Two Baby Quilts Finished! {February Goal Success}

My February Goal is complete :)

I finished two baby quilts this month. One top was already ready for the quilting/binding process, but I ended up making another top for the 2nd quilt (even though I have several tops ready to go - I really wanted a boyish I-Spy quilt, which I didn't have on hand already!).

Here is the quilt that already had the top and binding ready. All I had to do was baste, quilt and bind. Both quilts were basted and quilted at my parents' house when we were there the first weekend of February. Mom's workhorse of a Viking sewing machine has a much better walking foot than my machine, so I know I can trust hers to work well (and quickly!) for me! 

The top fabric came from Fat Quarter Shop several years ago when I realized I didn't have many fabrics on hand that would work for boyish quilts. This is the second and final quilt made from this line. You may still see a few matching squares here and there in I-Spy quilts, though! 

The backing came from a destash purchase a year or two ago. Both quilts are quilted with straight, diagonal lines... simple yet effective!

 "Oh the Places You'll Go!" Perfect for a little baby boy!

And here is the I-Spy quilt! This baby boy has an older brother who may need some entertaining while Mom is busy with the new baby... so really, this quilt is for both the baby and the brother! 

This backing also came from an Instagram destash back when destashing over social media was just taking off. I haven't looked on the destash hashtag in a long time! But, what I did buy back then has surely come in handy :)

I hope the two babies feel loved and prayed for when they are cuddled with (or crawling over) these quilts!

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WIP (works in progress) List

• Pattern Testing a Dress for E     (Finished! - link and link)
• Several dresses/tops/etc for E and me (patterns and fabric chosen... need to cut and sew) - up next are the birthday and Easter dresses, but I have a bit of time before they are needed :)
• Baby Quilt for a friend ~ the top is finished, now to baste, quilt and bind - completed!
• Baste a baby quilt for another friend... then quilt and bind - completed!
• Onesies! - 3 finished (link and link), several more to go... the pregnant friend list just keeps growing!

UFO (unfinished objects) List

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 5 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding 
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc
• A new table runner from a mini charm pack won from a giveaway recently

Three Peas in a Pod Baby Quilt

This baby quilt was sent off to a little lady born a few weeks ago (her mom was one of my teammates and roommates in college). The gender was a surprise, so I decided on doing an eye-spy quilt... the border and part of the backing has veggie fabrics that include "three peas in a pod" which is one of the ways that the happy parents announced the pregnancy :)

Simple construction and binding: 5" charms in a 6x8 layout and a 4" border... cross-hatching for the quilting and scrappy green binding for the finishing touches.

The backing, binding and a close-up of the peas in a pod!

Dec Goal Complete {ALYOF}

My December goal was to finish the binding on this baby quilt. I started working on this goal yesterday during E's nap, and then finished it after she went to bed. Yay for quick goals during busy, busy months!

Goal Post Here

Number 49 on the ALYOF Goal Linky

I think the favorite part of the quilting process for E is when I'm done and it's through the wash and it's time for me to clip threads. She then decides that the quilt becomes the perfect dance floor! 

Twirl, Twirl, Twirl.

This quilt is set for donating... along with two other scrappy baby quilts and some school supplies I picked up this fall. School supplies bought in the fall rarely last throughout the school year - especially pencils! So, I hope these help some students start the new year off with the right foot! The quilts will arrive in perfect time for a few more months of cold-cold-cold winter weather... brrr!

Quickest. Finish. Ever.

About two weeks ago... well, maybe 2 and a half weeks... I received an invitation to my cousin's baby shower. I had always intended on sewing her a baby quilt, but in reality, nothing was planned - I mean, she wasn't due until November; I had plenty of time!

Well, that invite was the kick start I needed! That same day, I went to my charm "scraps" and picked out a mix of charms... 48 charms of colors, texts, patterns and other i-spy items. I even dug in my stash to see if I had anything suitable for the border, backing and binding. All in the same day. That's a lot of planning, ha ;)

No need to run to the store with an over-energetic toddler when you have everything on hand! Score!

Quick quilting of diagonal lines...

... and a pieced backing of tractors and monkeys.

I still can't believe I got it finished in time. Most of it was actually sewn the week before... because 2.5 weeks just isn't exciting enough... why not wait to just have one week?! 

Yeah, I don't understand myself all the time either :)

Happy last few weeks, cousin! 

Boring Goal Completed Post {ALYOF}

My August Goal (link #72 in the link party) was simple... Sew borders onto two baby quilts.

I finished them about halfway through the month!

Time to get them basted and quilted :) along with umpteen hundred other sewing and diy projects! 

August Goals {ALYOF}

Alright, here's the deal... we recently moved into a new house, my 16 month old is busy, busy, busy, and I have a non-sewing project to-do list a mile long. Simply, I've had a lot of time for sewing during the last 7 months and not a lot of time/space/need for non-sewing projects (like painting shelves, weeding and organizing closets). I'm loving that list, too, but I look forward to taking some time this month to sew... even if it's just a little bit!

My goal is to add a border to two baby quilts.

I can't wait to sew!

Sewing At The Lake {ALYOF July Goal Complete}

Even though we were living in my parents' lake cabin all of June, I was able to still get some sewing done!

My ALYOF July goal was to complete two quilt tops using my scraps. You can read about my scraps in the goal post (number 16 in the link party). I did a simple alternating design with 4-patches and 5" charms. 

Like I said in the goal post, these will be quilted and donated as baby quilts (Mom thinks I need to keep them to remember the fabrics from special projects dating back to my 4-H days, but I keep reminding her that I have plenty of these scraps left for more projects!)

Surprisingly, I also got two more quilt tops partially done. These still need borders. The top one uses the rest of my Sasparilla charms (cut from a layer cake)... this quilt will be finished and then tucked away in case Ev ever gets a sibling ;) 

The bottom quilt has a slight plus design and uses more of my charm scraps.

Even more surprisingly, I even finished a winter dress for Ev. 

Pattern: Skater Dress by Kitschy Coo

Cream Fabric: Interlock knit remnant from JoAnns

Floral Fabric: A jersey knit from Hancock Fabrics

While I am soooo happy to finally have a home of my own, I very much enjoyed my month-long stay at the lake cabin :) This journey to home ownership has been lengthy, but we've be blessed with wonderful friends and family that have helped us out along the way. God is so good!

July Goal {ALYOF}

This is the month we move into our new home!!!

 So, I'll keep this simple. I'll finish sewing these 4-patches and then combine them with these scrappy charms to create 2 baby quilt tops... these will be destined for donation!

I had hoped that this project would help me get rid of my crazy stash of 3" scraps, but I still have plenty!

 You see, back when I was just getting back into sewing and quilting, I took my mom's stash and cut a lot of it into 3" squares (ugh, I didn't iron before cutting and I cut a lot of it off-grain... what was I thinking? I could have made so many other things with that fabric if I hadn't cut it all up!!!!).

Anyways, I had this brilliant idea of creating a beautiful half-square triangle quilt that I saw in one of my mother-in-law's quilting books. Yeah, that never happened. And it won't ever happen either... I just don't have the right fabric for it, and I realized it's not really my style. Now, I have all these squares!

To be honest, though, they are perfect for entertaining Ev while I'm sewing - she loves throwing them around the room :) BUT, I don't think she'll miss the 80 4-patches I created with some of her squares! Like I said, there are plenty of squares left!!

June Goal Complete {ALYOF}

 I've completed my June Goal! 

I finished attaching the binding to this Christmas Tree Skirt which is destined to become a wedding present for one of my best friends.

Since I've had so many wedding and graduation presents to make for this summer, I had a local long-armer quilt two of the skirts. She did this fun holly leaves and berries pattern with a variegated thread.

After having it quilted, I cut (gasp!) out the circle (and did a lot of zigzags and tight stitching to prevent unraveling). Whenever I do this, I can just imagine finding an old vintage quilt and making it into a Christmas tree skirt... wouldn't that be fun?!

But, in case I can never find the perfect (perfect looking and perfect price!) vintage quilt, I'll look forward to making a scrappy skirt for myself someday :)

ALYOF Details

Goal Post
I was number 87 on the goal linky.

My First I-Spy Quilt

I finished another quilt that I've been thinking about for awhile!

I've always loved the idea of I-spy quilts for toddlers and kids. When I finally went through my scraps and organized them by cutting them into specific sizes, I knew that I could start sewing a few I-Spy quilts up. I used my usual "pattern;" a 6x8 layout of 5" charms, 4" border and 2.5" binding.

I love how it turned out! Some of the charms have objects, others are color specific to help with color recognition and some are geometric to help with identifying stripes, circles, squares, etc.

This quilt is destined for my parents' lake cabin. Evelyn already enjoys sitting on it. As soon as I lay it out on the ground, she hurriedly crawls/walks over and sits right in the middle. She seems to enjoy the back more now. I used an alphabet panel with a Mary Engelbreit beach fabric as a border on the back. Both were purchased on Instagram (#thegreatfabricdestash) for this specific purpose :) I bought the front border special as well (also Instagram). It is perfect for an I-Spy quilt as it has wagons, houses, bikes, and dogs on it. Since finishing this quilt, I used the rest of the fabric on another baby I-Spy quilt for an upcoming baby shower. I'll be sure to show it after the shower!

Evelyn will enjoy sharing it with her cousins! I cannot wait for summer days at the lake cabin! 

Until then, we'll just keep checking the cattle. I am not jealous of this very pregnant cow!!!