Pink & White Chevron Baby Quilt

My friends are reproducing like pregnancy is going out of style.  While their children are adorable, it hasn't exactly given me the yen to make one of my own.  But is has made me want to give my friends awesome baby presents.


Quilts are so functional and fun, and they'll grow with the baby - from crib, to play mat, to nap time.  They're soft and cuddly, and one of those things that you keep forever.


So here's my first offering for my Etsy shop.


My Pink and White Chevron Baby Quilt was made from bright pink and white 100% quilting cotton, with echo quilting in matching pink thread. It's super soft and very cozy. 

It measures 53 x 42 inches. It can be used as a baby blanket, as a play mat, in the crib or at nap time. Big enough to grow with your baby, and a pretty accent for toddler's first bed. Also great as a throw or lap quilt. Looks beautiful draped over a chair or foot of a bed.

Washing instructions: machine wash cold, permanent press. Tumble dry.

I'm also offering to make custom quilts!  So if you like the pattern, but not the colors, you can send me a message through my Etsy shop and request a custom quilt just for you or your baby!

Quilts in Summer

It's steamy outside.  It's been 90 degrees all week, and I've been hiding my head indoors, with the blinds shut and the air conditioning on.  My workspace is like a cool little cave.  I stepped outside just now, and it felt like condensation was building up on my skin.

I haven't noticed the outside world much this week though, because I've been too busy learning how to use my shiny new sewing machine!  I got a Janome DC 2012, and it is a marvel.  There is such a difference between this and what I was using before!  I had no idea.  But now that I've been spoiled, there's no going back for me.  I love it so, so much.

I got all this gorgeous quilting fabric on Monday from an Etsy seller, and I've been making quilts on my new Janome to get used to her.  Piecing is a good way to get a feel for how things operate.  Plus, she came with a quilting foot and a walking foot, and you know I was dying to try that out.  And I actually finished making a quilt yesterday!  I had some... issues with the bias tape, as I usually do - I hate that stuff.  I hate it sooo much - so I just rolled the edges under and sewed them up as I went.  I'm keeping this one for myself, because that was always the plan.  Look at how pretty it turned out!

I made 4x4 inch squares of Tula Pink's Prince Charming in Olive.  It looks pretty with our living room furniture.  I've been hoarding this fabric for almost a year, and it was time to do something with it.

And since that went so well, I couldn't stop there.  So I cut up some of Valori Wells Cocoon in Stone, along with half a dozen fat quarters I got from JoAnn Fabrics in matching colors, and I made up the squares for that quilt yesterday.  I think it's going to be really, really pretty.  Funky, but pretty.  I'm going to get the top done tonight, fingers crossed.

And after I'm done with that, I am going to pour myself a glass of wine, including ice cubes, because I'm classy like that, and I'm going to finish the Eloisa James romance novel I started yesterday.

Patchwork Things

Patchwork coasters, pin cushion & sewing machine mat

What I really wanted to do today was make a fantastic handbag, but my muse said, "Reply hazy, try again later."  So instead I spent several hours looking at pretty pictures on design blogs.  I saw some patchwork coasters, and thought I'd make one - which turned into three.  Which turned into making a new pincushion, and a new sewing machine mat (my old one was ugly).  I also made a little pin book for my sewing machine needles, but I used bias tape for the edges, and I still suck at that, so it's a mess and not fit for your precious eyes.  (Bias tape is my nemesis.  I have watched the tutorials, I have tried all the tricks, and every time it turns out awful.  It's why my Hullaballoo quilt is sitting around unfinished - because the next step is bias tape.  Boo.)

WIP: Houndstooth Quilt

Houndstooth Quilt squares, WIP

Meet the squares that have taken over my life.  They look so innocent, don't they?  They're just tiny diagonal blocks, but I spent seven hours today making nine of those stacks, and I'm looking at another seven hours to make the rest of the diagonal blocks I need for my quilt.  On the plus side, they are damn fine looking squares.  I'm really excited about this quilt.  It's going to be gorgeous.  I got this really nice Kona cotton in espresso and cream, and I love the houndstooth pattern.  It's too big for a bag, but it will be perfect for a quilt.  I love houndstooth.

I am going to sell this on Etsy when I'm finished.  (*I will not keep this quilt.  I will not keep this quilt.  I will not keep this quilt.*)  Right now I'm estimating that it's going to cost somewhere in the $500 dollar range.  I will keep my blog updated as to my progress.

I'd love to be able to take custom quilt orders (maybe just one or two a month).  I think the houndstooth quilt would look amazing in unexpected colors.  Like aquamarine or raspberry.  

Sewing Odyssey, Part 2

Strawberry Fields Forever Quilt, WIP

 Over the weekend I got the front part of my very first quilt put together, and today I started quilting.

It's hard.
 
I basted (when you pin your 'quilt sandwich' together with safety pins) this afternoon, and tried to decide what kind of stitching would look best with the quilt pattern and fabric.  It took me a couple tries to figure out what would look best.  I had a nice pile of ripped out thread building up, and then I settled on loops.

It's... uh, I'm not really sure how well it's going.  I have a feeling that I'll be a pro at these loop de loops by the end, and then I'll have to rip out what I've done so far, because you'll really be able to tell the difference.  Sometimes my stitches are too long and they pull funny on themselves.  Sometimes my loops overlap A LOT and it's unattractive.  And sometimes I freak out and my sewing machine wants to go one way, and my hands want to go another, and my brain thinks I should loop THIS way, and it's a horrible mess.  It's harder to tell on the front side, but on the back...  Woah.  Hot damn mess.

But whatever.  I'm learning.  (I probably shouldn't have used such pretty fabric to learn on...)

The fabric I'm using is called Hullabaloo by Urban Chicks for Moda.  I still haven't quite figured out how this fabric thing works yet, but I don't think Moda is making Hullabaloo anymore.  I think they only make so much, and then it's all gone.  I bought mine from a seller on Etsy.

("But wait!" you say, "What about that Tula Pink stuff?  What about that, Rachel?"  Well.  I still haven't found a quilt pattern that I think works with the fabric.  I really want something that showcases the designs, and I haven't found one yet.)

The pattern I used can be found here: Strawberry Fields Forever by Jera.  Jera's quilting blog also has lots of great quilting tutorials for beginners like myself.

The sewing odyssey continues...

Tula Pink's Prince Charming fabric in olive

Last year I bought a sewing machine.  It was a tiny thing, with pink knobs and probably small enough to fit into a backpack.  I made two purses on it - each hideous with messy seams and showcasing my inability to sew a straight line.  The foot pedal quit working halfway through the second bag, and I went on to attempt a third using the on/off switch.  During bag #3 I realized that my tiny, adorable, pink sewing machine wasn't going to be able to keep up with me.  I was going to have to get a better machine.  I considered giving up sewing entirely.  But in the end, after researching grown up sewing machines, I bought another.  This one is larger, has all kinds of settings, can sew through heavy fabrics, and has green knobs. 

I've made more purses on my Green Machine, and I'm getting better at sewing.  One of the purses I even liked enough to take out in public!  (Pictures and instructions to come.)  But I've decided to move on.  I like making bags, but I want to try something new.

I've decided to make a quilt.  I've attempted this once before (on the pink machine), but it was a shocking failure.  Turns out one needs more than a sewing machine and some fabric to make a quilt.  One also needs an iron, and to make precise measurements before uses scissors.  I've purchased an iron, and a rotary cutting set made especially for quilting (it was cheaper than buying it all separately), and some different presser feet for the Green Machine (I only hope they work, because the Singer website is obnoxiously vague, and needs to standardize the way they number their parts). 

Then I got to buy pretty fabric, which was an adventure.  Many of the websites that sell the pretty designer fabrics either didn't have what I was looking for, or they looked like the sites were designed in 1992, and too shady to give my credit card information to.  So I gave up on these places and went to Etsy, where I found the fabric I wanted at a price that I felt was fair.  (The customer service was great, and I got my fabric really quickly.)  Plus, I got my fabric all from the same seller as a set.  I got a half yard of each fabric in Tula Pink's Prince Charming line.  I'm so excited to make a quilt from it!  It's lovely fabric, and so much nicer than the quilting fabrics I've bought in the past.

I'm hoping that the presser feet I ordered get here quicker than the USPS website thinks they will so I can get started.  As it stands now, I may be waiting a whole week.  I will keep you all informed as to my progress.  I have a feeling there's a lot of cursing at the Green Machine in my future.