Baby Quilt

I am trying to finish up quilts that I have committed to make. I gathered up the fabrics for this little baby from our donated fabric at church. I finally got around to working on it almost 2 weeks ago. It has taken longer that I thought it  would but I finally finished it today.

It measures 36 x 36; this is my new favorite size for a baby quilt made for our Caring Closet at church.  It is not too big to cover a baby in a car seat or stroller and big enough to lay on any surface for the baby to lay on. It is also a good size for a toddler to drag around should it become a favorite "blankey".

The fabric is definitely girly fabric there are pink things and girly words on the fabric.
The pinwheels and the motif squares are 4 inches. I meant for the large center square o finish at 12 inches but I cut one side wrong, hence the frame around the center square.







A closeup of the center square and some of the 4 inch motif squares.
I quilted in the ditch around all the pinwheels and 4 inch squares and across the diagonal in two directions.
All the little motifs in the center block had dotted lines around them and I quilted just out side those lines to outline them. I used my walking foot with white thread for all the quilting. White thread seemed like the best choice for this quilt. 
Using the walking foot was the best choice for me because my arthritic hands make free motion quilting more punishment than I want to deal with.



This is the back of the quilt. After using some of the pink fabric on the front  for  the corner pinwheels and the frame around the center square, I came up just short of having enough for a whole cloth back.
I had cut too many fabric squares for all the other pinwheels so that worked out well for pinwheels on either side of a large  fabric square on the back. I was able to cut a piece with some of the words that were too large to get for the pieces on the front.








This is a closeup of the pieced strip on the pack. I was able to get one square with all of the words and images in the fabric. 

I am sometimes a little cautious about using colored quilting thread when I have a pieced back. This was one of those times and I think white was the right choice.

I usually prefer more vibrant colors for my quilts and I wasn't so sure I would like this pale pink. I wasn't sure about using the light blue Grunge for the background in the pinwheels,  White or Kona Bone might have bee more contrast but I decided on the blue because of the blue background in the focus fabric.  All in all, I think it turned out to be a rather sweet little quilt.

Sometimes ...........

Sometimes you miss the mark and wonder why you thought something was a good idea and why you wasted your time.

I made these Sunday after I went out to get the red Kona cotton. As soon as I cut the red strips to go around the chicken squares I knew I was going down the wrong path. But I kept going and it didn't get any better.  I thought the hanger wouldn't look right  in the middle of the square so I added a triangle and  thought "Oh it looks like a barn".  I kept going and layered them with batting and quilted them and I added batting to the backing and layered everything right sides together and turned them right side out and finished them with more stitching    around them.  What was I thinking?
I decided that I didn't even like the rooster fabric all that much and I would scrap the potholder idea.
I was going to cut the rest of the fabric into I spy squares and add them to the several stacks of I spy squares that are all different singles or pairs.

So.... when I was cleaning up and putting boxes away I saw this black and gray plaid through the side of a clear plastic box.
I've had his for a long time and I think I used it for backing.  Once, in an attempt to rid myself of fabric I was never gong to use for a quilt I made some (ugly) reusable grocery shopping bags.
 I had some chicken squares already cut and I cut 4 1/4 inch red squares to cut on the diagonal and some strips of the black and gray plaid.  That's a little better; I don't hate them. I will make pot holders with the rest of the squares I have already cut. I will use up all that black and gray plaid; that's a plus.

I'm not sure why I thought this fabric would make great pot holders for my kitchen. The Squares are not printed square and they are small (5 inches) and close together. The chicken images are not crisp and distinct, they blend right into the background.
The bright side is I don't hate the new design, I am using up the gray and black plaid, I needed the red Kona cotton anyway, I have some new additions to my I Spy packs  and I can use some new pot holders and I will have some potholders to give away to people who like chickens.

I also have a new resolve  to resist buying fabric that is not something I need in order to  finish something on which I am actually working. I mean it!

Back Again to the Scraps

Tuesday, I started on another box of leftovers and scraps and finished going through it Wednesday between loads of laundry.  This was another box that I had somewhat sorted earlier. I made some good  progress this time around. I stated with the box marked Parts Department (from Collaborative Quilts book by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran). I found some things that should be combined with the same thing in other boxes. I ended up working with three boxes.
I found zip lock bags with Laurel Burch leftover HST's  and a zip lock with 4 1/2 inch Laurel Burch fabric squares and a sizable piece of fabric from which I had fussy cut squares for this quilt.







































This is from several years ago and was the last of a series of my original layout quilts using pictorial fabric and Birds in the Air blocks and this quilt also had some "North Wind" blocks. I loved the fabric I used and I had a lot of fun figuring out the on point setting and putting everything together.

These below are some of the pieces I found Wednesday in different boxes. The HST's are 2 1/2 inches. There are some improv blocks, a bag of 4 1/2 inch squares, and that large piece with 3 jungle cats that someone gave me. I found  pieces of the black dotty fabric and the fuchsia fabric as well as odds and ends of partial blocks. Now that they are all together in one place I see that I have enough there to make something. I am looking forward to making something. I found even more Laurel Burch cat fabric Thursday when I looked for something else. I am pretty happy about all of the Laurel Burch fabric I found.




I stuck this panel up on the wall over the yellow and orange blocks and I remember doing this another time. I have something in mind to make using the panel and orange,yellow, blue and green. It will be small and I think it will be soon.

I came across a lot of good things that I can use, zip lock bags with twenty or more of the same or coordinating fabric some are HST's, some are 4 patches both kinds are a variety of sizes. There are also filler or border strips of small blocks in usable sizes, and there is even a lightning bolt strip.

Almost everything is put away now in a way that will be easy to find and use. Next I might tackle the HST box. After that I think I will actually work on one of the projects the has piqued my interest.

I went to the Farmpark Quilt show today and it is vendors weekend. I told myself I could not buy anything unless it is something I need to finish something from one of the things I found these past few days. Well...... I have never liked being told what I can't do. I bought 2 pieces of fabric but I can justify my purchase because I planned to come right home and make potholders with some chicken fabric. I have some metal roosters above my kitchen doorway and I wanted some chicken potholders. I haven't started them yet,,,,,,, but maybe Monday.

The Farmpark quilt show was very nice.  The Best of Show was a wonderful quilt with amazing workman ship. The quilter's statement said it was a ten year project.
Click here to see small sample of the quilts, including Best of Show.