patchwork pop | a quilt for Nova

Our friends Stan and Karissa are expecting their third child later this summer so of course I made a quilt. Karissa told me that receiving a quilt from me is one of the perks of having a baby so I was extra excited to make one for her. I took a color theory class with Anna Maria Horner a few months ago and decided to use the stack of fabrics I pulled in the class to make this quilt. A lot of them were not fabrics I would normally put together but I'm always trying to stretch myself and try new things, and if Anna Maria Horner said they looked good together then I believe her! 

I did add some neutrals (the two taupe fabrics) to tone down the boldness of the other fabrics but I'm not quite sure they did their job. This is the kind of quilt that I loved at first (when I was cutting) and then when I was sewing it together I wasn't so sure about it, but when I decided on backing and then quilted it I came around again and now I'm happy with it again. I think the biggest thing holding me back from loving it in the middle of working on it is the purple. I don't use a lot of purple and even though I like the color purple I have a hard time incorporating it into quilts. That was the point of the class though, to learn to embrace colors we aren't used to using. I accidentally deleted the full view photo of the quilt, oops.

Since the front is so bright and bold I tried to tone it down just a bit on the back. The colors are still really vibrant, but I think the large blocks of color next to the neutral is pleasing to the eye. I love the birds and polka dots on the right, they might be my favorite part of the quilt! 

I went with simple diagonal line grid quilting which I always like - I think the scrappiness of this quilt and the quilting give it a vintage feel - and I bound it in scraps from the quilt, another favorite finish of mine. I gave the quilt to Karissa at her "sprinkle" last week and I think she liked it! I can't wait to see Nova snuggled up with it in a just a couple months.

sunshine and stripes | a quilt for Zara

One of Matt's old friends moved into our neighborhood a few years ago and she and her husband just welcomed their third baby girl into their family. I wanted to make her a quilt so I used scraps of Yucatan fabric by Annie Brady for Moda using the quilt as you go method. I used a big piece of Carolyn Friedlander architextures, some Heather Ross kinder, and C+S stars on the back. I quilted some horizontal lines along the side seams to hold it all together and bound it in more architextures. We took it on our houseboat staycation to take a few pictures at the Fox Point Marina. As usual I had some pretty good quilt holders to help me out :)

modern aztec | a quilt for Theo

As fellow makers know, it's always nice to be sought out to make something. When someone asks me to make a quilt it shows me that they see the value in the things I make and it brings me great pleasure to make a quilt with someone special in mind. In this case it was for my friend Kristin's sister's unborn baby boy. Kristin and I reconnected at the birthday party of our mutual friend's one year old son, and we caught up on the years since college. She complimented my quilts and later messaged me to see if I would be interested in making one for her soon-to-be-born nephew. I jumped at the chance, especially when she told me I would have mostly free reign. We discussed her sister's style and settled on a minimal design with solid colors on a white background, and a fun farm animal print for the back. Like I do with all the quilts I make, I prayed while I planned and cut and sewed. Kristin gave it to her sister just before Christmas and she said she loved it. About a month later I learned that Lauren's baby tragically died during childbirth. His heart stopped beating during labor and doctors were unable to do anything. My heart breaks for their family, that they didn't get to keep Theo here and watch him grow. I'm thankful that they have hope in Heaven and know that they'll see him again. 

If you'd like to read more about Lauren, Brad, Theo and their story (including their faith) you can visit the YouCaring page that Kristin set up. The fundraiser is no longer active but you can still pray 

flower garden | a quilt for Susanna

Our friends Dawn and Andrew are welcoming their second baby girl into the world soon, so a pretty kitty quilt was in order. They have two cats and I made their older daughter a cat quilt so it only seemed right that their second daughter have one too. I had the perfect fabric, a charm pack of Posy by Aneela Hoey , so I combined that with a few other prints and solids from my stash to make a simple patchwork quilt. 

 The back is a strip of C+S gingham and a fun print by Suzy Ultman - I love the ice cream truck! I used it on the back of the quilt I made for Mykenzie too. It's just so good for a little girl.

 More grid quilting and scrappy binding, and that pretty much sums me up as a quilter lately. I can't wait to meet little Susie!

purple patchwork | a quilt for Tabitha

 Finn is always the first one (actually the only one) to volunteer to hold quilts for me. Luckily for him, my quilt photography standards have declined significantly and I don't mind if he holds them crooked or even if the pictures are blurry. I just want to be able to remember what I've made. I made this quilt for the third daughter of a friend from church who I've known since I was a little girl. My mom made the little pink and purple panel a long time ago and gave it to me recently, suggesting I might use it in a quilt for a baby girl. Since Brenda was having a girl I knew just who to use it for. I pulled some coordinating fabrics from my stash (the seersucker is always so nice in baby quilts - it's so soft and crinkly) and made a simple improvisational design as I was working with a tight schedule - Brenda was past due to have the baby and I had only just decided to make the quilt!

I chose some nature and vintage inspired prints for the back. Brenda and her husband and three girls live in (what I think is...) an old farmhouse with a big yard and she's always posting pictures of them exploring outside, so the birds and florals felt just right for a little girl growing up in such a setting. 

I did some free motion quilting in the patchwork panel and along the top edge where the birds are on the back, and the rest I quilted with straight lines, echoing the shapes and angles of the fabrics. I made scrappy binding which is always one of my favorites, and already gave it to mom & baby. Hopefully it brings them warmth while they snuggle up on these cold New England days!

simple strips | a quilt for Benjamin

Friends recently welcomed their first baby and of course he needed a quilt. I've realized that I don't have a lot of greens or blues in my stash so I bought a scrap bundle to fill in the gaps. These simple strips came together quickly - I actually cut and laid them out when we had friends over for waffles one night! The back is made of scraps left from the front along with one big piece of cotton + steel clouds. In the photos it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb but I promise it coordinates quite nicely in real life. I can't remember how I quilted it except that I wrote his name, Benjamin, somewhere in the middle. He's already almost a month old and cute as can be - he has red hair like his mom and dad!

I love the polka dot binding, but I'm a little bummed that I didn't put a label on it. I kept forgetting to order more and I ran out and didn't receive my new ones until well after I gave this one to the baby's mom. At least his name is on it! Ezra and Finn were very helpful when I asked them to hold the quilt so I could take a couple photos before wrapping it up. I love these little guys so much!

a quilt for Anias

I recently realized I never blogged about my friend Karissa's son Anias's quilt, and he's two! I don't remember if she gave me any ideas for the quilt, but I think there may have been a discussion about bicycles... Anyway, I used some in his quilt (wheels on the front and in the binding and a big piece on the back) and love the back just as much as the front because of it! There are some guitars on the front too, because Stan, Karissa's husband and Anias's dad, plays guitar. I was inspired by these pillows from She Can Quilt and really like the simplicity of the front. It really shows off the fabrics and differences in value. I have to thank my mom for the back because I'm 99% sure that the Echino fabric came from her stash. I don't remember how I quilted it and I can't tell from the pictures, oops! Karissa, any input? :) 

I took this sideways picture (oops again) of rascally Finn at a meeting of my guild, the RI MQG. I hadn't sewed the binding to the front yet but still wanted to bring it for show and tell :)

Lastly, here's the label I hand stitched on. I don't usually do that and don't remember why I did, but I think it gives the quilt a nice touch. Just goes to show why I should really stay on top of blogging! The whole point is so I can remember the quilts I make and the things that make them special. I'm ever so slowly catching up, and I'm much less productive lately with a new baby to care for so maybe I'll be back on schedule soon.

sloths + stripes | a quilt for jack

Our friends John and Rachel recently welcomed their third baby, a boy they named Jack. I made quilts for their older son and daughter, so of course Jack needed his own. I used the geometric blue print by Michael Miller as a starting point and added a solid turquoise, a small scale sky blue print, and the funny Cotton + Steel sloths. Since Rory was only a few weeks old when I started making this I kept it super simple with a bunch of wide horizontal stripes. Hopefully Jack isn't too picky!

I quilted it with free motion random loops and I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I still consider myself a novice when it comes to free motion - my stitch length consistency could definitely use some work, and I'd like for my motions to be more smooth, too. However, I think the wonkiness of the stitches complements the quirky sloths. 

For the back I used a large piece of C+S  alphabet fabric along with more sloths, the sky blue print from the front, and some blue on blue Kaffe polka dots that I love but have never gotten around to using. (Apparently my only photo of the back is blurry.)

I bound the quilt in these Cotton + Steels stars which are one of my new favorites. I bound Rory's quilt in them, too, though I haven't taken any decent photos of his yet. In case you were wondering, I took these photos on Benefit Street after the boys and I went to RISD Craft with my parents and brother. Thanks for being my quilt holder, mom! And thanks to my dad and brother for wrangling the boys across the street from this house that I deemed worthy of the mini photo session.

Jack, I hope your quilt keeps you warm and brings you comfort! It was made with love, and I prayed for you and your mom often as I stitched.

"Tzute" | a quilt for Nico

On Sunday my friend Courtney welcomed her third child into the world, a baby boy she and her husband named Nico. I worked on this quilt throughout both of our third pregnancies this summer and delivered it today. I don't usually give my quilts very creative names but I felt obligated to do so this time because I submitted it as my work for the Modern Quilt Guild challenge which was sponsored by Riley Blake this spring. I called it "Tzute" because I was inspired by the graphic, colorful designs of Guatemalan textiles. Throughout our pregnancies Courtney and I had been drooling over the bags made by Nena and Co., so when I was thinking of what kind of quilt to make for her babe I decided to try to evoke the bold feeling the bags often have. Courtney's favorite color is green and she and her husband didn't know what they were having at the time so I set the black and white prints against a background of vivid blues and greens. I quilted each solid color with coordinating thread using straight lines, and quilted the black and white fabrics with contrasting thread. The back is made up of leftover solids, as is the binding. I attempted to line up a blue section of the mostly green binding with the blue section of the back and I was off by an inch! You can see it in the bottom right corner of the photo below. Next time I'll get it right ;)

The name of the quilt is a twist on the traditional part of the Maya Indian's daily dress called a "tzute" which can be translated as "multipurpose" cloth. Quilts are also multipurpose in their ability to warm, comfort, and depict beauty. I hope this quilt keeps Nico warm, brings him comfort, and is an object of beauty in their home. Welcome to the world, sweet boy! We can't wait to watch you grow.

summer in New England | a quilt for Ella June

It's summer in New England and my cousin Carlye just had her first baby, a girl to whom she and her husband gave the adorable name Ella June. I wasn't able to get a quilt finished in time for her shower a couple months ago, but when they announced her arrival a couple days ago I got right to work! With my own due date literally three days away I knew I didn't have much time to work so I kept it super simple. 

Carlye, our other cousin Meghan (who was also pregnant at the time and has since given birth to her son Elijah - here's the quilt I made for him), and I had brunch together a while back and Carlye mentioned she bought a pink anchor (I think it was an anchor? It was definitely something nautical, I know that...) to decorate the nursery so I went with that and pulled fabrics from my stash - some pink and navy sailboats by Sarah Jane, yellow and white stripes, florals on stripes by Katarina Roccella, and a pink herringbone print by Cloud 9. I sewed them up quick and then chose a bright yellow print from Dashwood Studio for the back, full of smiling suns and perfect for a summer baby.

I quilted it with a simple wave design (probably my most used quilting design as it fits the nautical themed quilts that are so popular among my friends and family and probably everyone else who lives in Rhode Island and New England) and bound it with more of the pink herringbone.

I brought it along to the Shack at Dutch Harbor in Jamestown where we had the yummiest tacos and burritos on Thursday night. Then Matt and our friend Rachel went cliff jumping at Fort Wetherill and I was super jealous... when I'm not forty weeks pregnant I'm definitely going! Here's a video he captured with his drone of Rachel and some other people who were at the cliffs...

Indian Summer | a quilt for Cole

I made this quilt for an old friend's new baby boy. I actually planned on making her a quilt when she had her last baby (who's almost Finn's age, so about 2.5) but I dropped the ball and never did, so I was happy to have another opportunity! She and her husband decided not to find out the gender this time around so I went with (what I hope are) gender neutral prints and colors from Sarah Watson's Indian Summer line for Art Gallery Fabrics. The novelty prints are my favorites - the little mushrooms and foxes and mountains are so fun! I admit to hoarding a few scraps for myself :) I had been wanting to make a quilt like this one for a while so I used Emily's tutorial and loved how quickly it came together.

On the back I used up my Indian Summer scraps along with some solid aqua that I had left from a collaborative quilt that I worked on with fellow MQG members. The binding is also (surprise!) scrappy, but mostly made from a print that looks like bubbles that I really like. I quilted it with random wavy lines because I thought they would be a nice contrast to all the horizontal lines of the blocks. I like how the quilting turned out, but random wavy lines were actually a lot harder than I thought they would be! They definitely look better in these pictures than I think they do in real life.

I'm going to visit my friend on Friday and I can't wait to meet her new little guy and give him this quilt. I hope it provides lots of comfort and snuggles over the years!

sand and salt water | a quilt for Elijah

I made this quilt for my cousin Meghan's brand new baby boy Elijah Crosby (he and I share our middle name! It's my and Meghan's moms' maiden name) and I was inspired by the beach when I was making it so it made perfect sense to take photos of it when we were in Newport for the week last month. I actually quilted and bound the quilt using my mom's machine which she brought on our vacation and was kind enough to let me use while we were staying at the resort. I hurried to get it done so we could take the photos while we were there. Like typical Rhode Islanders, we don't like to drive too far when we don't have to, so I knew it would be tough convincing Matt to head back to Newport just for quilt pictures when we had just stayed there. Thankfully, my mom was willing to sacrifice a bunch of time at her machine so I could get it finished. Thanks, Mom!

I chose lots of gray, blue, and yellow fabrics that reminded me of a cloudy day at the beach. There are also some cats and elephants because Meghan likes them :) The pattern is called Color Weave and it's a free download from Moda Bake Shop. The pattern on the website uses solids and white so the look is quite different, but I still think the effect of mine is a nice one. 

The back is a large piece from Sarah Watson's Indian Summer collection manufactured by Art Gallery. I love Art Gallery quilting cotton because it's so soft and silky, always a dream to sew. I added a strip of scraps in the center for interest and also because I wanted to include more anchors and elephants! I quilted it across the rows using a small wave design which I've done before a couple times, in this quilt, this quilt, and part of this quilt. The binding is a scrappy one, made from pieces leftover from the top including some Indian Summer prints, Joel Dewberry's woodgrain pattern, and Denyse Schmidt's versatile Hope Valley.

My aunt brought the quilt to Boston last week where Meghan and her husband Bill live and I've already heard from Meghan that they love it which is always nice to hear! Oh, and I have to add that Matt took the pictures at the International Yacht Restoration School on Thames Street which is just a couple blocks down the street from where we always stay in Newport. I knew they usually have a collection of old Beetle Cats (the type of boat the students restore) out back and I thought they would make a great backdrop for the quilt. Finn snuck into a photo or two so you can see his little legs and hands with mine :) 

pink kitten modern bento box | a quilt for Rose

I made this quilt for the first daughter of our friends Dawn and Andrew. They have a cat and are decorating the baby's room with pink and gray, so I used lots of kitty fabrics (thankful for Heather Ross for making so many great cat prints!) and shades of pink and gray. I added some yellow for interest. I used this tutorial from Ashley of Film in the Fridge to make the blocks and they came together surprisingly quickly. I enjoyed putting together lots of different fabric combinations. Scrappy quilts are always my favorite! I quilted it using simple straight lines on either side of all the seams to create a grid type pattern.

For the backing I pulled lots of fabric scraps from my stash and pieced together some rows until it was big enough. The binding is made up of scraps from the top and back which adds to the craziness of the quilt... I didn't mean for it to be so bright and bold, but I do like how it turned out. I hope baby Rosie does, too!

linen and little red riding hood | a quilt for Charlotte

I made this quilt for the second daughter of our friends, Tom and Beth. They have an older daughter who's a few months younger than Finn and I made her a quilt, too, but after giving it to them I decided it wasn't really "them" so I was happy to have the chance to redeem myself, haha... These are the kinds of things quilters think about as their work evolves, I guess. Anyway, my mom had given me some strips of a leftover jelly roll that she didn't want anymore from Aneela Hoey's line A Walk in the Woods. I decided to use it to make a jelly roll race quilt even though I knew it wouldn't be big enough, and I would figure out what to do with it after. I ended up adding some Essex linen in natural to enlarge the top, and I used some gray and white polka dot to back it along with a section of the jelly roll strips.

I quilted it in rows of figure eights until the last row when I got ambitious and quilted some words. Tom and Beth are Christians (they're friends of ours from church) so I knew they would appreciate the addition of some scripture.

It's kind of difficult to see, but the last row of quilting spells out, "Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward," which is Psalm 127:3.

I bound it with a piece of binding leftover from another quilt (though I can't remember which one), some of the polka dot, and a light pink strip from the jelly roll. I love scrappy bindings almost as much as I love stripey bindings! I hope this quilt reminds Charlotte the she is loved very much by her both her family and her Father in Heaven!

a quilt for Penelope

Like many quilters, whenever I find out a good friend is pregnant I immediately start thinking about what kind of quilt to make. Olga sews and makes quilts, too, so I asked if she had a plan for the nursery or any preference for fabrics or patterns. She asked if I would use a collection of fabric that she had called Sweet as Honey, and I knew she liked hexagons after she sent me screenshots of several vintage quilts that were made of teeny tiny hand sewn hexies. I regretfully told Olga that I wasn't up for hand sewing, but that I would try to make something she would like. I sent her a few ideas and one of them was for this triangle star quilt block. Once I got the go ahead from her I started cutting, using my regular rectangular ruler and the 60° line which took a little getting used to, but eventually I got all 250+ triangles cut out. I sewed two rows together and lost steam because the triangles were hurting my brain. My rows kept getting skewed because I wasn't lining the triangles up right so I gave up for a while. They stayed on my design wall for ages, falling down in the humidity of the summer and early fall and getting kicked around by Matt and the boys, ending up in the hallway and wedged in the door jamb. Amazingly, I didn't lose any and finally started sewing again after the baby was born. Penelope didn't mind though, and I finished up at the end of September, if I remember correctly, only a couple months after she was born.

The back is a few Kona blues that I had on hand along with some of the Sweet as Honey fabric that Olga provided me with. I love scrappy backs and this one is no exception. I can't even remember how I quilted it, but I think it's free motion random loops which are very forgiving for a novice free motion quilter like me. The binding is scrappy, too, made from two different fabrics from the Sweet as Honey line. Sometimes it's nice not to have to make a lot of decisions about a quilt, and using one collection definitely simplifies things. Hopefully this quilt will help keep Penelope warm and cozy this winter!