Little Bear Quilt - Finish for OMG February and Q#1 Finish-Along

My February OMG goals were to finish the Eternally Yours pattern test for Julie at Running Stitch Quilts and the baby quilt for our future grandson. The pattern test quilt is sandwiched and ready to quilt and will be detailed in a later post. I did finish the baby quilt, which was not only a February OMG goal as well as a first quarter Finish-Along goal. Our daughter, who is expecting our second grandson in May.

This baby quilt is done in the colors my daughter requested, navy, gray, mint green, dark kelly green, mustard, and burgundy, and in the same simple style as for our granddaughter's quilt.

I found a fabric called "Sleepyheads in Blue", which featured a cute little bear.

The back is a pieced combination of flannel and cotton.

My daughter has nicknamed the baby "Little Bear".

I free motion quilted this quilt, using my "new" (used) Janome Horizon Memory Craft 7700QCP, which I purchased last year. This was my first time trying FMQ on this machine. It was so much easier than previous FMQ attempts with my old Janome, and I was happily surprised to find there was no "eyelashing" on the back of the quilt. I used a Supreme Slider beneath the quilt, which helped move the quilt around. I watched a Leah Day video on stippling several times and practiced before I worked up the courage! I have a lot of practicing to do before I feel truly confident. There are really tight stitches and really big stitches, but overall I am feeling much better about free motion quilting!

Jack has given his stamp of approval.

LITTLE BEAR QUILT DETAILS:
Size: 36" x 45"
No pattern, simple patchwork

Front fabrics:
Triangle Tokens Metallic from AGF
Enchanted Pond from Moda
Panache Profundo from AGF
Black Forest Hunter from Cotton + Steel
Elk Family in Sun from Birch Fabrics
North Pole Forest from Dear Stella
Sleepyheads in Blue from Blend Fabrics
Pandalicious from AGF

Backing:
Sleepyheads in Blue from Blend Fabrics
Flannel from Hobby Lobby
Gray solid from my stash

Binding:
Reminisce Meadow Gold by Bonnie Christine for AGF

Thread:
So Fine Genoa Gray and Pearl by Superior Threads

I am linking to Patty's OMG Finish for February link-up. Click to see other quilters' amazing finishes!

OMG for October - Herringbone Baby Quilt Repeat

This month I'm working on a "repeat" quilt. This quilt was first made in May 2017, when my great niece asked me to make a baby quilt to gift to a friend. However, her friend recently lost the quilt while she was visiting a zoo! My great niece said her friend was heartbroken and asked if I could attempt to recreate it. Fortunately I still had some of the original fabrics, so away I went!

As I described in this post, I used the tutorial by Jenny of Missouri Star Quilt Company and made HSTs galore. I had to change a few fabrics, but overall the colors and placement will be as true to the original as I can get.

Here is the original quilt. Now that I've sewn the HSTs together in strips, I am ready to sew the strips together. I keep getting interrupted by life! But I intend to finish this quilt in the next 10 days (fingers crossed), so I can move on to Christmas sewing!

To challenge myself, I am linking to Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal.

Herringbone Baby Quilt

After my great-niece received the quilt for my great-great nephew River, she asked if I would make a quilt for her to give to a friend that was having a baby girl this month. Of course I would! After a few back and forth emails about patterns, she chose the herringbone pattern. Her friend's nursery decor is blush, cream, aqua, grey, and touches of gold with flamingos, pineapples, giraffes, and other animals, but I found it difficult to find coordinating fabrics and colors with those elements, so I decided to just stick with the colors she wanted.

I looked at several patterns for herringbone quilts and finally decided to use a
YouTube video tutorial by Jenny of Missouri Star Quilt Company to make HSTs (half square triangles) that are sewn together for the "chevron" shapes. Her method is to place two squares wrong sides together and sew a 1/4-inch seam completely around them, then cut them into quarters. This is the simplest and fastest method I've used, and I really enjoyed it! I included a few of my photos below. Click on the photos for larger detail.

Take two squares fabric, place right sides together (mine were 5-inch squares)

Sew 1/4 inch seam all the way around. Jenny sews "right off the edge"
instead of pivoting, so I did that also.

Take the sewn squares, place ruler on diagonal, and cut. Without shifting,
turn squares and cut on diagonal again. (A rotating cutting mat helps!)

The yield is four HSTs. Press seams toward darker fabric;
cut off "tips" (mine are still in place in the photo!)

Rotate HSTs to form herringbone pattern.

I made about 24 each of six different prints and one solid for the HSTs (I had several leftovers). I arranged them all on my design board so that one vertical row was "up" and the other vertical row was "down". Then I numbered each row and sewed them by horizontal row. Jenny sewed hers by vertical row, so the choice is whatever makes the most sense to you!

I tried shopping online for the combination of colors but finally ended up at my LQS to ask for help. I was directed to the Serenity fabric line by Amy Ellis for Moda and ended up buying yardage as well as the layer cake (which was 50% off!) I had not seen this line before, and I really love it.

Backing - Desert Bloom - Mesa Ivory by Sherri McConnell

Diagonal quilting to showcase the fabric and herringbone pattern

Quilt size: 39w X 43h
Fabrics: Serenity, Marbles Mist, Meow or Never, Bella Ivory - all by Moda
Backing: Desert Bloom Mesa by Moda
Binding: Aqua with white polka dots by Hobby Lobby
Thread: Superior So Fine #50 Genoa Gray

TUTORIAL OUTTAKES - Kitty helper Rosie stealing an HST

First Finish of 2017 - A Baby Quilt

I made this for a friend's baby, who was born on December 27. I finished it last night, so I'm only a little bit late!

I only had this photo of their nursery to go by, so I pulled prints and auditioned them on my design board with my iPhone held next to them. I was able to find everything I needed in my stash.

I decided I wanted a truly improvisational quilt, so I simply started cutting blocks and fitting them together like a puzzle. It was not as easy as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed the process. To give it a little bit of uniformity I added a row of blocks in the middle.

I utilized some fabrics I've hoarded for ages - Patio Lights from Flight Patterns Collection by Tamara Kate for Michael Miller and part of a panel of I Heart You by Moon Cookie Gallery for In The Beginning

I had enough of Patio Lights for the backing.

Last night I added a low-volume border of black dots on white, an aqua binding, and a label.

I'm very happy that I now have a fence and pretty scenery for photos!

QUILT STATS:
Size:
42 x 32

Fabrics used:
Patio Lights from Flight Patterns Collection by Tamara Kate for Michael Miller
I Heart You by Moon Cookie Gallery for In The Beginning
Kona Solids
Gooseberry by Lella Boutique for Moda
Downton Abbey Lady Rose Collection for Andover
Ebony Pinhead by Michael Miller

Thread:
So Fine by Superior Threads #50 Genoa Gray
Purple embroidery thread

Things I Learned:
Improvisational piecing

Baby Girl Quilt

A few weeks ago my daughter and son-in-law drove from the Dallas area for a weekend, and presented my husband and me with a gift bag containing this little item. After about five seconds of "oh that's cute" then "wait, does this mean...?", we both started crying tears of joy! It was totally unexpected and very welcome news. "Baby Divided" on the onesie represents their universities - University of Oklahoma (hers) and Texas Tech (his). As of today she is 21 weeks pregnant and due in April, and they recently shared the news that it is a baby girl!

Our daughter and son-in-law with T-shirts that tell the story.

I had dreamed about what kind of quilt she would like and was prepared to show her many ideas, but she chose simple blocks with fabrics she loved. Most of the fabrics are organic, and all of them are gorgeous.

I am in love with the backing she chose - Pat Bravo's Ditsy Radiance from the Nouvelle collection. I included a few blocks of it on the front of the quilt to add much-needed low volume.

She loves birdies and was delighted to see them on these Birch organics.

The squares are 4-1/2 inches, and the finished size is 36 x 45.

She wanted a quilt like one she found and loved on Etsy, so I researched the fabrics and identified all of them. Only one was discontinued, and I couldn't find it anywhere. She chose Art Gallery's Bunny Binkies Funk Metallic as a substitute, and she loves the bunnies.

I marked the center of each block, made a little "orange peel" template, and painstakingly quilted orange peels with my walking foot. I love how they look on the back. The binding is Pat Bravo's Hypnotic Paramour in Rose.


They were here again the day after Thanksgiving and I finished the quilt the day before they arrived. She left it with me because she wants my label on it. I will update with a picture of her with her quilt when she returns at Christmas.

Gray Square Scramble Baby Quilt

My daughter co-hosted a baby shower over the weekend for her best friend Karlie. I decided to make and send a baby quilt, so the last couple weeks I spent planning and sewing. Karlie's colors are rainbow, and she prefers simple to fussy; I found this Gray Square Scramble digital pattern by Corey Yoder that fit the bill. I scaled it down from twin size to about 48" x 54".

Here is what my daughter texted during the shower. Check out the darling cowboy hat and boots Karlie's mother crocheted! (Can you tell we both like exclamation points? )

Moda Marbles and a soft gray dot for the small squares; light gray for the large squares

Patio Lights from Flight Patterns collection by Tamara Kate, one of my favorites, edged with leftover blocks from the front

My husband chose Kona Coal for the binding, and I think he made a great choice!

Quilting was diagonal wavy lines to contrast the straight lines on the large squares

My next project is this cute pumpkin pillow from Stitched With Love in McKinney, TX. My daughter saw it on their website and fell in love with it, so I talked to the store owner and ordered it. My daughter is visiting later this week, so I hope to finish it. This will be my first time paper piecing, so wish me luck!