pink gray and white stripe quilt

quick projects are always great for my brain, especially after a whole lot of black and gold for this year's music quilt projects.  and this little hot pink quilt was quite the shake up!
another one requested by my aunt, with no specific theme in mind except for the colors pink and gray.  after a bit of thinking, i thought a strip quilt similar to the a's baseball quilt i made for a friend last year would be perfect!
i headed off to joann fabrics one afternoon and wandered to see what fabrics jumped out at me in varying shades of pink and gray prints.  i kept pink as the focus with a few hints of gray as well as a few white prints to balance things out.  i ended up only using one of the white fabrics, as i felt it tied in quite well to the backing fabric.
i used a pink polka dot for the binding which helped blend the front in to the back.
originally, i found a fabric that was much more pink all over and very flowery for the backing fabric.  when i turned the corner around another aisle and saw this fabric i knew it was perfect.  little hints of gray and pink all over... love it!
i did a simple quilting, 4 inches apart on the diagonal to create the diamond cross hatch.  i had thought about stitching in the ditch, but in the end decided that this one needed a little extra quilting to go with the straight lines of the fabric.
one quick little project all done and off to it's new owners.
i feel like now that this pink quilt is done, i'm ready and able to embrace the super bright colors again.  which is being welcomed with open arms!

tiger lily swoon 16 baby quilt

finally, i'm able to make another post!
last saturday i attended a baby shower for one of my dear friends that i grew up with at our dance studio.  we did the math, and we've known each other for about 20 years now.  boy, do we feel old.  kelly and i also graduated high school the same year and have stayed in touch ever since.  this past weekend was a big one for her, as she had her baby shower on saturday and then got married on sunday!
when she found out she was expecting a girl, i knew exactly what fabric to use.
the tiger lily line of fabric by heather ross was exactly what i needed for this former ballerina mom to be.  after much debate, the block for the thimble blossoms swoon 16 ended up being just the right one for this quilt.  i was able to find enough different butterflies to split the blocks in half.
i just can't decide if i like the pink or the yellow better.
both look fantastic with the green.
originally i was planning to do all green for the binding, but when i ran short, i decided to alternate it with the pink.  i think i like it even more!
on the back i used the ballerinas because, well, i had to!
it was so much fun getting to see her open it at her shower, and i cannot wait to meet her little one in the next few months!  congrats kelly!

giraffe abstractions for baby a

you know how sometimes you get those perfect gift ideas in your head, and no matter how hard you try you just can't let it go when the time is right?
this is one of those moments.
i had this moment previously when it came to making the lion king quilt for amy, and it happened yet again when my friend sarah announced she was pregnant.  sarah is a big giraffe enthusiast, and when i saw violet craft's jungle abstractions series, the giraffe was instantly perfect.  i knew the quilt was going to HAVE to happen, but i waited for the gender to figure out what shades to do the background.  she announced she was having a baby girl (yay!) and after hemming and hawing over pink, i decided to go for purple, which was also one of her wedding colors.  i printed my pattern pieced, purchased my fabric and packed it all to take to colorado with me in october where the fun all began.  while i had plenty of time to do this project, i obviously waited until last minute to get it going.  knocked it all out in a matter of weeks, and then got to celebrate at their baby shower.  here's a whole lot of giraffe fun!
i just love the little giraffe face and footies!
there were so many of these big pieces, which were likely just as frustrating as the tiny ones. its so much easier to keep little pieces in pace, while the big ones just flop around to their little heart's desire. oy!
it was so fun to see sarah reach in to the bottom of the gift back and exclaim, "and an emily blanket!" her mom was also at amy's baby shower, so she was just as excited, but i don't think either of them knew the giraffe-ness that was in store for her. i'm so excited for raymond and sarah and their soon to be little baby girl. january is going to be oh so baby-ful! her mom

baby a's charm (and 10!) squares quilt

not too long ago, a co-worker friend of mine's mom asked if i would be interested in making a baby quilt for her granddaughter.  after all the baby boy quilts i had been making, i absolutely said yes.  of course, i love the baby boy quilts i had been making, this was just a fun change of pace to shake things up and change the color pallet a smidge.  well, a lot.  she sent me a photo of the bedding that the momma to be had already purchased so i would be able to get a good idea of the color scheme, and then i ran with it.  i found this super cute pattern by elizabeth hartman called "charm (and 10!) squares" and it was perfect for this project.
the backing fabric was the inspiration for the colors used on the front - a few pinks and some blues to coordinate as well as tie in to the print that i also used on the front in the rows as well.  the quilt pattern was super easy to follow, and only used 5" squares.
the grandma to be asked me if i could add an "a" in their for the baby's first name, so i checked out which options i had in my cricut cartridge stash that would go best with the quilt (this one is the opposites attract upright) without looking too awkward.  traced it on to wonder under and then appliqued it on to the lower portion of the quilt.
when i was looking at fabric for the quilt, i was trying to decide between the larger print or the smaller.  when the pattern was selected, i felt that the smaller print was still going to be used in the quilt as the binding, and i think it worked out wonderfully without being too overwhelming.  it really capped off the top and bottom where the white row was and tied the front to the back without it being wonky.
i kept the quilting pretty simple as well, just following along the white edges. i'm sure i could have done straight lines all across and liked it just as well.  perhaps the next next time i do this quilt (because i actually already made this quilt again!  you'll see it next week-ish)
now that this little baby quilt has come and gone, i feel totally refreshed in to having my quilting vibe back.  now i'm still working on sending some crafty inspiring vibes lisa's way... she's attending a convention that is coming up soon!

baby girl turtle quilt

super catchy blog post name, right?  but regardless, i'm back and ready to share more things!  another baby quilt request came from my aunt in the middle of a major project (more on that coming soon!) and i just couldn't say no to getting one done in time.  it was to be for a little girl, and the theme of the nursery was frogs and turtles.  while wandering joann fabrics, i found this super cute turtle print but had NO clue what to put it with.  bought a yard and a half and then headed home to check pinterest.  nothing.  then i remembered a collection of baby quilts posted on craftster by "mistress jennie" i commented on, and it was perfect.  i followed her tutorial listed in her post, and came up with this simple, but super cute baby quilt!
i pulled different prints and colors from the turtle shells to make it more than just straight lines of solid colors.  without the turtles in between, it looked very circus-esque for a while.  ha!
the amount of fabric i bought for the turtles worked perfectly for this pattern, since it used just enough for the front, and left me a perfect sized piece for the back.
good job, quilt holding sister, aileen.
i found the perfect binding for this quilt. the fabric was off-white, and had little polka dots on it to tie in with the other fabrics having prints and the turtle shells.
i quilted it following the seam lines, since i didn't want to get too crazy all over with the prints that were already happening.  i used a light yellow in order to have it coordinate but not be extremely obvious :)

daffodils and kitty cats - quilt for baby elise

according to usps, this arrived a week ago... so fingers crossed it really did and this isn't one elephant sized spoiler post!
i've known leah for years.  essentially just as long as i've known amy, as they were two of the three people i became really close friends with upon moving schools and starting 6th grade.  through the years since high school, it's been a little bit of here, there and everywhere, but the three of us as well as our fourth franklin friend sara have occasionally met up and caught up like the good ol' days.  well, leah was a super secret keeper, and it wasn't until nearly the end of her pregnancy that i knew anything about it (thanks to instagram!)  i decided i wanted to make something for leah, as she's always commented on my quilty posts, wishing that she would get something someday.  well here's to you, leah!  leah had a baby girl this past march, and after some super stealthy ness, i came up with this little quilt for her baby girl elise.
leah has always been an animal lover, so using the catvent pattern yet again was of course, perfect.  one day, leah posted on facebook about how excited she was about elise's birth flower being daffodils, as it was also her favorite flower.  boom.  these cats needed to be in a daffodil field.  also, pink and yellow look fantastic together.  i've super liked that combo since i made the quilt for baby natalie last year.  it was a little iffy using white on a baby blanket, knowing how babies can be... but once it was all completed, i couldn't imagine using any other color that would make these kitties pop out like they do.
just like the cats are mixed up prints, the daffodils are also one of six different prints.  they have more geometric shape prints on them, while the pink prints on the kittens are all flower related.  well... there's one that looks like bugs, but i guess that's somewhat related to the theme, right?
i assembled all these cat blocks while i was in colorado earlier this month, and then began to get everything sewn together when i arrived home.  i also got to experiment with my new walking foot for this quilt.  there was only a minor oops, but things have since been perfected (so i think) and moved forward.  the backing fabric was something i found on ebay.  i like to go there for super random finds, and after a thousand different searches for pink and yellow fabric, i found this cute vintage piece with pink and yellow cats on it.  the best part was that it was JUST enough for this.  didn't have to do any wonky piecing or anything to make it work.  love it!
i really like the fun-ness of a scrappy border, and with all the patchwork-ness of the kitties, it absolutely had to happen.
still my favorite block. so of course, the pink version had to have a special appearance.
here's a close up of the super cute back fabric. and not only was it super cute, but it was also super soft.
and of course, the glorious "tagged to send" photo.  before sending it off, i included a few pairs of beaded socks for the little one to enjoy as well.  hopefully this kitty quilt made it to it's destination safely, as i secretly got leah's address from amy, and also didn't tell her she was getting mail.  i wanted it to be a super surprise.  guess we'll find out, right?  and just for kicks, here is 7th/8th grade emily & leah.  we were legit volleyball stars...
i may be over hyping our skills.  but seriously, check out leah's awesome mickey shorts.  i'm still a little jealous 13 years later...

pink & purple parallelograms - baby girl quilt

a few months ago (but really, a lot more than a few) my aunt asked me to make a quilt for another one of her coworkers.  the parameters for this one were:  baby girl, birds, rosy pink.  i found the adorable bird fabric for the back at joann's, and selected some colors for the front pattern that i thought would best match it.  initially, i stumbled across this pattern that was for a table runner that i thought would translate in to a quilt quite well... but that didn't happen.  instead, this sort of "parallelogram" pattern was created and it came together quite swimmingly!  i think the teal-ish fabric is my favorite :)
at first i considered stitching down the diagonals, but instead went on both sides of the white and in between the two pink edges.  simple, yet satisfying.
i am quite pleased with how this little quilt turned out.
it was totally my first girly quilt in awhile, and the birds were just too fun.
hopefully i'll get a few more things shared soon enough!
and for kicks, here is the original pattern i was attempting to do:  scrappy valentine's day table runner