Patchworking It

Two of my good friends from college got married and subsequently got pregnant, wooohooo! HOWEVER, they were essentially a quilters least favorite pregnant couple ever because they decided to wait until the baby was born to learn the sex of said baby. 

I can only channel my inner Stephanie Tanner ... "How rude!" 


It wasn't long after the birth when the couple announced the arrival of their little baby girl. 

It was almost instantaneously that I started pulling out some fabrics from the stash to whip up a little bitty baby quilt. I cut these sumptuous Anna Maria Horner flannels from her Folksy Flannels collection into 6 inch squares and played around with a layout or two.

 

Once I laid them all out, I realized the resulting quilt was way too small. So I grabbed some plum colored linen and cut as many 6 inch squares as I could to make a checkerboard pattern and I really loved the result. Adding the the darker plum fabric really made the other prints POP!

I wasn't sure exactly how to quilt this little baby quilt. I am a little over straight-lines for right now, and I also wanted a quilting pattern that would keep the quilt soft, and not super stiff like straight line quilting or full-on stippling would do.

Sooo, I tried out this little loopi-loop (very technical term). After a few practice rounds on some scrap fabric, I ended up quilting the quilt and really loving the outcome. 
 

I backed and bound the quilt in that same plum colored linen fabric that I used for the patchwork squares. I had some leftover from previous projects that I wanted to use up, and I really just LOVE the way it makes those super colorful Anna Maria Horner prints POP! I also really like the weight and durability it gives to this baby quilt that will get a ton of use (hopefully)!

Quilt Stats: 
- The finished quilt measures ~25x30 inches and is the perfect size for a stroller quilt
- The prints are Anna Maria Horner flannels from her Folksy Flannels collection
- The solid is a Plum 100% Linen from Joann's (sorry)
- The quilt is backed and bound in the plum linen as well
- I bound the quilt with machine

Also, this is another item off of My Bucket List. I really wanted to work make a patchwork quilt, and this is my first patchwork squares quilt! See My Finished Projects as well as My Flickr page for other projects. 


HOLLER!

{Christmas Crafting} "Squares on Point Quilt" for Baby

The final gift to round out all of my coworker gifts this year is a baby quilt for one of the partner's in our firm, who had his first baby last May. 

I wanted to make an easy quilt with a simple pattern, but lots of color and a big impact. I also wanted to us up some Anna Maria Horner flannels and some great Linens that I got at a local estate sale. I decided to use my Squares on Point quilt pattern that I developed for a class last month. 

This quilt kind of came together as I went, and I actually ended up using 3 different linens. A nice grey linen for the quilt top, a nice dark navy linen for the backing, and then for a great punch of color I used my new favorite color on Earth, for the binding.

I just love this fabric. It is soooo nice to work with!! Seriously, go buy some Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels.
 

 

I actually worked on this entire quilt while I was teaching the class for the quilt. Given that I could only pay limited attention, I opted for super simple quilt lines. 

I don't think that I have ever been more proud of my binding job either, this quilt was ALMOST perfect!! Seriously, I actually did a really good job. I'm not boasting, I'm just happy that I finally have the hang of it.
 

For the backing, I used a dark navy linen. I wanted something super durable because this will likely be tossed on the floor and crawled all over. 

 

 Some more glamor shots for you!

I hope you enjoy!!

HOLLER!

A Finished Folksy Flannels Quilt!

I finished this fantastic little crib quilt which I started and blogged about here. 

I ended up trying a new basting method, spray basting. I previously only used the safety pin basting method and it was always kind of a pain. I read this tutorial from Ashley @ Film in the Fridge and was easily convinced to try spray basting out.  

 

 

To be honest, it was SOOO easy. I really thought the process was rather effortless, and I followed her to tutorial to a T, but I did use a different spray (because I couldn't find the 505 in the actual store). I may never pin baste again.

(Getting ready to quilt)

Quilting with the spray basting was a dream. I just did straight-line quilting on either side of the seams up and down the quilt. I wanted the quilt to keep its soft flannel feel with a nice flexible drape.

It took me almost 2 days to decide on the binding. I really should plan out all elements of a quilt before I get going, but I get too excited and jump right in. I didn't want to cut into anymore of the Folksy Flannels and I didn't like the feel of quilting cotton next to the flannel at all, but I did find a great deep purple colored cotton-linen blend (I think) at the bottom of my stash, so I went with it. The quilt is pretty girly (as intended) but I didn't want it to be TOO girly by adding pink as binding, so I think that the purple is perfect. I machine stitch my binding and it is an amazing time saver as well.

And finito! A finished Folksy Flannels quilt!

Quilt Stats:
- Fabric is 1/2 a fat quarter pack of Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels (the girl colors, then blue)
- Batting is Warm and White 100% cotton
- Backing is some more from Anna Maria Horner's Folksy Flannels
- Binding is a plum cotton-linen blend
- Finished size is 50 in x 40 in crib quilt
 

I looooveee it. The project was stalled back in February when I couldn't decide on backing fabric (surprise surprise, I can never decide on backing).  All in all, I would definitely spray baste again and I would HIGHLY recommend using any of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics, she is amazing and I love them. 

See my finished projects in my flickr account. 

I have also marked another project off my bucket list!  Yess!

xoxoxox