classic patchwork | a quilt for Seraphina

A friend of mine is having her first baby soon and asked me about making a quilt for her. We talked about fabrics and I suggested she look on etsy for charm packs. She found one she liked, had it shipped to my house, and pretty quickly I settled on this simple design. The fabrics she chose aren't prints or colors that I am usually drawn to so it was fun to work with something outside of my normal palette. I love the muted tones against the gray background, and I love the backing too. I love when I find the perfect combination in my stash. Both fabrics are low volume - one is a light blue polka dot and the other is the alphabet outlined in red. I wouldn't have put them together but they both coordinate with the fabrics in the quilt top and I love them together now! I think the quilt has a vintage feel, like it's an heirloom already. I quilted it with diagonal lines, a departure from what I've been doing lately (it seems everything I make gets the horizontal and vertical grid treatment) and I think it adds to the vintage feel. I bound it in a light blue flower print with a little scrap of mustard for interest. Scrappy bindings are so nice! I brought the quilt to my mom's house for show and tell and while I was there I decided to use her little quilt photo shoot set up to take a few pictures. I love how the quilt fits right into the clothesline/weathered fence aesthetic! I couldn't go to my friend's shower (I had already bought tickets to bring the boys to a local production of A Year with Frog and Toad) so I didn't get to see her open it, but of course I hope she likes it! Pretty soon Seraphina will be here to test it out. If I'm lucky maybe I'll see some pictures of her with it! 

beach boy | a quilt for Carter

It seems every Rhode Island has a thing for the ocean, so when I found out my friends and fellow RI residents Jen and Chris were having a baby boy I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use to make a quilt for their little guy. I had bought a jelly roll of this Riley Blake nautical themed fabric a while back and then changed my mind about using it so it's been sitting on a shelf waiting for the perfect project. Since the fabric was precut I thought it would be fun to try out a herringbone pattern that I've been wanting to make for a while. I used a tutorial by Maureen Cracknell for quilt-as-you-go and I really like it. It seemed to make the project go faster but I'm not sure it was actually any quicker. Either way, I enjoyed it! 

I pieced the back with blue fabrics from my stash. I love the whale print! It's quilted along all the seams of the herringbone strips, and then after basting I quilted along the vertical seams to hold the top and back together. I can't remember what I bound it with and it's hard to tell in the photos, haha, but I think it's a crosshatch by Carolyn Friedlander. I gave it to Jen at her baby shower a couple months ago, and now Carter is here and hopefully snuggling with it!

still love | a pixel heart for Parkland

Many times quilters come together to make quilts for people who have been affected by tragic events. I read on instagram that one of my online quilty friends (@foxfishe) was making a quilt to give to someone affected by the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and I immediately knew I wanted to make one too. As a teacher, a mother, and a concerned citizen, my heart has been hurting for the people of Parkland. A quilt won't do much to heal the pain, but I hope it brings some measure of comfort and peace to whomever receives it. I have been and will continue to pray for those affected by the shooting, and I'm also committed to supporting legislation to help events like this from happening in the future. 

It was Kelsey's idea to make a pixel heart quilt. I've made one other but I really like how they look so I was happy to make one again. I enjoyed picking out what seemed like neutral fabrics from my stash and scraps. The background is all white (Kelsey's backgrounds are scrappy but I don't have that many low volume fabrics to make it work) and the backing is a shot cotton orange. I quilted straight horizontal lines, and now I kind of wish I did vertical lines too. I think it looks unfinished, but it's too late now! It's bound in the solid orange too. We went to Tallulah's Taqueria, one of our favorite lunch spots downtown, last week and I brought the quilt along hoping to get some good photos. The outdoor seating area was perfect like I thought it would be. Of course Finn and Rory wanted to get in the shot :) 

wonky stars | a quilt for Kyle

One of my oldest friends recently welcomed her third baby into her family. Her husband plays guitar so I included guitar fabric and I used lots of white, blue, and gray. I included lots of other fun prints too, like typewriter keys, graffiti, and little fish that remind me of sardines. The quilt pattern is by Vanessa Christenson but I didn't use the pattern, I just figured it out and used scraps to get the look I wanted. The back is more scraps from the front, but I didn't get a picture of it. I quilted it with straight lines in a grid (big surprise!) and bound it in a black and white chevron. I hope Kyle loves his quilt!

the ocean and the lakes | a quilt for Lenora

Our friends Jess and Chad recently welcomed their first baby into the world. They named her Lenora, but they didn't find out the gender until she was born so I made a quilt that I hoped would work for a boy or girl. I chose lots of gray and added blues and white, some solids and some prints. It's a log cabin but it's not really recognizable as one to me because the way I joined the scraps was completely improvised. 

Jess and Chad are from Michigan so I was happy to find this little scrap of All the States by Alexia Abegg for Cotton + Steel in my scrap basket.

I quilted it with straight lines along the sides of all the horizontal seams. I'm pretty much a one trick pony lately - gray and blue, straight lines, grid quilting. That about sums up my sewing.

Of course Rory had to test the quilt out while I was trying to take pictures of it. The back is a gray and white ikat print with a small piece of gingham.

I bound it in - wait for it - chambray. Usually I attach my labels the opposite way, with Tara Celeste Quilts on the outside, but for Jess I flipped it. She loves Rhode Island so I thought that little state outline would make her smile when she sees it. I hope this quilt brings smiles to Nora too.

patchwork pond | a quilt for Wesley

Our friends recently welcomed their first baby into the world. They named him Wesley, but they chose to find out his gender when he was born so a gender neutral quilt was in order. I picked a mix of gray, white, linen, and chambray fabrics with one square of gingham for fun. I made a granny square patchwork design, although I wish I hadn't set it on point.  I would have needed more white fabric to make it work the regular way and I was too impatient to order more.

The back is a print by Sarah Watts for Cotton + Steel from her From Porto with Love collection. Nate, Wesley's dad, is big into fishing so these gold metallic fish were perfect. I love when I have just the right print in my stash.

I quilted it with a simple grid and finished it off with dark gray polka dot chambray binding. Britt and Nate loved it, and I hope Wes enjoys lots of snuggles under it!