wonky stars quilt for a baby girl

Remember the king size granny squares quilt I made for some friends back in '12? Well, those friends are having a baby girl next month, and this is the story of that quilt. It started with this fabric, which I purchased at the Fabric Studio here in Nashville (with the intention of it being a quilt back). It's a super adorable, kinda flannel-y Japanese Kokka fabric with sheep on it - how can anyone resist sheep?! I certainly cannot. 

 I picked several gold/yellow and green fabrics from my stash to match this print and cut away...

...and made (9) 14" wonky star blocks. I was able to make the whole top in one evening - it came together quite quickly. 

I used the sheep for the center star and planned on using it for the back, but changed my mind at the last minute. It's 85% cotton, 15% linen, and it's really soft...but I just thought it was a bit heavy to be the sole fabric for the backing. Plus, I didn't know how it would hold up to repeated washings.

Instead, I used this Lizzy House print from the Cat Nap collection. 

I wanted a break from the sewing machine, so: adventures in hand binding, part 3 (in which I watch the movie Carrie while binding).

Here's me with the mama-to-be at the baby shower (+ an adorable little boy). 

I am so very excited for these guys & can't wait to meet their little lady (she'll be here around Christmas). 

floral geese baby quilt for an outdoor modern quilt show

'scuse all the wrinkles...hard to smooth it with such dense quilting lines! 

A local fabric shop (the fabric studio, 221 Chestnut St., Nashville) called for submissions for an modern quilt show to be held in conjunction with the neighborhood's monthly art crawl, so I jumped at the chance to contribute something. With no specific baby in mind, I set about to create this quilt.

I had a vision in my head - lots of empty space, triangles - and planned the quilt around all my leftover kona stone fabric. In retrospect, this wouldn't have been my #1 fabric choice, but I went with it, all in the name of thriftiness. The floral print is an older Japanese Lecein print, and the weight is slightly lighter/more sheer than regular quilting cotton. 

It's been so long that I can't even remember what size I cut the blocks (to be used for half-square triangles). I played around with several layouts: 

...but none of them really fit what I had in my head. I cut the HST units smaller, and came up with this:

From there, it was time to quilt it. Again - I had a vision: very dense straight lines. It took awhile, and midway I began to feel as if i was making a glorified UHaul packing blanket. (A google image search led to this - look at this rad packing blanket!)

Anyway, back to this quilt. Since I was entering this in a show, I hand binded (hand bound?) it and promptly dropped it off to Nancy at the Fabric Studio. 

I had to go and check out all the other quilts, and I was so proud to see my lil quilt up there with all of the beautiful quilts (seriously - look at the one to the left of mine with the purple & pink half moons, made by Linday Sews - GORGEOUS!) 

Here's me with my quilt: 

ta-da!

Nancy wrote a fantastic wrap up of the event here, with tons of pictures of the other quilts. And if you happen to live in the Nashville area - most definitely check out her shop. She carries a perfectly curated selection of modern fabrics and I am happy she set up shop here. 

This quilt is back home with me, and I don't know what to do with it. Since I posted pictures of it on social media, I'd feel funny gifting it to a baby someone, as I really do carefully think about the recipients each and every quilt I make (I wouldn't want it to seem like an afterthought). I still do have plans of one day having an etsy shop or selling at a craft fair, so perhaps I just need to squirrel it away. But until then...it's all washed and folded atop my shelf waiting for a home. 

leah duncan rectangle queen size wedding quilt

It's not every day that your baby sister gets married. And this not-every-day occasion certainly deserves a quilt. I made Courtney a quilt way back in 2011, where it quietly lived a too-small-to-fit-on-the-queen-size-bed life for the past several years. So it was perfect: I'd make the newlyweds-to-be a queen size quilt!

Courtney and Brian's bedroom is blue, and I covertly snapped a picture of the wall color as my frame of reference. 

This wonderful triangle print designed by Leah Duncan became my basis for fabric selection.

Typically, I like to mix and match prints from different designers and lines, but I used only prints from Duncan's Tule collection. I also picked a few Kona solids to break up all the prints. I went with a very simple offset rectangles pattern, cutting the blocks 10x5, and it came together relatively quickly (considering the size). I didn't photograph the back - I used the Carolyn Friedlander Architextures Crosshatch in White (108" wide - first time not piecing a large back!) 

laying out rows on my bed

first little section sewn together

I contacted my local long arm quilting gal about quilting this one for me (too big a job for me to tackle...) and she came up with a neat meandering triangle design to compliment the triangle print. It turned out great. I was SO ANXIOUS to give it to Courtney and Brian once it was back in my hands, but I waited a few days and gave it to them at their wedding shower. They had no idea I was doing this for them so I was happy to surprise them with it. 

the quilt - new home on their bed! 

All the hubbub of the wedding and reception is now over, and I am so thrilled to have a new brother-in-law. Brian just fit right into the family dynamic. I couldn't be happier that my sister found the right guy to complete her life. Congratulations, Courtney and Brian! May your lifetime together be filled with adventure, laughter, communication, patience and love.