Block Party

This looks like a lot of fun--I'm not sure I'm up for being in a bee quite yet (I've heard brand new babies take up a lot of time, lol. I already know that toddlers do!) I'm excited to see the tutorials and try them out.

Block Party Quilting

Twice As Nice

I loved the first patchwork quilt with these fabrics so much, I made another one for my soon-to-be arriving nephew! It has minky on the back, which of course Mr. L. thinks is the best part of the entire quilt! I love the little patchwork squares within the squares--perhaps my favorite part. I hope they like it!Lesson Learned: Patchwork is fun, quick, and easy. Making quilts is also addicting, as I just wanted to sit down and do it, from start to finish. Having a toddler paint, do play dough, use stamps, and draw right next to you is a bit nerve wracking (imagining paint, even "washable" paint, spilled near your quilt makes your heart beat a bit faster) but greatly enhances your quilting time.

My Favorite Quilt

I'm posting this as part of ParkCityGirl's Festival of Quilts... I made this quilt for my (now 3 year old) son, Mr. L. It took a long time (a difficult pregnancy sidetracked me for months), and he hasn't quite fallen in love with it like I have, but it makes me happy whenever I see it! There's nothing better than that!(Front!) I loved the pattern (Denyse Schmidt's Hop, Skip and a Jump) as well as the fabric (most of it Jackie Shapiro's Sweetpea line).

This is the back. I think I like the back better (shhh)! Perhaps this is why it took me so long to finish his quilt. :)Its my first stippled quilt, and it took HOURS! My hand went numb, but I like the finished result. I have not stippled quite so close together on subsequent quilts...

A Favorite Patchwork Quilt

Hmmm. I seem to be quite good at making a new mistake (or five) each time I make a new quilt. Perhaps at some point I will have made all of the mistakes, and either a. be mistake free or b. (much more likely) start making them all over again. I saw an online tutorial for stroller blankets here and here, bought this fabric, and thought they were a perfect match. Alas, when I asked for 3/4 of a yard, I didn't realize the fabric was directional, and the cut I got was NOT going to work, unless of course I wanted the fabric going the wrong direction. I did NOT want to take Mr. L. to the fabric store again, so I thought, "Ah, I'll just do a patchwork quilt. It won't take that long." Ha ha. But I loved the end result, it used some of my favorite orange and yellow fabrics, I was pleased with the quilting, and only had to unpick the binding once. :) Unfortunately, I finished it just before I ran out the door to a friend's baby shower, so these super cool pictures of the unwashed quilt are the only ones I have. I hope she enjoys it. If I was having a boy, I think I would have kept it for myself.
Note: Didn't get it made into a stroller quilt, was worried about how it would work with her new uber cool double stroller, so I offered to turn it into a stroller quilt if she wants.

Lesson Learned: Duh! If you get less than a yard, check the directionality (is that a word?) of the fabric to see if its going to work in your project. Lesson learned #2--it is faster to drag said toddler to fabric store to get enough material for a border than to make a patchwork quilt, even if the patchwork is cuter. Lesson learned #3--start a bit earlier on the project, so you can take a decent picture. Natural lighting perhaps? And a nicely washed and dried quilt to share?

I think he likes it!

Proud of Myself

I made a simple blanket for baby N. last week so I could practice stippling before finishing Mr. L's toddler bed blanket. I was perhaps overly proud of the results. Its been a long time since I've been proud of something other than surviving this pregnancy. Hurray for a new sewing machine!!! And yes, I really need to learn how to take better pictures of quilts--preferably pictures that do no involve painters tape on my living room wall. (I did update my photos. Too bad it was a cloudy wintry day!)

The back of Mr. L's quilt. I think I like it better than the front...I hope to finish it in the next two weeks so I can give it to him for his birthday. Yep, I think I started it last fall. :)

I Love Flights of Fancy

This is one of my favorite fabric lines. You will notice pieces of it crop up in a number of projects. I made this quilt for a wonderful friend's new baby boy who was born earlier this summer. It coordinated with her nursery colors, and I loved loved loved the fabrics. My original idea didn't quite pan out. But of course, I'd already cut the fabric for the original idea. So, I had to incorporate some white into it. Quite a bit of white. Again, its a good thing I'm having a baby girl, or I think I would have kept this one for myself.
Lessons Learned: Lesson #1--Make a sample block before you cut all of your fabric. Lesson #2--quilting on a not great machine, even with a walking foot, can make you want to pull your hair out and scream. Lesson #3--Its really hard to match up a pieced back and pieced front if you are a bit haphazard about it. Lesson #4--Maybe I will get better at this? Including the photography? :) Lesson #5--Pay attention to the directionality of your fabric when you are cutting it! And sewing it, I guess.

Quilt For Baby Z

I made this quilt for a favorite baby of a favorite couple of ours. It was my first true baby quilt (that I have made all by myself).

Lessons Learned: Lesson #1: Agh. Quilting takes almost as long as piecing. Who knew. Lesson #2--I hate my old machine. Tension, tension, tension. Lesson #3--Online tutorials are worth their weight in gold.

Yes, My 3 Year Old Named This Blog

Serendipity is the heroine in the Mustang Gonzales stories his dad has been telling him all summer long. And Mr. L is the three year old. He gets to save the princess on occasion. He loves it!