musical charm (and 10!) squares quilt

it is officially that time of year for the donner mine music camp quilts!  not too long ago, i posted the baby girl charm (and 10!) squares quilt, and mentioned you'd be seeing another version of that quilt again soon... well, here it is!
when i saw this quilt pattern had two different size options, i was very excited to play with it again and make it larger.  elizabeth hartman's pattern had a 5" baby quilt square pattern and a 10" square pattern which made a twin sized quilt.  i wanted it to be something inbetween, so i made my squares 8" which allowed the quilt to end up around lap sized which was exactly what i was looking for.
with all the fabric that we've gained over the past year or so, we had quite the mix to choose from. i decided to go with just the two tone black and white prints as to not make it TOO crazy all over. this helped save some more variety for the week 2 quilt as well, which was a plus!
i couldn't find the black on black print i was initially looking for, so instead i found this other one that had the feel of little music notes with the circles and lines.  i used it for the back as well, which worked perfectly.
the binding i used was the black on black trebel clefs i've become so fond of (and has found their way in to most if not all of the music quilts i've done for the camp)  this quilt came together so quickly, i had both this one and the baby version done within a week!  lisa asked me how i could do the same quilt patterns multiple times, and i think part of it is seeing how different they turn out with different fabrics.  while the layout is the same, the baby quilt and the music quilt look completely different and that's fantastic!  it will be interesting to see how next year's version of this quilt turns out, since that seems to be the tradition with these music quilts.  next year this will be week 2's quilt, and i'll have to find something new for week one.
on that note, be sure to come back next week to see week 2's (this week of camp) quilt this year.  as a hint, here's what it looked like last year during week one: music themed amy butler's daisy chain

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!

goodnight, quilt - winnie the pooh baby quilt

originally, i had a completely different direction planned for this quilt.  i had bought the fabric, made the blocks, bought MORE fabric, made the rest of the blocks and then when i went to piece it all together, i lost inspiration.  totally gone.  i had about a week until the baby shower, and no clue what i was going to make for my best friend's little man, until i started flipping through some magazines my grandma loaned me once again and landed on this quilt pattern.  "goodnight, quilt" by nikki maroon was just the inspiration i needed, and a quick trip to beverley's was the solution.
when i saw this line of fabric originally announced, i remember showing it to erika and we both agreed it was PERFECT for her future baby.  when she found out she was pregnant, and then that it was a boy, i knew it had to happen.  this pattern calls for light triangles and dark triangles, but i decided that each triangle would have a character print matched with a color that wasn't the same backing - i.e. the blue hexi poohs would be paired with yellow, gray and white.  it gave the quilt the scattered look i was hoping for without being too overwhelming in characters.
sure, some yellow prints touched other yellows, and blues touched blues, but it still worked in the end. it would be interesting to see what would happen doing this quilt again and how different it would turn out. that was one of my favorite things about the other triangle quilts i did.
i used a solid gray for the binding, which really helped tie all the prints in on the front without being too busy when it showed on the back.  with the original quilt, i had 3+ yards of this hexagon pooh & piglets, so i had more than enough to use on the front as well as the backing PLUS still have some that could be used as the backing when i return to finishing the original quilt plan :)  for the quilting, i followed the lines of the triangles to keep it simple and not too crazy.
when this quilt was all finished up, i had a huge sigh of relief. THIS was the quilt that i had envisioned for my best friend, i just didn't know it until attempting the first round.
i am so happy with how it turned out, and lisa might be right...
i think triangle quilts are kind of my thing...
just over three weeks until baby's due date!

woodland critters baby shower decorations

a little over a week ago, i had the honor of throwing my best friend a baby shower for her little man!  it is hard to believe it had been a whole 4 months since the gender reveal party, which means that baby is almost fully cooked.  i made a few crafted things for the baby shower, and i am stoked with how they all turned out.  so here's a quick collection of things made :)
diaper wreath
one of the major things i wanted to make was a diaper wreath that would serve a dual purpose.  one, it was a decoration (that erika ended up keeping) and two, it was also a memory game.
the wreath was hung on her front door for guests to see as they came in, then unknown to them, they had to try and remember as many things on the wreath as they could.  having been my first diaper wreath, i am very pleased with how this creation turned out!  here's a few more photos so you can see some of the things put on to the wreath.
i had previously done a similar version of this game at lisa's baby shower in 2010 as a clothesline, but i think if i ever throw a baby shower again, i'll totally do it as a wreath.
lifesaver & jellybean pacifiers 
i had made these for amy's baby shower last year, originally seen at jessica's baby shower so i HAD to do them for erika's!  last time i used fruit lifesavers, and they were SUPER sticky.  this time i used the wintergreen ones and larger jelly beans and i think these turned out a lot better.  the only thing i wasn't so fond of was the string i used this time since i ran out of ribbon (and couldn't find my big spool i bought last year)
we used these for the traditional "don't say baby" game, instead of clothespins.  we also added in the word "cute"as a word to not say.  i still had just enough spray paint from the last round to make these ones.
woodland cupcakes
these cupcakes were one of the first things on pinterest that i knew would be a perfect addition to the woodland theme.  the little "acorns" were the perfect touch instead of having globs of frosting.  i made 2 kinds of cupcakes for the shower.  one, similar to her bridal shower treats, were chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.  the others were vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting - i dyed it green to add a bit of color to them as well.  the acorns are made from a hershey kiss, nutter butter bites cookie and butterscotch chip for the stem.  clearly the buttercream "glue" showed up a lot, so i'd likely advise anyone that made these to dye the frosting brown so it wasn't as obvious :)
side note:
i didn't get a picture of the invites or bingo cards, but you can view them on etsy at inkyinvite.  they were perfect!

blue, white & gold argyle wedding quilt

it is hard to believe this moment has come and gone.
i just posted day 1 from my sister's wedding on my photography site yesterday, and now here we are officially blogging the quilt.
which post is more important?  well, i'll leave that up to you to decide.
i'm sure you're all going "wait!  didn't you just make your super duper lucky sister her own giant quilt for christmas?"  yes.  yes i did.  but that was supposed to be for her, and this one is for them.  so now i never ever have to make her another giant quilt.  and it will be 10 years before i have to make her a baby quilt...  or at least 5.  that's my plan for their life anyways.  SO.  back to the process of this quilt.  i had started planning this quilt prior to even finishing the science one, since i had to essentially begin it asap!  my sister was/is an argyle fiend so finding one that wasn't too blah was a challenge.  i found a super cool purpley one that had a stain glass look to it, but there was no pattern to be found.  and at this rate, no emily has time to make a pattern.  not in the midst of sewing one thing and cross stitching another.  lisa found a pattern for me, which oddly enough is by a local designer in town!  i was afraid it wouldn't be big enough, so the designer shelley of cora's quilts told me how to make it large enough for the potentially queen sized bed they'd be having.
we went to idaho in november to do all the mega wedding shopping stuff with the bride and at one point of course ended up in a joann's with aileen (i mean... duh?)  no matter how much i poked and prodded to get a color idea out of her, i couldn't get much of anything as a color sample out of her (at the time, she was looking at stormy blue for us bridesmaids).  we came home, and i immediately hit up our own local joann's and went with a navy blue, gold and ivory color scheme.  and then she went and changed our dress color to dirty purple**.  whatever, aileen.
these blocks went together wonderfully, as well as the quilt as a whole.  i am quite pleased with the final result, because it is very much argyle and very aileen & ben really.  the pattern was great to follow, with my own math calculations being the issue when it came to buying fabric.  anyways, here are the photos!
here's a little closer look to see some of the prints.
 i was afraid i would hate those blue prints touching, and all the floral was a little overwhelming.  i think the solids breaking up the lines really helped make it work.
i also promise i trimmed those stray strings as well!
for the quilting i followed the gold "squares" and went around each side of it and then around the border. i didn't want to quilt over the argyle in the case that it might detract from the actual pattern of the quilt. i started off with navy blue thread, but then quickly (after a fit of rage) switched to off white to better hide in case the "ditches" i stitched in didn't stay too well.
as any good big sister/bridesmaid/photographer would do, i made the two of them open their gift at the family reception on friday night after all the festivities.  doug was there helping me out throughout the day, so he was able to get some of the photos as the opening of the beast happened :)
and there you have it!
now that all my blogging is caught up, i suppose it is time to get back to sewing.
happy wednesday, y'all
**i should clarify, i do like the color of the dress.  i just can't come up with a better way to describe it than the aforementioned "dirty purple"

disney mini quilt swap 2016 - peter pan

these past few months, i participated in my second ever instagram swap, and this was the one i had been waiting forever for!  i missed out on the first round of the disney mini quilt swap, and waited anxiously for a second round to be posted.  i spent forever dreaming of the up! quilt that was created, yearning for a chance to get my disney crafting on and then it finally happened.  i was signed up, and then assigned my partner and then it was time to get brainstorming.  she listed up and peter pan as her favorites, particularly for her baby's nursery.  i figured if i took the easy way out and made the house quilt i had been pining over, i just couldn't be able to give it away.  instead, i challenged myself and took on a peter pan themed idea and after i finally had my vision came up with a design of my own.  i went for the clock scene where peter flies off to neverland, sans darling children since i didn't want to overwhelm the mini quilt.  i took it to alaska with me, and did nothing.  it sat around for days, and nothing.  finally, inspiration hit and i was able to power through this mini quilt in the final hours before send out, and i couldn't imagine it looking any other way.  first off, here are the extras i made to go with it :)
lisa was in town for a little while in march, and she helped me power through this sew together bag. it totally helped having someone who had made one before walk me through getting it pieced together to know what the heck i was doing.  i also screen printed a onsie for the little baby to be.  my partner and her husband were not finding out the gender of the baby, so the up house was a perfect "neutral" tie in.  the sew together bag was made from colors she listed as her favorites, which i happened to find in the sprinkle line of cotton + steel.  i pretty much wanted to keep it for myself!
on to the mini quilt!
it clearly has a little bit of everything going on.
the clock face portion is paper pieced, while the body going down was a few pieces i just sewed together to give it some shape other than being a big square.  i added the sky to the side, and then got to cross stitching the numbers on the clock face.  the face of the clock was smaller than the cross stitch pattern i had found, so it took some creative measuring to get the numbers in a spot that made sense.  i created the clock hands on my own to figure out what time to make it so it somewhat matched the scene in the movie.  lastly, peter was appliqued on with some coordinating gold fabric left over from the quilt i made my sister for her wedding (to be blogged soon!) since a dark shadow wouldn't show up too well for the sky and the typical peter pan green just didn't blend well.  overall, i am very pleased with how this ended up!
and there you have it!
i don't know how many instagram swaps i'll be doing anytime soon, but if disney round 3 pops up, i'm sure i'll be in!

take me out to the ball game - baby b's baby quilt

last month i was invited to a baby shower for a dear friend and fellow bridesmaid for melissa's wedding (and also one of my past brides that i photographed!) who is having her first baby this month.  sadly, i was unable to attend, due to my sister's wedding reception i suppose it was a valid reason to miss out on the baby themed fun!  i still wanted to make natalie and her little one on the way something special, and since the shower had a baseball theme to it i went with their favorite sports team.  natalie & marshall are big oakland a's fans, so it only felt fitting to use a's fabric for the quilt.  after a little pinterest search, i went with a simple but fun stripe pattern to tie in the coordinating colors and prints. i almost went for a solid print for the back, but a helpful joann's employee pointed out this fun baseball themed print. i also made a carseat canopy using this same print, with brown minky on the back :)
baby b should be making his appearance this month, and i cannot wait to see his little face!
congratulations again, natalie!