Eleanor’s Doll Quilt

Eleanor moved in to a new bedroom this summer. Why, you ask? Because she is now a big sister! Her new room is a sunny yellow and full of Heather Bailey’s Pop Garden fabric. Knowing that I still needed to finish her baby quilt (!) and get another one done for the new baby, I asked my mom to make a quilt for the room. It is at the quilter right now, but let me tell you, it is fabulous. Simply fabulous. In the meantime, I made this doll quilt for her out of the same fabric. It’s an exact copy of her quilt, just scaled to 50%. And, her quilt has nine wheels instead of four.

The back…

And an iPod for some scale…

Can’t wait to see the “big one”!

Answers

Oops! Just when I get busy with things at school, I get a ton of traffic on this site. Somehow I kept forgetting to check in on things and there are several questions I need to answer…

Machine or hand pieced/quilted?

The Single Girl quilt was machine pieced and machine quilted on my Janome. 

How big are the blocks?

As far as answering the question about how big the blocks are… I actually don’t know. The quilt is on the other side of Missouri now. I do know that I trimmed a small amount off after I had sewn on the outside (curved) white piece. Maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch total from the length/width, just to make them perfect squares.

Where did I find the pattern?

I found the pattern at a local shop, and know that you can find it in many online stores, too. Google Denyse Schmidt Single Girl pattern.

 

I promise that the quilt isn’t as intimidating as it looks! I had the pattern for almost a year before I decided to jump on in. Once I did, it was so worth it.

Memories

Every Christmas for the last six years, my mom and sister and I have created an ornament to give to everyone at our family Christmas gathering. I have just over 30 aunts, uncles and cousins on that side of the family alone! In past years, we have done ornaments with bells, old family Christmas photos from the 50’s, snowflake cutouts, etc. This year, my mom outdid herself.

My grandparents are no longer alive. Around the time of my grandfather’s death, my mom and her siblings were sorting through the house and dividing up family treasures. My mom came home with several old quilts, all made by her mother or her grandmother. One of them was in poor condition in several spots. This year, my mom decided to cut out the spots that were in good condition into 35 Christmas tree shapes and create ornaments. This way, everyone gets a piece of this quilt and it gets a whole new lease on life.

To top the tree off, she used a button from my grandmother’s botton box. They are all so unique! My sister nabbed the one pictured above for Eleanor’s ornament- its sparkles are hard to see in the photo, but it is extra special.

Each year, we attach a laminated tag to the ornament with the year, “________ Family Christmas”, and a word. We have used ‘believe’, ‘hope’, ‘wish’, etc. This year? “Memories.”

These ornaments are so special. It was wonderful seeing the look on their faces as they opened the gift and realized what the ornament was this year. I look forward to pulling this one out of the box for years to come!

Do you have a similar tradition?

Cal & Cassie

Making baby quilts for twins is twice as nice. Calvin and Cassandra were born to a teaching friend of mine. They go by Cal and Cassie and here are their quilts…

I wanted them to be similar without being too matchy-matchy, so I went with the common theme of “plaid.” Cassie’s is a pattern from American Jane, called Merry Go Round. It is surprisingly easy to assemble- though I imagine it would be a pain to do a full sized one. This pattern would work perfectly with a set or two of some jelly roll strips. The fabric is a retired line from Three Sisters called Paris Flea Market.

And, yes. This was quite the bear to bind with those angles!

 

The quilt for Mr. Cal is a pattern that I made up, using some charm packs and some solid brown. The charm squares were from the Moda Chocolat line. I really like the strip of plaid on the back.

 

My friend, her husband and the two cuties moved over the summer to the southern corner of Missouri, so these are in the mail right now. I cannot wait to see a photo of the babies with their quilts!

Getting my feet wet

In my many googles for quilting info, I’ve often read the blogs of other hip crafty people. I decided that I can share in the fun. I’ve been quilting/sewing for several years now and have a decent sized back log of photos to add as time (and my internet patience!) allows. I’ll also throw in some other goodies if the mood strikes me. Who knows where this little blog will go in the days to come…