Amy Butler Quilt for Joshua

In January I made a quilt for a coworker's baby boy. Technically this was my second quilt but the first to be machine-stitched through all layers and a hand-sewn double-fold binding. My first quilt made from Sadie's baby clothes, was stitched-in-the-ditch to the batting only, and then tied to the back. The binding was an insertion edging.

This quilt was made using the patchwork crib/playtime quilt pattern from Amy Butler's Stitches for Little Ones book.

I made it using these fabrics from Jo-Ann's despite the fact I was already becoming somewhat of a fabric snob.

I folded and rolled and posed this thing in a million configurations, and I can't believe this is the only picture I managed to get of the finished product. I used bias binding, thinking this was the most proper method, but it would have looked much better on straight grain. The pattern calls for high-loft batting for playmat purposes, and I think I used a medium loft. It is quilted using stitch-in-the ditch method.

It was a pretty simple and successful beginning quilter's project. And it's owner, Joshua, apparently uses it all the time as a playmat. Yay!!

Hello Again, and Fickle Me

Long time, no post.
I am mom to 7 year-old Mason and 3 year-old Sadie as well as a Middle School Science teacher, so my sewing time is precious. (And I have discovered that I am no multi-tasker when it comes to sewing. Housework and parenting seem to take a back seat when I am working on a project.) Nevertheless, some sewing has been accomplished in the last year. I will be documenting my projects in the last year in a series of new posts.
I've described myself as a Jack-of-all-fiber-arts, Master of none. I guess this is because I seem to grow tired of techniques just as I get close to becoming proficient. I guess I really am fickle when it comes to crafting. Or at least attention deficient. This blog previously concentrated on heirloom sewing and smocking. I guess the closest I have come to heirloom-quality sewing is mastering French seams. Since I can't seem to sew a decent sleeve, I'm having trouble mustering the desire to go much further. I don't even enjoy smocking as much as I used to--though that will not stop me from sewing at least one smocked garment (hopefully) each year for Sadie. And, it is a good trick to have up one's sleeve for unique baby gifts.
Which brings me to my newest diversion: Quilting. This will be the subject of many future posts, and I've found a wealth of breathtaking modern quilting blogs from which to draw inspiration. For now.
Stay tuned!

Grummie's Pillow

My grandmother is 84 today. There isn't much in the way of new and exciting gifts to give her, so I decided I would make her something. Since my latest crafting involves sewing and smocking, I made her a little pillow. It measures about 10'x15' without the ruffle.

I used leftover fabric from Brooke's Dress, which are colors that remind me of Grummie anyway :). The plate is an Ellen McCarn pattern I used for Sadie's first bubble, and also the smocked insert for Jackson's bubble.

I actually had everything on hand, even the blank pleated insert! I literally used every scrap of fabric, because I was intent on putting a ruffle on the pillow. It is made of many smaller strips, and barely was enough to go around, but I like the end result.

Stuffing the pillow was a little tricky. Even though I didn't overstuff, it is difficult to keep the stuffing from lumping up behind the elastic smocked insert. And while I pieced the front quite evenly, I guess the smocking still wasn't perfectly blocked because it seems to be a little wonky still. And the side pieces curve for some reason.

Even so, it was a good learning project--I've never done pillow before. (Well, unless you count the snail!) Also, I've never actually sewn a smocked insert into anything, those baby bubbles were made for me. The other garments I've smocked directly on.

Meet My Friend Sara

My friend Sara has been blogging about her shopping skillz. She, like me, prefers not to pay full price--for anything! I'm learning a lot about CVS from her reports, too. She is doing a giveaway sponsored by a great web business, Girly Girl Bowtique. Look at these great bows to go with sweet Little Dresses!

I finally made the pillowcase dress.

This is the pillowcase I mentioned here last July. I finally made the dress! Excuse this view, which Blogger has once again rotated. This was a simple project--I just trimmed off the top, abd cut out sleeves. There are a couple of versions out there, but I decided to do the one in which the front and back casings are gathered with elastic, and the sleeves are bound with bias tape. I just made 1/2" double fold bias binding from the top of the pillowcase for the binding. Older versions are tied only with ribbon strung through the casings.

I think the elastic gives it a neater finish.

Cute trim, huh? I ordered these from eBay. Probably a craft project from long ago...

This was a fun, easy project. I'll have to be on the lookout for more pillowcases!!

Amy Butler's Sleepy Snail

Meet Amy Butler's design, Sleepy Snail. Isn't it cute?? It is from this book I got for Christmas: The book has oodles of cute things in it. Unfortunately, most of them are too young for my just-turned-two-year Sadie, so I hope to get some good baby gifts out of it. The Sleepy Snail caught my eye immediately, and I just happen to have a good friend due to give birth to her third child in July!

Here is my version:

Look at these great Moda fabrics used on the stripes and the dotted pillow base.

The little cusions are removeable for napping :)

The ruffle part of the pillow is Amy Butler, and is actually the same fabric used on the model in the book. It is a pretty large critter, and will definitely make a statement in the nursery!

I have some great scraps left over, and they are begging to be made into a little kitty (also from this book) for Miss Sadie. Annnd, as long as she's still in diapers, I should probably make the cute diaper bag for myself, right??

The Quilt

Yay! Sadie's memory quilt is finally finished!
This was the inspiration: from Martha Stewart Baby:

First came the cutting. My version is made of 130 4x4" squares of fabric from favorite baby clothes. I was shooting for a 12 square by 15 square quilt, but ran out of fabric and oomph at 10x13, which coincidentally is my birthday :) Then, some obsessive placing and positioning.

I was going for a watercolor effect, with a gradation of bright colors from upper left corner down to lower right. I don't know that anyone else will notice, but at least it gave me some direction!

I got it all pieced together last August, but I wanted the perfect piece of matelasse for the back. That took the better part of a year to find. Thanks fabric.com for finally getting some in stock! It isn't perfectly white, but that's ok.

I did find a wonderful raspberry crochet yarn to tie the quilt together, but could never find the right color binding. Finally, I just made my own:
I even did the nifty continuous binding strip trick, by cutting a square into a parallelagram and sewing it into a tube, then you cut along your measured line, and you have a continuous strip of fabric! And since my nifty bias tape maker is for 1/2" SINGLE fold, I had to use another trick for making 1/2" double fold as seen here: Gotta love sewing blogs for all these neat tricks. It isn't really true quilt binding, but sewn in between the quilt top and backing like large piping.

This is the finished product:

(Ugh--why is it such a pain to load pictures onto Blogger? I must be doing something wrong. And why did it turn all my pictures around?

It was fun to do, and turned out pretty much like I wanted it to. Sadie seems to like it: she tried to go "nigh-nigh" while I was ironing it!