Finishing Jewel Squares, part 1

I am giddy. Beyond giddy, actually. I finished the last of the squares needed for Eleanor’s Jewel Squares quilt. Looking at the stack of color is both exciting and daunting… did I really make ALL of those?!

Laying them out on the floor was like a really intense logic puzzle- even though there is a specific layout, mixing block types and colors was still a lot of work. 

During this phase of the process, I learned a hard lesson: when you ask the guy at Office Max to enlarge some pattern pieces at 200%, be sure he actually does that. Otherwise you end up with four of the biggest squares in the wrong size. Grr. Double grr. Blast you Office Max.

After I figured out a layout that I was happy with, I had to do some heavy photographing. Using post it notes and baggies, I *think* it should be easy to piece back together. As I was doing this I thought, “Boy, a felt wall sure would be a smart move!” 

I’ll be back with more progress later!

Christmas Tree Quilt

A baby simply can’t go without a Christmas quilt, can she? (More like- I can’t figure out what to do with some charm squares and there aren’t enough for a lap quilt!)

I found these Sandy Gervais charm squares over a year ago in a shop on a visit to San Diego. I picked up a couple of yards of three of the fabrics and two charm packs. Did I know what I wanted to make? Of course not. That would make too much sense.

 

Fast forward to this summer, when I was at work on our Christmas quilt. I decided Eleanor needed one and that I wasn’t about to spend more money on fabric. I used a pattern from a scrap quilt pattern book- the pattern is called Broken Dishes. I cut up each charm square into a triangle and made a matching amount in a cream Kona cotton solid.

My favorite is the candy cane stripe binding! Eleanor has been playing on this bad boy since September! I love how cheery it is.

It was quilted on a long arm machine in an all-over pattern of ornaments. Hard to see in the photos, though.

Election Day

Happy Election Day!

In an amazing turn of events, you are allowed to vote if you turn five months old on Election Day. Eleanor was very excited about this.

Name Badge Album

A family friend made one of these for me as part of a baby gift. When I realized how she’d made it, I thought, “Genius!” You can make one yourself, just use clear name badge holders (either horizontal or vertical) and some thin ribbon. Mine has seven badges. She even put little pieces of scrapbook paper in them as a background.

A Cool Tool

It’s a good thing I like binding quilts… three just landed back at my house, fresh from the long arm quilter! One is a Christmas quilt for Eleanor and the other two are for a set of boy/girl twins. More on those later…

Binding a quilt by hand is one of my favorite parts of the quilting process. However, whenever I sewed on the binding around the front, I could never get the fabric to meet up without there being some kind of icky bump. Enter the Fons & Porter Binding Tool!

My mom picked up one of these for me at JoAnn’s and it has made a HUGE difference! Hopefully these photos give you some kind of idea as to how it works. I definitely recommend one!

Magically, the binding is just the perfect length to go around the quilt!

Oh, by the way… Eleanor is still cute!

Pink Lady

That silly mother of mine…. she just keeps on quilting! Since we didn’t know that we were having a girl or a boy, she had to hold back on the pink and blue for way too long. Here’s her latest gift for Miss Eleanor…

It is so soft and cuddly. The back is a white on white stripe. This would be the easiest quilt to eat up a stash of fabric- the pink wheels are made from a 5″x10″ rectangle, cut into four triangles. Easy peasey.

She had it quilted by good ole’ Marie and The Quilt Shoppe. The quilt in the photo on their site is my flag quilt from one of my first posts! I feel somewhat like a celebrity each time I see it.  She did such a fabulous job quilting it… the blue area has stars and the stripes are a set of randomly spaced waves.

If anyone is interested in making a flag quilt and wants to get some fabric already cut for it, please let me know! I have two gallon size bags full of blue and white already cut and ironed. They are just left over from my quilt. I’ll even throw in directions for how to make the quilt.  Just add some red fabric and you’ll be set!  I’ll sell it for the rock bottom low price of…. hmm….not sure. Make an offer and we’ll chat.

Progress!

So that I don’t look like a neglectful mother, I present to you the completed blocks for the Jewel Squares baby quilt! Many squares down, but many MANY more to go!

 

 

And some scissors for scale on these itty bitty ones:

This is such a long sewing process and it’s testing my patience, but it will be beyond worth it!

That’s all for now… off to prepare for my husband’s birthday party. He’s turning 28 today, on 8-8-08. That’s right…for those of you quick in the mental math category he turned eight on 8-8-88. Born at 8:00am, weighed 8lbs 8oz… it’s insane!

Oh baby!

So the baby quilt that I am working on didn’t get finised in time. My crafty mother, however, managed to get TWO finished for our baby! I am madly in love with this first one. We didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or a girl, so they are both gender neutral. This first one is from the Denyse Schmidt book, the Drunk Love pattern. The stitching is beyond cool…

 

 

This one is an Irish chain made from some Tula Pink fabric. Can you spot the little snails?

 

I have a feeling that our baby will have plenty of stuff made from Tula Pink’s lines since…. it’s a GIRL!!

Seeing Squares

For several years now, I have eyed my copy of Glorious Patchwork sitting patiently on the shelf. The quilt on the cover has been in the back of my mind while I schemed color combinations and potential recipients.

The quilt is Kaffe Fassett’s “Jewel Squares” and it’s the perfect size for a baby quilt. Which baby will be getting this one? Mine!! My husband and I are expecting our first child in early June! We have decided to wait until the delivery to know if it is a boy or a girl, so I started looking for gender neutral fabrics at Christmas. This quilt will have lots of teal, orange and red. Plenty of lime, too.  There are several completed versions out there: here, here, and one of Kaffe’s versions here.

This is by far the most intricate and involved quilt I have ever made- at least it gets to stay at my house after it is finished! This pattern requires paper piecing, something I’d never done before. I actually like it, too. Here’s a sneak peek at the process (plus I was trying out my new camera!).

Sewing “blind” is the hard part. Luckily the pieces don’t have to be perfectly sized when you cut them out.

Seam allowances are trimmed as you go.

 All done! Now… only 50 more to go- and that’s just of this size!

 Progress report #1:

A Blocks needed- 68  (18 finished)

B Blocks needed-58 (8 finished)

C Blocks needed- 19 (all done!)

D Blocks needed- 9 (not started yet)

E Blocks needed- 2 (not started yet)

F Blocks needed- 2 (not started yet)

 I’d better get crack-a-lackin’, huh? The patience we learned to have while waiting to get pregnant is certainly coming in handy- this quilt is requiring some of its own!