery prints, which are extra soft.

The back

This quilt is a little outside of my comfort zone, with all the dark colors, but I hope the recipients like it! I also thought it was fun to do the half-square triangles in a random arrangement, but with color as a guide. Just something new and fun to try! 

Tumbler baby quilt

Baby boy tumbler quilt

Hello! Just wanted to pop in and share a recent quilt finish with you. An old co-worker of mine from Indy contacted me a while back because her best friend was pregnant (I also worked with said friend, briefly!), and she wanted to order a quilt. It is always really nice to hear from people I know, so I was excited to make her something. She sent me photos of the nursery, which was pretty clean, and modern, and decorated with orange, aqua, green, and grey, which I thought was a really fun color palate. 

Close up

It didnt take me long to chose the fabrics, which all came from my store, and I think are  nice blend of solids, polka dots, and fun patterns, but none of them on their own are really "baby"ish, which I like in a baby quilt. There is a little bit of Cotton and Steel, a few nice Art Gallery prints from the Safari Moon line, some polka dots, and some grey blenders. It took me a while to chose the pattern, and I debated making a "plus" quilt as well, but we ultimately decided on the "tumbler" pattern, and I'm glad was did. It's just a nice twist on patchwork, I think, and is just slightly more unique and interesting. And the fabrics can really shine through because the design isnt overly complicated. 

The back

I was excited to discover that I had a nice print in the store that used all the colors as well, this fun design by Michael Miller, so I used that with a vertical stripe of leftover tumbler squares. I made my own tumbler template that I believe was 6" tall, 3" wide at the top and 5" wide at the bottom, then just traced it out of cardboard and used it for cutting. 

The whole back, and binding. 

I quilted it with straight lines on either side of the angled tumbler pieces, which you can kind of see in the close up picture of the back. I thought that part turned out really nice, and then I used a nice green and white polka dot for the binding.

All her glory!

Although the mom/baby hasnt received the quilt yet, my friend was happy with it, so that's good news! It was a fun, simple, but really happy quilt to make. I may end up doing more of these in the future! What's your favorite easy go-to quilt pattern?

Lonestar Quilt

Lonestar Quilt!

I recently finished up another quilt order, for my cousin's best friend's wedding. I saw a giant star quilt on flickr and tracked down the blog, where, happily, there was a tutorial! The one I used was at Bea Spoke Quilts. She gives you the basics on how to make a big star like this.

Quilting in progress

I dont really have an in-progress shots, but it was a pretty quick top to make since all the pieces are so big. I think it showcases fabrics nicely, and, using the wedding invite for inspiration, I decided on a coral/pink/aqua/grey color palette that was mostly, but not all, Art Gallery fabrics. I used Teensy Weensy in Lotus for the background, which is white with tiny, cute little pink and grey plus signs, which I thought was great for a wedding. (available here!)

Attaching the binding

I used a grey fabric for the binding that has tiny gold lines on it. It's hard to capture the details of a quilt in photos! But they're there, I promise.

Lonestar visits Ohio 

I did a line of quilting on either side of each seam, and then traced around the whole star as well. I really like straight-line quilting, which is good because my new machine really sucks at free motion! (constant tension issues. so annoying!) I like how the lines echo out around the star, and I like how they have the star pattern on the back of the quilt, even though that is also hard to see. I added a 3" border of rectangles along the top and bottom of the quilt to make it a little bigger, and I also like rectangluar quilts better than square quilts, so this solved that problem. I think it looks good too!

Art Gallery on the back. 

Although I normally piece my backs I had more than enough of this print, and I really like it as one solid piece for the back. The pops of yellow make me happy. 

It's since been sent off to the new couple (I think!) so I hope they like it and enjoy it for years to come. Up this month, another wedding quilt in similar colors, but triangles! And 2 baby quilts. And, hopefully, customers at the store!

What are you working on?

Now Open!

The big day has finally arrived, and the shop is officially open for business!

Last night was the opening party and I was so pleased with how things went. Lots of people came by to say hi, have a mini cupcake and a mini glass of champagne. It was great to feel lots of creative, excited energy surrounding something I have brought into being. It was nice to have family around and also new friends from Nashville! (And future friends in Nashville!).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Cupcakes and beautiful flowers[/caption]

It got sunny right before the party, so my sequin skirt was extra sparkly :) It was nice to see familiar faces and also meet new people who are excited about the shop. Great feeling!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Old friends![/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650"] New friends[/caption]



Sadly I did not get pictures of most people who came, but it was a really great time and lots of fun. Plus there was pink champagne which never ruins a night!

So today was the first day o' business and I was going to consider it a success if even one person came (havent gotten around to too much advertising yet, but that is April's goal) and I have definitely met the one person goal. Even met some awesome new people!

This month I'll be getting some more Japanese fabrics in, packing up some scrap bundles, planning for May's class schedule, and maybe creating some fun cross stitch kits.... Stay tuned!