#4 Quilt

#4 actually has her very own quilt!

Completed and waiting for her arrival!

I cut 4" squares from all the leftover fabric
from the paintbox quilt-along quilt
and put them in rainbow order.
Initially I mixed them all up
but the whole thing looked a mess.
I love love love the rainbow order!!!

The back is just some fun
multi-colored fabric.

I had my quilter use a sweet butterfly pattern:

And the quilt already has kid approval!

I actually have so many scraps left over
that I'm tempted to make
a much larger version of this quilt.
Have I mentioned how much I love color?
Or how much I can't wait to meet Four?!?

Quilt for Three

I had a quilt started for Three
before he was ever born.
Considering he's 18 mos old,
I figured it was a good time to finish it.

I ended up adding borders of brown fabric
to make it what I think it a good size
(approx 40"x60")
and there you have it:


I even cheated on the binding
and went with rag quilt edges:

Long-arm Quilting

I found that it would be cheaper
to start quilting my quilts myself.
Of course it makes them more special
but let's be real,
the motivating factor is mostly financial.

My local quilt shop has a long-arm
machine that you can rent for $15/hr.
You are required to take their class
-their 5 hour class-
to learn how to use it
and off you go!

So here's the Welcome Home quilt
loaded onto their machine:

It's a Gammill longarm machine
(quite a steal at $16,000!!!)
and it only took me
two hours
to get it set up!

See that space to the left of the machine?
Between the machine and
the quilt hanging on the wall?


Yeah, that space was not really
big enough for me and my
7 mos pregnant condition.

I'm sure they loved me.
I broke just about every rule.
I used a sheet as backing material.
I didn't pre-wash anything.
I didn't iron anything.
I didn't use quilt-store fabric.
I didn't practice my quilting pattern
before going for it on the actual quilt.
And it wasn't because I didn't have
my practice quilt-sandwich.
Yes, I'm sure they were thrilled
but I think it all turned out fantastic!


Finished quilt:


With the instructor Steve:


He was such a dry guy!
He was so helpful the day of
and talked through things with me
but he would not crack a smile!
Every now and then he'd walk
into the quilting room and question
where I was in the process
and what I would do next.
At one point he walked in,
sort of picked a fleck of fuzz
off the quilt and muttered,
"good, good"
and left!
My jaw just about dropped,
I think that's about the highest
praise I could get coming from him!

Not sure when I'll go back.
My next quilt is the
Paintbox Quilt-Along Quilt
and I am not even attempting
to get it done before Baby Four arrives.
But it was fun!

So if you're interested,
look for a class at a local quilt shop
in your area!

Welcome Home!!!

Guess what's in this bag?



It's the Welcome Home Quilt!!!


I love it so much!
Those borders added
so much to the quilt.
I'm really glad
I added them.
They really made it pop
and turned it into something
I was proud to give.

The back is a light green
and I quilted it with a
meandering pattern.

I used a green thread
that was a few shades darker
than the backing material
so it would actually show
on the brown borders.


I did the binding all by hand
using Old Red Barn Co's tutorial.

Then I threw the finished quilt
in the washer and just look
at all the puckery goodness!


Welcome Home my friend!
Congrats on your first house!

Welcome Home Quilt

***Spoiler Alert*** You know who you are!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Here's a cutie pic of Three
while she looks away:

Okay.

The Welcome Home Quilt
might be done!




It's not as big as I was envisioning
so I'm considering a border.

Not sure yet.
See, I have some time
because... (warning! side story....)
I just took a long-arm quilting class
at the local quilt store.
This was going to be my first quilt
but when I tried to schedule
some time with the machine
the first opening wasn't for 2 weeks!
So, anyway,
I have some time to decide.

Right now it's about the size
of One's quilt
which just doesn't seem right
for an adult.....

I did find the backing though:




And anything that gets laid
on the floor,
immediately gets a body:

(yes, he's wearing One's socks)

I do have some extra fabric
so right now I'm leaning towards
taking the time to make it bigger.

Stay tuned!

Welcome Home Quilt: Part 2

I have not abandoned the blog!
I have a sick computer.
And yes, I fully blame DaddyMan.
Because although he is a major computer nerd
our computer is broken more than
anybody else's I know!
Because he likes to do "stuff".
I don't even know.
Games.
Programs.
Stuff.
Stuff that makes my stuff run slow.
Ugh.
So now we have a substitute computer
while our computer is at the doctor.
For a month.
Ugh.

Silver Lining: It's still under warranty!
Okay, smile.
Whew.

Moving on!



****Spoiler Alert!!!*****
****Look away NOW if you just bought your first house!****

******
Okay,
I must be bad at math or something.
And not like math math,
but simple math.
Like counting.

Yeah.

Because I set out to make 20 blocks
and ended up with 22.
I cut up 10 FQ's,
they each had enough pieces
to make 2 complete blocks.
10 FQ x 2 blocks = 20 complete blocks
Right?

Now, the completed blocks are fabulous!
I figured out the dimentions
without a pattern.
Doing all sorts of math
and adding 1/4 inches and 1/2" where appropriate....
Hard stuff.

But counting out 10 FQ?
Ummm, apparently over my head
because all I can figure out
is that I counted out
eleven FQ.

Not 10.

Maybe I skipped a number???
It's easy to see how one could get confused.
I mean 1-10, it's kind of tricky!

But I laid out all the completed squares
and I am seriously loving this quilt.


And I actually like the extra length
another row added so
I'm going to add solid blocks
in two diagonal corners
to make it all work.

Here's hoping I can at least count to 2!

Welcome Home Quilt

***SPOILER ALERT*** If you just bought a house
and want to be surprised, don't read a word further!


***********
Okay,
I've started a new quilt for a dear friend
who just bought her first house.

The fabrics were a FQ bundle and
I'm so glad that they were all picked for me!
I am not great at coordinating fabrics,
especially patterns!



These really aren't my colors,
so I don't know why I bought them,
but they contain my friend's:
wall color
couch color
and favorite color...
Could it be any more obvious that
these were destined for her?

In searching for a pattern,
I found a Turning Twenty quilt
that I just loved.

Not wanting to buy the pattern,
anyone can pretty much see that
they are just quilt blocks cut into thirds
so I cut all my fabric
and it seems to be working out!

Here's a sneak peek:

And to keep it real:

See that bottom piece?
You guessed it, cutting mistake!
Imperfection is allowed!
That's why I love homemade quilts.

Stay tuned for a finished quilt top!

A Cozy Quilt

I finished another quilt!
This quilt belongs on the back
of our living room couch.
I pulled all the colors
from my living room curtains.
I just love it!


I didn't have a pattern,
but my inspiration was Stephanie's quilt
over at Jonquils & Ladybugs.
She participated in Park City Girl's Quilt Festival
and I'm so glad she did!


I used 12 fat quarters
and squared them up
as big as I could make them.
17.5" x 17.5" I think?
(Maybe less, since of course I made
some cutting errors! Shhhh!)
And then 4 or 5 inch strips of muslin.

As soon as I laid it out,
Two ran over to make
Quilt Angels.

My quilter worked with me
and really listened to what
I liked and didn't like about the last quilt.
Gave me some options.
And this is just perfection.
Look at all that puckery, wrinkly goodness!


The back is just some clearance fabric
I pieced together.


I hope this quilting kick lasts a bit longer!
I've got another quilt in the works.
Stay tuned...

Quilt for One

So this Christmas became the Christmas
of the unfinished gift.
Not that it was obvious.
But I was getting stressed
and decided that I needed to enjoy the holiday
a bit more and take time to appreciate
the real meaning of Christmas.

(ps. It's not homemade gifts.)

Sooo, I had planned on making jammies
but bought them instead.
No one knew.

I had planned on making
Christmas pillowcases
but put it off for next year.
No one knew.

Give my son an unfinished quilt?
Oh my, never hear the end of it!!!
It was only short the binding, come on now!
And actually, my daughter found it
much more hilarious than my son.

"Mommy gave One a quilt that wasn't finished!"
She told everyone!
"How was your Christmas?" That was her answer!

But all became well today.


One actually picked out the fabric himself
during a pre-Christmas trip to Joann's.
However I of course told him it was for somebody else.
And since he knew about the last CraftHope project,
he totally fell for it.


It's pretty big but not too big.
Good for snuggling or taking in the car.


Apparently it's also perfect for reading,
One's most favorite activity after soccer.

Would you believe I actually had to make him
put his book down so I could take all those
first pictures! Oh my!


Anyone elses kid just crazy over A to Z Mysteries?
The school library can't keep them on the shelf!

Christmas Quilt Along: The Back!

I found the fabric for the back of the Christmas quilt!
Look at this gorgeous, burgandy nativity toile:


I love it!
(And it was 50% off!)


Because I don't want to pay extra for custom quilting,
I'll be quilting this one myself.

I met with my quilter today to discuss
the previous quilt's issues with her.
I'm glad to say all is well!

The relationship with your quilter
is much like the one with your hairdresser.
(Or so I've heard, since I actually go to GreatClips! :o))
She's learning what I like as far as quilting goes
and so am I.

Without going into details, it has all worked out!
She DID quilt the design I picked
but there are some options that could be changed
to give it more the look I prefer.
Apparently I'm different and don't like the default settings!

I did leave my next quilt with her.
For some reason I didn't take a "before" picture
so I will have to show you the "after" next week.

Quilt-Along: Week 2

This week's assignment was to cut all of our fabric into 2 1/2" strips.
Here you go!
You just can't beat the perfect edge of fabric that's been rotary cut. I love it!

And I definitely think that cutting fabric with the rotary cutter should absolutely count as a core strengthening exercise! Anyone with me here?

Quilt Along: Week 1

I'm so excited to do Little Bit Funky's Quilt Along!
She is sooo my kind of crafter!
"You're supposed to wash your fabric, but I didn't..."
"You can iron your fabric, but I didn't...."
That's my kind of girl!
(actually, I made those quote's up but you get the gist of it...)

So guess what?!?

I didn't wash my fabric.

I didn't iron my fabric.

But what glorious fabric it is!

This week's assignment was to gather all of your supplies,
including TWELVE DIFFERENT FABRICS!!!
That blue/green leafy fabric on the right was my first pick.
Everything else followed.
Quite different from the pink/lime green I thought I was going for!

Wanna Quilt Along?

There's still time! This is only week 1!

It's going to be great and at the end of six weeks or so...

YOU WILL HAVE MADE A QUILT!!!

Little Bit Funky's links:

Getting ready
Week 1