CARRY ON BAG

Tadah! Maya's Quilt Complete

Maya arrived this week. I can't wait to meet her. She's adjusting to her new family which may take a little while but once she's settled in I'm certain she will be a happy little girl. I am so thrilled for Helen and Gregg. There is nothing so fulfilling as raising a child.

Last weekend I intended to finish Maya's quilt but I had problems with the sewing machine, it just wouldn't behave. I looked at the manual (something I never do) and fixed the problem but I had stitched a lot and had to take out rows of stitches setting me back a few hours.
Finally I had to give up that I was going to complete it by Monday morning in time for Gregg's shower at Peet's. Work was slow this week though so I plowed ahead and finished in time to give it to him this morning.

I really enjoyed making this quilt. Many blessings to the new family.

Final Block #4

Here's the 4th and final block. My next step is to sew the four blocks together and then add the borders.

Block #3

Moving along.

Talked with Gregg today. Helen and Maya are getting acquainted as they travel around China together. They will visit Helen's mom's family this week before coming home. Photos aren't easily sent via email from China but Gregg has talked with Maya on the phone several times. I think he's already smitten.

Block #2

It's coming along nicely. Here's Block #2 already. I have it all laid out on my living room floor so when I have a few spare moments I sew a square or two.

Yesterday I bought cotton batting and top stitching thread at Joann's bringing with me my 40% off coupon of course.

I'm hoping to see Gregg this week to catch up on Helen's trip in China. She has met Maya and they are getting acquainted. Helen's mother is with her so she'll have help getting used to taking care of a 2-1/2 year old. I can't wait to meet her.

Sewing BLOCK #1

So the first pieces come together. I am so impressed with this fabric, it's so pretty it doesn't really matter how the pieces are arranged, it would still be a lovely combination.

The quilt is divided into four large blocks. I've finished BLOCK #1 shown here.

Cutting it Out

Today I cut out all the square and rectangles from the seven different fabrics. For the large squares with the fairy fabric (LF) I made a template with a 7.5"x7.5" square cut out so I could see the area I wanted to include in the square before I cut it out. If I didn't do this I could end up with half a fairy in the square or one without a head, etc. In the photo I have cut out all the pieces and arranged them according to my design. This way I can see what it will look like and make any changes before I begin to sew. I'm pretty happy with it so I only changed one small square.

Next step is to begin sewing the pieces into four blocks.

Designing Maya's Quilt

The previous post shows the dimensions of the design, this time I've decided which fabric will go where. I'm finding the entire design process to be both fun and challenging. So far I'm liking this larger quilt project.

I had this design concept when I ordered the fabric but wasn't really sure how much yardage to buy so of course I played it safe and ordered too much. But that's OK since it is all beautiful and I will have a fabulous stash for future projects. When I ordered this lot I didn't realize that the Large Fairy print was as big a print as it is. I had thought to use it as the central border but when I saw it in person I preferred the flower print. I only ordered a 1/2 yard of the flower print which wasn't quite enough, so I added the rectangles in the border using the Large Fairy fabric. I improvised. I heard an artist say lately, sorry can't remember the source, but they said if he knows ahead of time how the project will be exactly then it isn't worth creating. I agree. There has to be room for the creative process, something unexpected to emerge in the process of making something.
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Designing a Larger Quilt

This is my design for Maya's quilt. The small squares measure 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". My next step is to decide which fabric goes where and I will show this in my next post.

A New Place to Buy Fabric (Fabric.com)

Fabric for 40" x 60" quilt for Maya

Our friends, Helen and Greg, are adopting a little girl from China. She's 2-1/2 years old and named Maya. They will be bringing her home mid-February and I'm so excited for them. I'd like to sew a quilt for her but I realize the baby quilts I've been making would be too small for her. Also flannel is nice and soft for a baby but doesn't wear very well for an older child, so I decided to make a larger quilt made of cotton.

I decided on a design concept and headed to Joann's Fabrics only to be over welmed with the choices of cotton fabrics there. It was difficult to determine which fabric would go well together, etc. I've been sewing with flannel and the selection is quite small in comparison. I came home empty handed. Same result with a visit to Beverly's fabrics.

Then I discovered fabric.com from Melody, a blogger I follow at http://fibermania.blogspot.com/. Fabric.com allows you to create a Design Wall where you select fabric swatches to determine how well they go together. They also suggest fabrics that coordinate with the fabrics you select. This is just what I needed and their selection is incredible. I discovered Michael Miller's Fairy collection and ordered enough fabric to sew a 40" x 60" quilt which I read somewhere is the size needed for a child. I was a little hesitant to order fabric without seeing it in person but when the package arrived I was pleasantly surprised that the fabric was even prettier than I expected. I'm thrilled with the quality and the price was less than at Joann's!!

Sewing Projects of 2010

Okay, I know I've already shown most of these photos before but I created this collage as part of a 2010 Photo Project and just had to post it here. These are most of the sewing projects I completed in 2010. What's in store for 2011? Hint: My first project WON'T be made in flannel.

Twin Quilts

Wow, a new year already. 2010 was definitely a fun year for us; doing more traveling than we have in the past few years, and I began sewing again. When I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas I didn't really know if I would use it. But here I am a dozen baby quilts later and more enthused than ever to head over to Joann's fabrics to begin the next project. I've so enjoyed creating these little quilts.

My daughter's friends are having twins this month so I decided to make a boy quilt similar to the girl quilt I made in December. I had most of the fabric already so I thought it would be a fun thing to do.

Baby Bunting - Newborn Girl

Since I've finished all my gift wrapping and cookie making for the holidays, I was able to finish this bunting today. It also helps that work is soooooo slow and I could work on it during the day.

I began this project a month ago. I love working with flannel but wanted to make something other than a quilt. Many visits to the pattern department at Joann's later I found a very cute pattern (McCall's- M5963). It is an "easy" pattern too which made it even that more attractive. The pattern called for fleece but I thought it would work well in flannel too and it did. I changed the zipper to velcro tabs for a different look. It is a newborn size.

Final Quilt of the year

This is the final quilt I will sew this year. I know there are three weeks left but I'm busy wrapping gifts and ready to try sewing some baby clothes to change things up a bit.

I really didn't know how many baby quilts I had made this year until I counted them up and I've made eleven! My goal was to make one a month and I came pretty close to that. It was great fun and good for me to have something creative to do so I won't watch too much TV or otherwise get bored. Work has been quite slow this year and the blessing of that is I've had more time and energy to do creative things.

TINY LADYBUG BABY QUILT

Selecting the fabric is one of the highlights of sewing a quilt. When I selected the fabric for this quilt I was very excited about the combination of fabrics I chose until I cut out all the squares and lay them out together on the floor. I was disappointed at how it looked at first, thinking this wasn't going to be one of my favorites.

But I went ahead with it and once the first border was added it began to take shape and once it was finished I discovered that it is my favorite quilt so far. That's usually how I feel about each quilt when I'm finished but this one really is my favorite. I think because the colors just seem like what a new born baby would like.

This quilt is a variation of the previous quilt. I made it more square with more borders and of course the new binding.

Butterflies & Flowers Baby Quilt

I found a very cute baby quilt on line which was asymetrical. I liked the look and decided to try one of my own since all the others I have made have been symetrical. It was fun to design and more interesting to sew and quilt.

I also bound the edges with binding instead of using the sandwich style. I had been resisting this until I found a tutorial online which demonstrated making a binding by using a facing. It was very simple to do and I love the look of it. Now I enjoy all the steps required to make a small quilt. I will use this method on all future quilts. The tutorial for the facing binding is: http://barnyardchatter.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/facings-an-alternative-to-traditional-bindings/.

Sun & Moon Baby Quilt

While I was making this quilt I was so pleased with how the fabric squares looked next to each other but in looking back on it now in the photo I'm thinking, "oh, I don't really like the yellow there, and not all of the squares lay flat after the machine quilting."
I enjoyed the process of making the quilt more than the outcome, and I learned what I'd do next time to improve. I think that's what creating is all about for me. I love the process of making the quilt and while in the process I'm feeling like 'this is the prettiest one yet". Then on to the next one and that becomes the fairest one of all.

After completing this quilt I realized in order to have the top layer lay flat I would need to machine quilt the pieces together first and then bind the edges. This was something I had been avoiding because of needing to cut edge strips on the bias and miter the corners. It's the traditional way to finish a quilt but I balked at it. I found a solution to this online which I will apply to my next quilt.

Moon & Stars Bear Quilt

As I move through the process of making these small simple quilts I learn something with each one. What a surprise, isn't that how all learning processes work? I learn what works and what doesn't. With each quilt I see what I would do differently next time and therefore my motivation to dash over to Joann's Fabrics to begin again.

While I'm working on whatever the current one is, I think "wow, this is the best one yet," until I work on the next one and look back at the previous quilt photo and then think, "oh, that is just okay." This is a good thing because then I can see progress. If I'm not progressing in some small way then I know I will get bored and search for something else to learn from.

Rose Garden Baby Quilt

I can't believe my last post was in May! I guess I'm not a very dedicated blogger. In any event I did finish the Baby Rose Garden Baby Quilt I was starting back then. I've been sewing additional quilts in between all our summer excursions. I've been enjoying creating these small projects.

I finally got around to taking photos of them so that I could post here.

Beginnings of a new baby quilt-Rose Garden

I'm getting adventuresome, starting to design my first quilt. I got the idea for this new quilt from the cover of Joann's Fabric weekly flyer. This will be for Baby Quilt #5. I've chosen 5 fabrics to be sewn into 25 squares with 3 fabrics per square. My plan is that the finished quilt will measure close to 36" x 36". Here are the first two of the 25 squares.