bright blossoms | a quilt for Elsie

I think scrap quilts are my favorite to make and this one was really fun! It's winter here in New England so pulling all these bright and cheery fabrics for a baby girl was like sunshine on many cloudy days. I decided to fussy cut some Aneela Hoey fabric to feature her little illustrations (I like the outfits the best) and then made random courthouse steps blocks. I kept adding coordinating fabric strips until they fit together. I brought the quilt to church to give it to Elsie's parents and I asked my boys to hold it up for a quick picture. As you can see we weren't all that successful, but it'll do!

Here's the little sweetie with her new quilt, and with her sister's quilt as a background. Each Belanger girl has a quilt made by me and it's always nice to see them pop up in Dawn and Andrew's photos from time to time.

building blocks | a quilt for Zachary

Recently my brother's best friend Jonathan and his wife Anita welcomed a baby boy into the world. They're high school sweethearts and weirdly I always wanted them to get married because I thought they'd have beautiful babies - I was right! Also weirdly, I googled their baby registry so I could see how they were decorating the nursery so my mom and I could make a quilt to match. We loved a design by Rossie and basically copied it to make this for little Zachary. There are so many cute nature-y fabrics in this quilt! Heather Ross's frogs, Lizzy House's constellations and hedgehogs, Carolyn Friedlander's botanics, and Annie Brady's moose and bears and foxes and birch trees. And there's rice! Anita's family owns a local Chinese restaurant (shout out to Dragon Garden in North Attleboro!) so I thought that was a cute addition. I picked out the fabric and pieced the top and back and my mom quilted and bound it. I love a good quilt collab. Here's hoping this quilt brings Zachary warmth and comfort! Scroll down for one more photo with the little darling :)

hope | a quilt for Sara

Our good friends' sister Sara was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. She has two little ones and my heart went out to her as a fellow mom. I've made quilts for both of her babies (here and here) and when I learned of Sara's diagnosis I knew I wanted to make her a quilt too. I've loved Denyse Schmidt's hope tote pattern for years and I've made too many to count, but I'm still not tired of it and I thought the "hope" patchwork would be a nice focal point for a quilt, especially when we're all hoping for the best outcome for Sara. I wanted to make something simple so I could get it to Sara quickly, and I didn't want to detract from the message I'm sending so I used large pieces of coordinating fabric to border the word. I used scraps for the letters - the Rifle Paper Co. letter E is my favorite - and the background is a gray linen. I added more neutrals to fill out the center column and then used a large piece of Kona coral for the borders, and I have to say I love how it came out. These photos aren't the most flattering; the lighting is so harsh, but I really like how it looks in person. Anyway, I love the back of the quilt just as much as the front. I used so many good fabrics - Rifle Paper Co., adorable blackberries, tiny pink polka dots, and a pretty botanical print. I quilted it on my friend Lorraine's long arm in a random swirly pattern with some hearts and stars thrown in. I've only long arm quilted two other quilts so I'm still learning and it's definitely got some flaws but overall I think it came out well. Either way, I hope it will still serve its purpose and offer warmth and comfort to Sara and her family as they endure this trial.     

love note | a quilt for Megan

I thought this was a such a sweet quilt so when Meghan announced a quilt along I signed right up. I picked so many of my favorite fabrics (c+s strawberries, Lizzy House cats, Carolyn Friedlander, Heather Ross strawberries, and so many more!), and now I just need to find the right person to give it to. It doesn't feel at home in my house, even though I do think it's cute. UPDATE: I had wanted to give this quilt to my friend Megan before I even started sewing it but sometimes it feels weird to offer a quilt to someone who might not like it or want it. I finally asked her and she accepted and now it's her official couch quilt and she and her pug Puggy love it! Photo credit to Ezra who listened to my art direction while I stood at the end of my aunt's cul-de-sac :)

Color Block Cabin | a quilt for my Rory

Rory's quilt is one of my favorites. I say that a lot, but I really like this one a lot. It's a generous size and I borrow it often.

Here it is hanging in a show but I forget which one! It was at NK High School as part of a display of modern quilts by the RIMQG. 

Home | a quilt for a family

In 2015 I joined an online quilting bee through the Modern Quilt Guild. I was part of a team from the mid-Atlantic coast, and we worked on a quilt for a Providence family whose home was built by Habitat for Humanity. The palette was chosen by the national guild and the team chose a design to focus on. Each quilter designed and sewed a row of the quilt, and the only requirement we decided on was that each row should include a word that symbolized the family's new home. The word I chose was "hope." Melissa and her six year old son Daniel were overwhelmed by the support and generosity of everyone who contributed to the building of their home. The quilt was so well received - there were 30-40 people at the dedication and most of them sought me out to comment on the quilt. I hope to donate more quilts through Habitat for Humanity and encourage you all to seek out your local chapters if you're ever looking for a charity to donate to. Here are a couple pictures from the night the home was dedicated (no, I don't feel like rotating them, sorry, haha) 💛

moose is loose | a quilt for Hunter

One of my oldest friends is pregnant with her first baby, a boy she and her husband have named Hunter. She is an art teacher and decorated every inch of his nursery. It looks amazing and there are so many details to draw inspiration from, but the real star is Moose, their golden retriever. I really wanted to find fabric with moose (mooses?) on it and lucky for me, I remembered that my friend Annie Brady designed the perfect one. I didn't want to cut it up so I decided to make a whole cloth quilt with another print by Annie on the back. I love the animals for Hunter - I like to think of him doing tummy time while gazing at all the forest creatures - and I like the birch trees for Laura because they read like a nice neutral to contrast with all the design elements of the nursery she created. I used another of Annie's designs for the binding too, because everything she makes is just so nice. Now I'm looking forward to seeing Hunter snuggled up in this quilt - just a few more weeks!