Baby Boy Sean Quilt

As I said, it's "baby-palooza" with my friends!  This quilt, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, took way too long to get to mom and baby.  Mom and I met in graduate school and she had her first son at the end of July.  The month of August is one of my busiests times at work, and this just got delayed and more delayed.  It eventually made it's way to St. Louis around Christmas (I know Sean's almost 6 months at that time), but I think it was warmly received nonetheless!


Baby Boy Sean Quilt, a photo by gnomemade quilts on Flickr.




Disappearing nine-patch and the baby's name - simple, but cute.  I used "Max and Whiskers" charm pack for this one!

Baby Girl Ellie Quilt

Well, it's been quite a break from blogging now hasn't it? I'm not really sure where time has gone, but it's flown by...that's for sure! Work has been crazy busy, and lots of things have come up over the past few months. I wouldn't even know where to start. Needless to say, I haven't had much time for quilting, but have needed to fit some in, as so many people I know are expecting or just had kids!

So, recently it's been the era of "Baby Quilts". Here's one that was delivered to a friend from culinary school who just had her second child!  


Baby Girl Ellie Quilt, a photo by gnomemade quilts on Flickr.

I decided to play around with some disappearing nine patch blocks and this what I came up with. It's now my "go-to" quilt design for babies. It's not too big, so perfect either for a playmat while they're small, or a car seat blanket!
Let's just say there's more where this came from...details soon.

Before & After

Before

After

Quilt Stats:

Finished Size: ~ 59" x 71"

Fabrics: Jelly Roll & Yardage of Urban Coture by Basic Grey for Moday

Pattern: Key to My Heart by Sweet Jane's Quilting and Design

Started: January 2011

Finished: June 2011

A gift for my best friend for her birthday and her graduation from nursing school!

Finished!

Well, after announcing my Nerves last month to the entire world, I finally built up the guts to try quilting the baby quilt!  And, I can say that I'm fairly happy with the results...hopefully mom- and dad-to-be will be too!  We'll find out soon, as the baby shower is this Wednesday morning!

Here's a shot of the overall quilt...I did a general stipple stitch across the nine-patch and borders.

I started first though by quilting the owl, branch and leaves.  I figured he needed a bit more attention and just stippling over him didn't seem right, so I tried a bunch of different techniques...all with somewhat matching thread to try to hide any major mistakes...

Here's a close up of the leaves - I tried to give them a stem running through the center and then just echoed the leaf shape on the inside.  The branches have just some lines running through to try and give the impression of wood grain. 

The owl...well, I tried to give him feathers.  For his eyes, I did some co-centric circles just to give them some definition and echoed again in the wings.  I can point out all the problems/mistakes, but hopefully it'll be loved all the same...

Quilt Stats:

Started: February 2011

Finished: June 2011

Finished Size: Approximately 40" x 52"

Fabrics Used: Summer's Basket of Flowers and Deb Strain's Saltbox Harvest

along with some random scraps for the applique

Time to get it wrapped up and put into the gift bag with the rest of the loot for mom, dad and baby!

A Patriotic Birthday

Mom Gnomemade's birthday is towards the end of May, and I thought I might make her a birthday gift this year.  Enter Sandy Gervais' Zippity Doo Dah fabric and a cute little pattern from Art to Heart's Easy Does It Patriotic Book and I had a cute little table runner in the works.

I'm pretty pleased with the way this table runner came out and it made it in time for Memorial Day.  Mom Gnomemade likes patriotic decorations, so I figured this was just the thing for her.  So happy I could find those fabrics.

Plus, it gave me a chance to try out my machine appliqueing skills prior to tackling the owl.  (Sorry mom, you were a test case - but thankfully a successful one.)

Most difficult part?  Attaching those stars to each other so they would lay flat and not show all my hand tacking!

Nerves

My next project has been basted and is just sitting on the guest bed staring me down...just daring me to start it. And, I...well, I am a bundle of nerves about it! 
Now, I've quilted every single one of my projects thus far...but for some reason this one scares the heck out of me. I recognize that my skills aren't great, and I'm not going for perfection, but there's something about this most recent project that makes me anxious. 
Perhaps, because it's my first baby quilt from a pattern? Or from designer fabrics? 
Or maybe it's because I finally figured out how to make my little Kenmore sewing machine complete some machine applique! 
I mean...I really think this owl is adorable and I'm worried my wonky free-motion quilting skills are just going to mess him up. But, the baby is due in August (fairly far off still, I know), but we've got a baby shower planned for mom in mid-June - so it needs to get done! I just need to work up some courage, and to stop stalling by posting about the quilt. 
Anyways...I took a photo of it just in case it doesn't make it through this process gracefully. Ok...maybe I should go take a stab at it!

Another Finish

Well, after about five years, I finally finished what should be considered a relatively quick and easy project.

I saw the pattern for these pillows in a McCall's Quilting - August 2006 issue. It was a pattern by Jean and Valori Wells - who as a new quilter I didn't really know. Now, I'm a bit more in the know and hold these two women in high admiration for their patterns and fabric.

Anyway, in 2006, I was living in a new furnished apartment that came with a very "interesting" black leather couch. It was possibly the most uncomfortable piece of furniture I've ever sat on. But, I thought the room could use a bit more color, so I went ahead and ordered the kit (the first one I ever ordered) and started working on these pillows.

I have no idea why it took me five years. But, it did and I finally finished these in April! I love how they came out and while I no longer live with that ugly, awful couch - they do happen to match the duvet cover in our guest bedroom/sewing room. So, now they're cheerily sitting there.

I did do all the quilting by hand - so maybe that's a reason I took so long? No? Not buying it either?