My Latest Baby Quilts

Awhile back, I mentioned on Instagram my backlog of quilt projects. I'm not getting through them as quickly as I'd liked, but I am slowly ticking them off my list. Unfortunately, the photos I take of my quilt projects are usually pretty atrocious because I basically wait until some event forces me to get my ass in gear and actually make the quilt (almost always a shower). I'm usually binding right up until the night before, and then I am left to hurriedly snap a few pics (in bad lighting) the morning that I whisk it off to its rightful owner. Excuses, excuses. I want to share them with you nonetheless, so read on for more pics of two of my latest.

Back in the Quilting Game

I haven't made a quilt in what's felt like ages.  It's actually been since January, but given the booming fertility of my peers, that seems nearly absurd.

The last quilt I did was a random arrangement of solid colored triangles.  I loved it so much, that I decided to give it another shot.  This time, just to switch it up and give myself a bit of a challenge, I went with super small triangles.  So I just cut out a whole bunch (that's an exact number) of triangles in lots of fun colors to match the backing fabric I'd chosen.  Um, yeah, that was poor planning...or rather, a poor decision to not plan at all.  I cut and sewed so many little triangles that it honestly felt like I was creating enough for like a California king bed, but I was wrong.  And ended up making the tiniest baby quilt I've ever made.  Oops.  But babies are small, right?  So I just went with it.

I finished it off with some hand tying (my first time trying the technique out) and some random binding left over from my very first quilt ever.  I think it worked.  The backing fabric is Alexander Henry's Entertaining Elephants (available here).  Anyway, I think it's one of my favorite quilts I've ever made...even if it is the tiniest.

If you're wondering what's on TV in the background, it's Breaking Bad...our newest TV obsession.  We're on Season 2.  Nothing says 'congrats on the baby' like cooking meth, right?

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Baby Quilts Galore

A few baby quilts from the last six months or so that I never shared...

Baby Edwards

Baby Crews

Baby Brown



Mother's Day Quilt

I got back from Houston last night where I was visiting with my parents for several days.  In my 2010 recap post, I had mentioned that my mother was diagnosed with cancer back in November.  Unfortunately, about a month ago, we learned that her cancer has metastasized.  While her prognosis is less than rosy, she's seeking treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and she began her first chemotherapy treatment last week.  Fortunately, I was able to go down and spend some time with them as she finished up her first round of treatment and celebrate Mother's Day.

She graciously let me squeeze into her hospital bed for her infusions. 



Given the circumstances, I wanted to give her something special , so in sort of a last minute effort, I made her a quilt.  I tried to take some pictures of it late at night before I left town, but I've got to admit that they are a pretty terrible representations of the colors of the fabric.  I followed a tutorial for a snowball quilt, and I used fabrics from Patricia Bravo's Bazaar Style.

 

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Shower Details - Baby Quilts

Of course, I had to make Sarah a quilt for baby Brooks!

Because I am so enamored by Eleanor Grosch's Zoo Menagerie (which was actually the inspiration for Sarah's whole shower), I made two quilts at once--one for Sarah and one for my friend Sabrina, who is due in July (Side Note: Both babies are boys, but I'm noticing now that I made both quilts from the "girl palette"...oopsie!).  I purchased all of the fabric and began cutting into it without any real plan, which is arguably pretty stupid.  Thankfully, it worked out well. 

I began with a stack of hundreds of triangles and ended up with two very different quilts, both of which I love, love, LOVE.

Sarah's Quilt

Sabrina's Quilt



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Wedding Keepsake Quilt - Part II (aka Total Quilt Redemption)

Finishing up the wedding keepsake quilt was a little slow-going, which, apparently, is something that my quilts can really benefit from!  After what felt like a quilting fail with my last baby quilt, I decided to be more thoughtful with this one.  In fact, I feel like I actually applied a lot of lessons learned from my previous quilting escapades.  First of all, I applied the lesson of "less can be more" by opting for white fabric to go with my wedding scraps rather than a color or (heaven forbid) another pattern.  Second, I recognized the limitations of my (and my machine's) quilting abilities, and I chose a lower loft batting (the thinnest I could find).  Third, I tried to be very careful with my quilting stitching so that my fabric didn't pucker or pull.

I used scraps to make my binding, and since I put such great pains into rounding the corners of all of my wedding stationary, I gave my quilt rounded corners, too.

It is, hands down, the best quilt I've ever made.  The corners match up and everything!  (I'm a little ashamed by how wrinkled it is in these pictures, but I like to wash my quilts when they're done.)