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.

winter woodland | quilt 01 of 2015, for Chase

Here's my first quilt finish of 2015! It feels like a great way to start off the year. This quilt is for a little boy who hasn't been born yet, the baby brother to the little girl who owns this quilt! Jen is expecting her third baby and asked me to make a quilt for him about three months ago and we picked fabrics very quickly. Jen knows just what she wants and also trusts me to choose fabrics and designs that I think will work together, which is a great feeling. She wanted something with woodland animals and a combination of orange, minty green, and gray colors. I seriously loved shopping for this quilt, but then putting fabrics together is always one of my favorite parts of the process :) From top to bottom, the fabrics are orange chevron by Riley Blake, Joel Dewberry's wood grain, elk family by Birch Fabrics, Lizzy House's leaf tails, bear hike in shroom by Birch Fanrics, and Joel Dewberry's herringbone. The feature print running vertically down the length of the quilt is bear hike again, but obviously multicolored. That last print was so hard to find that I had to order it from Australia! Although I just looked for it again and found it easily in the US. Oh well! The pattern I used is a favorite for baby quilts, Bijou Lovely's Color Block quilt. I've made it three times so far and have another one in the queue!

The back is a bunch of fabrics left over from the front of the quilt plus a couple others - squared elements from Art Gallery in carbon and dottie by Cotton + Steel in bandana. I have to say that my favorite print is bear hike, and rightfully so! The quilt was designed around it, after all. I had one little scrap left and made a mug rug out of it. It was sold just before Christmas and will hopefully enjoy a long life underneath steaming mugs of coffee :)

I quilted organic straight lines, starting out very close together somewhere around the center near the bears and gradually getting farther and farther apart as the lines get closer to the edges. The pattern created by the lines reminds me just a bit of tree bark or wood grain which is a nice design element to add to this quilt that I've called "winter woodland." It's bound in more orange chevron with a small strip of Kona coral left over from my Michael Miller challenge quilt. I love scrappy bindings so much! They're my favorite kind of binding. Jen is coming to pick up the quilt this afternoon and is just about ready to welcome her baby boy into the family! He's due in March and I hope this quilt provides just the right welcome for him.

P.S. Special thanks to Matt who took these photos for me after finishing up a shoot in Providence, and to my mom who offered to watch the boys so I could tag along. As a bonus we got lunch at The Grange after! It was the perfect spot for my quilt mini shoot, and as always, the perfect spot to eat lunch.

two plus one equals three | a quilt for Parker

Plus quilts are pretty trendy right now and I had been wanting to make one of my own for a while. I decided to make this particular plus quilt (since I do think I'll be making another some day!) for my friend Jill's baby boy, Parker. He's their third baby which is why I named the quilt "two plus one equals three" - two children plus one baby equals three kids for Eric and Jill :) The pluses seemed like a great pattern to show off some fun fabrics, and since the blocks were on the large side I knew that it would come together pretty quickly. I used a combination of Michael Miller fabrics, seersucker, some Lizzy House, and a few random fabrics that were given to me by a friend who doesn't sew. The background is Kona silver which is my new favorite neutral. 

The back is made up of some large cuts of fabric - gray polka dots that my mom gave me (left over from the back of Ezra's I spy quilt), blue and white chevron, some airplanes left over from the quilt I made for my friend Keri's son Will, red polka dots, and some scraps left over from the front.

I did straight line quilting on either side of each seam to frame each block and bound it in Art Gallery squared elements. There's one little scrappy bit of binding in there though - a small piece of Lizzy House jewels.

A simple handwritten label finishes it off. 

And of course I had some assistance with the photos :)

gingham and robots | a quilt for Elliott

I'm posting about this quilt, totally unintentionally, on the recipient's first birthday. So first let's wish Elliott a very happy birthday! I made this quilt for him using lots of my favorite fabrics - some robots by Kokka, guitars by Michael Miller, a few Denyse Schmidt prints, one of Heather Bailey's prints from her Nicey Jane line, and two solids. Simple rectangle patchwork made this a quick quilt to finish in time for my friend Rachel's baby shower even though Finn was a newborn at the time. It seems so far away now! I can't believe these boys are one now. 

I found this gingham in my stash and it made the perfect backing. I had planned on making myself a scarf with pom pom trim with it but I never got around to it and it was too perfect for the quilt not to use it. All my non-quilt sewing projects get pushed to the side and forgotten about because quilting is my favorite.

More stash usage here in the binding - solid gray coordinates nicely and there's one little strip of gingham in there that totally makes it.

Those robots! I love them.

I made a stack of burp cloths with some scraps because I looove using up scraps. I always forget how time consuming scrappy burp cloths are to make, and just for spit up. At least they're useful!

As you can see from this and the top photo, I had a helper during my photo shoot :) Ezra took the photo below, too. I'm so proud - he's a budding quilter and a budding photographer ;)


John and Rachel were so thankful for this quilt which made it even more special. They sent me the nicest thank you note and raved about it repeatedly in person. Apparently John borrows it occasionally :) John posted a couple pictures to twitter when Elliott was a newborn and I just have to share this one of him at ten days old on his quilt - ha! Happy birthday, Elliott! I'm so glad you were born!

the namesake | a quilt for Crosby

So I'm calling this quilt "the namesake" as a bit of a joke because the little recipient shares my name - his name is Crosby, which is my middle name. It's my mom's maiden name and I've always liked having it for a middle name because it's unusual and unexpected. My friends didn't name their son after me, but it's funny that we share a name now :) I made the quilt for him after his mom, my friend Amanda, bought the fabric and then kind of stalled out. She had been working on a quilt for her older son but decided she didn't like the fabric she had chosen and then got stuck in a rut. I don't know about you, but that has definitely happened to me! So, knowing she had her fourth little one on the way and not much time on her hands, I offered to make them both for her. I finished Crosby's first to help welcome into the world. I plan on starting on Lee's after I check a couple more things off my to make list.

The pattern Amanda chose is the fabulous Colorblock Quilt by Bijou Lovely. You may recognize it from last week when I posted about the quilt I made for Emmett. You may also recognize the fabrics - this is the quilt that inspired Steph to ask me to make a quilt for Emmett. Steph chose many of the same fabrics Amanda did, although Amanda made her purchase much earlier, maybe even a year earlier, so they weren't all available when I placed Steph's order. For example, that awesome panel Amanda snagged was no longer available. Anyway, I loved putting this quilt together - it's such a quick sew and really shows off the fabrics.

This is the first quilt I tried free motion quilting on which was a little daunting. I had to rip out quite a bit at first but I finally got the hang of it and ended up really liking the simple loop design I quilted. Oh, and then I added this sweet little tag because it matched :) I hope you like your quilt, little Crosby!

quilt on a quilt | a quilt looking for a good home

Edit: I donated this quilt in April 2018 to a raffle for a little girl who is battling cancer. 

This quilt is the product of a challenge hosted by the Modern Quilt Guild (I'm a member of the RI chapter) and sponsored by Michael Miller Fabrics. The fabric line is Petal Pinwheels which is a really cute and fun line. I loved tile pile, the print that looks like orange peels, and I used a bunch of Kona silver and added bright coral binding with some scraps, too. Scrappy bindings are my favorite. Actually, stripey bindings might be my real favorite. Anyway, my guild set one guideline for the fabric challenge - to use negative space in your work. I had never really used much negative space in a quilt before, but I knew I wanted to design something with some patchwork floating in a sea of open space. I drew inspiration from Denyse Schmidt's Big Charming quilt to create this piece and I ended up loving the result. Ezra asked why there's a quilt on a quilt :) Perfect for a sweet babe or toddler, it's listed in the shop and ready for snuggling! 

Thanks so much for joining me this week as I relaunched the tiny hummingbird shop! I have three more quilts that will all be listed next week as well as a bunch that have already been given to their owners, many of them Finn's friends :) Have a great weekend!

Ahoy, Matey! | a quilt for Emmett

Commission quilts are some of my favorite pieces to work on. When someone appreciates the effort that goes into a quilt it makes the work that much easier and more enjoyable because I know the recipient will truly love the end result. I made this quilt at the request of our friends Steph and Bryan for their son, Emmett, to match his new room in their new house. They were at our house for dinner one night over the summer and Steph saw a quilt I was working on for a friend's new baby and she loved the fabrics, Ahoy Matey by Michael Miller. She quickly decided that they would look great in Emmett's new room and over the next few days we figured out the right size and discussed her fabric selections. 

All the fabrics on the top are from the Ahoy Matey collection and the sailboat and anchors on the back are Out to Sea by Sarah Jane Studios. The pattern is Bijou Lovely's Colorblock Quilt, a pattern that is quickly becoming a favorite. It's perfect for showcasing your favorite fabrics and it sews up pretty quickly! I love a project I can finish in a couple weeks. I quilted free motion waves across this quilt like I did on my Anchors Aweigh quilt, although this time I did it on my mom's domestic machine (thanks, mom!) rather than renting time on a long arm. The quilt that inspired this one will probably show up here on the blog next week, so don't be surprised when you see some fabrics that look familiar! Since this is a commissioned quilt it won't be listed in the shop. Steph actually came over just last night to pick it up! It's been a chilly October week so I'm sure it's already been broken in and snuggled under :) Steph and Bryan, thanks for having me create this quilt for Emmett! I hope that it will become a part of your everyday - for snuggles before bed, for making forts in the living room, for long rides in the car, and picnics on the grass - and I hope Emmett loves it for years to come!