Swoon Quilt Update

Hi friends! I just finished my first block of the Swoon quilt. I luhhhhhve it! Only 8 more blocks to go—I can't wait! In case you forgot, I'm doing every block in green and grey with an off-white background.

They're pretty big blocks, 22 inches square. 

Swoon

My little guy is napping so I'm going to start cutting my fabric for the Swoon quilt. No time to waste blogging!

doggies!

Thanks for your votes on the logo! Yes, even those of you who voted silently and didn't comment. You know who you are! While I'm mulling over those options it's about time I showed you the most amazingly wonderful adorable doggy quilt that my Grandma Z made for baby A (he's 4 months old now so I've really been procrastinating). Looky!

I love this quilt for several reasons. 1. It's so plush! 2. We love doggies at our house and have two of our own (Zibby the husky and Baxter the boxer). 3. It reminds me of the many hunting dogs we had growing up.

I'm very unhelpful on the details of the quilt. I don't know the name of the pattern or where you can find it. If you're dying to know, and have the patience for those applique/button-hole-stitched pups I'm sure I can ask Grandma Z.

his quilt

The quilt I made for the Little Man turned out great. But who's looking at the quilt in these adorable photos?

Great photographer! Check out her blog and website!

for baby

It's great coming from a family of quilters. It means that you get a bunch of awesome quilts for your little one! This one is my favorite of all.

Beautiful. But no.

I've seen a lot of these Cathedral Window blocks around the web lately. They're just beautiful and so historic/antique looking. Beautiful ... but it looks like too much work for me. I think I'll just sit back and watch. There's a tutorial here.

photo credit

MGR Preview!

I'm so excited to show you the finished top for my Merry Go Round quilt. You know, the one I wrote about here and here? What do you think? I pretty much love it.

Block Tutorials

Did you see these super awesome quilt block tutorials from The Sometimes Crafter? I want to try them all... at the same time! Here are my three favorites:

String Quilt Block

Paper Piecing Block

Drunkards Path Block

Nursery Inspiration

I'm having a lot of fun thinking of things four our nursery. It's a boy by the way! I am currently inspired by two items. One is the highchair I bought at a consignment shop very early in my pregnancy. See it here on my personal blog. I love the green and yellow! I'm also still madly in love with the Merry Go Round Quilt. The fabrics and colors shown here are exactly what I want! Now, gotta get to making it...

Break

(obligatory photo)
We took a break. Long weekend = much needed getaways for both of us. The crazy thing is that we are doing it again. This time it is to put the finishing touches on our new blog layout which will also have a new name. So stick with us people, and we will see you next week. In the meantime, have some fun entering all of the giveaways over at Sew, Mama, Sew. I have already entered over at Diary of a Quilter and Oh, Fransson!

For Dylan

Dear Baby Dylan,

I can't wait to meet you and give you this quilt! We'll see you in L.A. sometime tonight. I hope they make tiny baby swimsuits, cuz I'm planning to spend an entire day at the beach.

Mini Tutorial: Hayden's Quilt

Last winter this cutie pie got a new room, a new bed, and a new quilt. His mom hired me to replicate a quilt out of a catalouge that was no longer available. It was super easy, so I thought you might like the directions.

Yardage and Fabric Selection: (Of course you will choose your own wonderful fabrics, but in case you were wondering how I did it, I included the fabric selection. I think the quilt is upside down on the bed.)

• Fabric 1: 3/8 yard Navy solid.
• Fabric 2: 7/8 yard Tan Plaid.
• Fabric 3: 1/2 yard Brown Solid
• Fabric 4: 1 yard Red Plaid
• Fabric 5: 2/3 yard Blue/Blue Stripe
• Fabric 6: 3/8 yard Brown Plaid
• Fabric 7: 7/8 yard Red Solid
• Fabric 8: 1/2 yard Cream Plaid
• Border and Binding: 1 1/4 yard Blue/Blue Stripe

Cutting: From each of fabric 1-8 cut 5 width of fabric strips. The following chart will tell you how wide to cut each strip.

• Fabric 1: 2.5"
• Fabric 2: 5.5"
• Fabric 3: 3.5"
• Fabric 4: 6.5"
• Fabric 5: 4.5"
• Fabric 6: 2.5"
• Fabric 7: 5.5"
• Fabric 8: 3.5"

For the border cut 8 strips that are 3.5" wide, and 9 strips 2.5" wide for the binding.

Assembly:

Step ONE: Using Fabric 1, sew each strip end to end to create one really long strip. Press all seams open. Repeat this step for Fabric 2-8.

Step TWO: Using Fabric 1, cut 3 strips that are 66 1/2" long. Repeat this step for fabrics 2-8.

Step THREE: Sew one strip of Fabric 1 to Fabric 2 to create a wider strip. Continue adding strips in order. When you get to Fabric 8, start over with Fabric 1. Repeat again, so that you have three sections of stripes. You may want to pin each stripe to the next to ensure that the ends meet.

Step FOUR: For border, sew 3.5" strips together to make one long strip. You will now need to cut two side border pieces that are 90 1/2" long, and two that are 72 1/2" long. Sew side borders on first, then top and bottom borders.

Step FIVE: Quilt and bind. This quilt was quilted with deep zig zag stripes. It really added to the quilt!

Queen Quilt

A friend asked me to help her with a queen-size quilt for her bed. I love making quilts and I'm super excited to help her out! Here is a list of fairly simple quilts she chose from. Sooooooo many fun choices just among these few! Which would you choose?

Surprisingly Super Simple by Threaded Pear
Folk Dance by Anna Maria Horner
Modern Day Diamonds by Threaded Pear
Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs
Bento Box by Tracey Brookshier
Lotus Brick Path by Amy Butler

Nora's Mid Mod 2 Quilt by Amy Butler

Merry-Go-Round by Sandy Klop

She chose this one:

Be Attitudes

Sometimes quilts are more than just a pretty picture, or a cozy cuddler. This one reminds you of who you want to be.

As I was looping and squiggling I thought about being joyful, patient, loving, warm and positive. I needed the reminder.

Thanks Nancy from Art to Heart for the reminder. Quilt available in this book.

Buttonholed

I hate to confess that it took me five months to buttonhole stitch the applique on this quilt that I have been working on. My five-year old is patiently waiting for me to finish it for her bed. I hope it doesn't take me that long to quilt it!

Lollipop

photo credit

I just spotted this new quilt by Patty Young over at her blog. The quilting really caught my eye. I am alwayss on the look out for new quilting inspiriation. Anyhow, back to Patty, she has had a number of amazing posts lately providing sneak peek's at what she is taking to quilt market next week. I am loving the opportunity blogger/designers give to those of us who are at home wishing we were at market.

Convoy

I have yet to meet a little boy that is not fascinated when he sees a big truck, let alone a Convoy.

I know my two year old would love to snuggle in this while reading his favorite book, The Wheels on the Truck.

This pattern is by, you guessed it, Buggy Barn, and is available in their new book Those Crazy Kids. Fabric is also by Buggy Barn. Quilting is by me :)

Wovens and Plaids

It isn't all that easy today to make a stylish boy quilt. I loved this one. The fabrics are all plaids, or wovens. I wish you could see those wovens up close and feel them. The texture is wonderful.

Branching Out

As a quilter, I get all sorts of quilts coming through my studio. All different sizes, styles, and colors. This quilter asked for something outdoorsy to be quilted. I panicked.

I finally decided on a pine bough branch motif in the sashing. I love how it turned out. I will be saving this motif for future Christmas quilts.

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at my baby girl version of the Folk Dance quilt. It's off to the machine quilter for the final touch. Little baby Dylan was born this past week and we're taking special trip to California to give her this lovely quilt. I can't wait to see how it turns out!