Scandinavian style baby quilt

On mother’s day in early May, I had a little more time than usual in the sewing room.  It was my request for the day – so much better than breakfast in bed!

I took the chance to make a quilt top for a friend of mine who is a new mother.  Her daughter arrived 4 weeks early, and so I didn’t quite have the gift ready for little miss’ arrival.  Nevertheless, it is complete now, and I thought I would share with you some photos.

I didn’t use a pattern for this quilt, but I gave a description of how to make it in this post.

I decided to back the quilt in flannelette, because it is winter here and nothing is more snuggly.  That way, the quilt has a cool side and a warm side, so that it can be used year-round.

I had picked up the fabric for the front at a quilter’s fair earlier in the year, and it is by Cloud 9.  The backing is a Moda fabric which, despite being from a fairy-tale styled range, coordinates well with the pinks and creams on the quilt top.  I used all of the scraps from the fabrics I used on the top to make a scrappy binding, and so there was less than one fat quarter’s worth of waste for the whole quilt.  That made me especially happy!

My Mum, who so often helps me with the hand-sewing part of binding, did it again on this quilt.  Thanks Mum 🙂  It means I was able to post the finished product to the recipient yesterday.  Now I have the anticipation of waiting for the recipient’s reaction… one of the parts of giving quilts I enjoy most.

Have a great day, all.

jf

“Spell it with fabric” quilt

Hello!

I know the pattern was released about a year ago for the Moda Blog Hop (you can access the pattern here) but it is only now that I am getting around to making it up.  It’s to be for my little girl’s new bedroom – she moves into a big-girl bed soon, with a new room to boot!  An educational wall quilt seemed like the perfect accessory.

Here are my early observations:

1.  Making a quilt where every block is different is surprisingly enjoyable.  I really like that every single one is a different task!

2.  The hardest part seems to be deciding on colours.  Someone with more flair than me might have embraced colour in the background, but I’m not that person.  I’ll have a colourful border, I think.

3.  This is a great way to use up scraps, because each block needs surprisingly little of the coloured fabric (if you are doing a low-volume background).

4.  I’m only 7 blocks into it, but it is addictive and I can’t wait to knock over a few more!  As each one doesn’t take very long, it is a quite satisfying project.

Of course I will share pictures of it with you as it progresses.  I’m using up a lot of my Bonnie and Camille for Moda odds and ends in the process.  This is such an enjoyable sewing project.  Loving it!

Have a wonderful day!

jf

Love for Liberty Lifestyle

I mentioned a while ago that I love Liberty fabrics.

Here’s some pictures of my recent acquisitions – I can’t wait to use them!

Here’s the Bloomsbury Gardens range.  It’s summery and cheerful.

It also comes in this colourway:

Oops, yes, I bought that one too.

My favourite, though, is the Stile collection.  It’s so wonderfully Deco!

I’ve been trying to decide what I should use them for.  A quilt, of course… but I haven’t decided on a design.  Perhaps because they are relatively new, or perhaps because such busy prints can be confronting, there aren’t many examples I can find on the interwebs of the exciting ways they could be used.

Your suggestions are welcome!

The weight of the Liberty Lifestyle collection is so much easier to quilt with than Tana Lawn.  While the Tana Lawn feels beautiful and silky, I find it is prone to small puckers in the sewing process simply because it is so fine.  I still use the Tana Lawn, particularly to make clothes for my little girl, but the Liberty Lifestyle is the way to go if you want to quilt it.

On an unrelated note, I adore the Liberty shirts that Sportscraft now produces.  They feel great to wear, and are like a little sign I can wear into my day that says “I love colour!” or “Yes, I am a sewing enthusiast, thanks for asking!”  After all, only another fabric nerd would know it’s a Liberty.  You’d be surprised how many people will come up to me on the street, comment on my shirt, and then strike up a conversation about fabrics, prints, design and sewing.  It’s almost like a little badge that only a like-minded person sees.  Anyway, I love them.

Have a great day.

jf

Easy pinwheel baby quilts

I love to give quilts to new babies.  Now that I’m getting older (sigh!) there’s a lot of new babies around!  Accordingly, I’ve had to find fast ways to produce these gifts.

Here’s a quilt top you can have assembled in an hour.

It’s as easy as this:

Choose 9 squares from a layer cake.  I chose pink and yellow shades from  ABC Menagerie by Abi Hall for Moda.

Cut 9 squares that are 10″ x 10″ of your contrasting fabric.  I used a white fabric with a faint floral damask pattern to it.

Put one coloured square and one contrasting square together in a stack, right sides together.  Do a 1/4″ seam all the way around the edge of the stacked squares.  When that’s complete, go to your cutting table.

Use a ruler and rotary cutter to slice your sewn squares diagonally.  You will get 4 half-square triangles from this process.

This is an idea I picked up from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  They have a great video that shows you this method for making half-square triangles if my instructions aren’t clear.  Check it out here.

Press them, with the seam to go to the dark side of the half-square triangle.  Lay them out in the shape of a pinwheel.  Pin and sew into a 4 patch block, or one pinwheel.  Always use a 1/4″ seam.

When you’ve done this 9 times, you’ll have enough for the perfect size baby quilt.  Next time I do it, I’ll take some more photos for instructions.

It’s worth mentioning that this method produces half-square triangles that are cut on the bias.  That means they have a little stretch to them.  Some people don’t like that – but I don’t think it matters on a pattern this simple.  It also means the fabric has a little give in it, just in case you need to adjust your points a little to ensure your triangles have nice tips.

It works out to be around 48″ square.

Now all I have to do is baste, quilt and bind and I’ve got a present made for a friend of mine who is due to have a little girl in June.  I’ll have the whole thing done in about 3 hours, and I know that my friend will treasure it.

Give it a go!

jf