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.

deep waters | a quilt for the Woodward family

This quilt is another really special one (though I'm a firm believer that all the quilts I make are special) that has been in the works since October. My friend Jackie loved the anchor quilt I made and gifted to a mutual friend last year and expressed interest in a quilt for herself, so we talked about a few quilty details at the time but I told her I wouldn't be ready to start something for her for a while. However, in the back of my mind I was already scheming. I knew she liked the anchor quilt because it was nautical - she and her husband Mike (who's one of our pastors as well as a friend) are transplants to RI from New York and New Jersey respectively and they love it here, so I wanted to include lots of nautical elements. I pieced together a bunch of fabrics very soon after my conversation with Jackie last fall, creating the quilt top above. Then I got to work designing the back. I treated it like a puzzle, fitting together scraps from the anchor quilt and another nautical quilt I made, and then planned on filling in the space with some special blocks.

They're hard to see because this photo was taken under duress (Ezra was strapped into his car seat in the car just a few steps away, screaming to be let out at the top of his lungs, threatening that I could never take quilt pictures again if he couldn't get out of the car) so I didn't make Matt take any detail shots, but if you look closely you can make them out. There's a sailboat block, a star, the anchor, the word HOPE, two cats to represent the family pets (off to the right; their faces are cut off because it was super windy. This was actually quilt photo shoot attempt two of the day because the wind at the other location, closer to the water, was impossibly windy. The quilt was billowing. Anyway - ), and a book block that is supposed to be the Bible onto which I embroidered the words "The Sacred Writings" because that's one of the ways Mike refers to the Scriptures.

I gave the quilt to Mike and Jackie a couple weeks ago, but today is the day that I actually wanted to present it to them. You see, tonight Mike is being ordained as co-pastor at our church, which is quite an important event in his life and for their family. We have been on vacation on the Cape this week, but we decided to come back a couple days early because we really want to be there for his ordination. If I had known we were going to cut our vacation short to be able to attend I would have waited to give them the quilt tonight. Well, anyway, they already have it and it's being well loved! On the day I gave it to them Mike told me it was "enchanted" and that he was going to wrap up in it every morning when he prays. I'm sure he will, too, because he appreciates ritual in the spiritual. 

My friend Emily snapped this picture with her phone one night when she was over recently. I was looking the quilt over, checking for loose threads, and contemplating what to write on the label. Usually I have a hard time naming the quilts that I make, but this one came easily - I called it "Deep Waters" because serving God in full time ministry is a sacrifice that not many families choose to make, and I'm sure they will go through some deep waters because of their choice to serve Him, but I know that God will reward them for it. As I was making this quilt I often listened to Hillsong's Oceans, which has always reminded me of Isaiah 43:2. I don't know if the songwriters had that verse in mind as they were writing, but I decided it was the perfect verse for this nautical quilt so I included it on the label. The verse says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." That is my prayer for the Woodward family - as they walk down this path of service to God and ministry to us, His people, that He will always be with them no matter the circumstances. I know that He will. 

a quilt for Liam | elephants and stripes (of course)

This simple baby quilt is the last from my backlog of unblogged quilts! I made it for a friend's son (who happens to have just turned one on Sunday - happy birthday, Liam!) and chose the prints after spying some elephants on one of her baby related pinterest boards :) I had the perfect gray elephant fabric in my stash and then chose lots of blue and gray fabrics to go with it. I didn't follow a patten, just cut large squares and then used a slice and insert technique to make a few of the blocks a little more interesting.

Navy sashing to give all the prints some breathing room...

and green polka dot binding for fun :)

As usual, the back is a large cut (this one is a gray circle/dot print by Denyse Schmidt for Joann) plus leftover fabrics from the front. I quilted it with simple straight lines on either side of all the seams.

Also, wasn't the light just perfect on the day I took these photos? Sometimes I love our living room :) Anyway, thanks for hanging in there with all these quilts! Now brace yourselves, because I have a list of quilts to make as long as my forearm and this time I intend to keep up with them here!