Mother's Day Baby Quilt

Here's the result of sacrificing a few lunch naps last week - a finished baby quilt for my pregnant colleague. I love how it turned out and that I made the Mother's Day deadline. She had a baby brunch on Sunday - how apt!

As usual I revelled in the binding process. So relaxing and quick on a small-sized quilt. The quilting was fun, too.

To round off the gift I added one of the dresses I made for my girl. We never got around to dressing her in it (never fear, we did dress her up in the second one for adorable pictures) and it would be a shame to just have it sit in the closet. Bonus point, the fabrics are in the quilt.

I got quite the boost making this quilt and have employed it well to troop on with this old project of mine. More on that some other day.

I may be quiet but I'm still making things whenever baby and my rationed energy let me. Our daughter is amazing. Happy, agile, exploring everything. Time flies. It's hard to imagine she was just a little cluster of cells a year ago, she's so big now. Our sunshine. Everyday. Yep, still drunk on the new parent hormones as we bloody well should be.

Happy sewing!

Things I'm Working On

Yes, I might not be blogging or commenting on your posts a lot but I'm actually working on several sewing projects and somehow manage to fit a little bit of sewing or sewing prep into most days. These projects are new and there's still a few old ones to tackle but I'm following these creative outbursts as they come and know all will be wrapped up at some point.

This baby quilt top for my colleague (very excited for her!) is the latest project that I added to the list.

It started out with some fun layouting on the floor. My first equilateral triangles. Funny how it can still amaze me how much seams shrink a project.

And then there's these dotty hexagons and triangles. I splurged on the Hex N More ruler as well as the Super Sidekick as I want to work more with geometrical forms than previously and try out new blocks. Working out so far!

Last but not least, another quilt for the tiny one (totally the most gorgeous baby ever, yes, we're completely enthralled new parents). Her baby quilt is much too special to be used for outings in the park - though the handquilting possibly won't be done until her first birthday - which is why I'm working on a fun zig zag quilt. I'm using triangle paper to save time and it's a great project as it's easy to break up into increments. Rather than sewing all the HSTs, ironing them all open, sewing them up, etc., I'm working the processes in small parallel steps. Gives me the pleasure of "finishes" whenever I'm working on it. I even picked a more girly palette!

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #12 - Binding

Thank you for all the input on my last Winter Baby Girl Quilt post. I followed my guts and your assurances and bound the quilt on Saturday, applied it to the front after lunch (see above) and sewed it down by hand all evening. That was a looong session of approximately 4.5-5 hours but worth it and very calming.

I feel much better now that I can just fill in my hand quilting whenever I've got time and still have the quilt appear finished before little one's arrival - more pictures will follow sometime. It's also freed time for other things I need to finish before Christmas, like some knitting.

Little one, however, appears to want to stay put where she is for as long as possible. Neither doctor nor midwife expect her delivery before Christmas and wouldn't be surprised if it took longer. Can't say I'm thrilled but of course we'll take it as it comes.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #11 - Hand Quilting

This is going to take forever - even hand quilting is tiresome at this stage, 38 nearly 39 weeks - but I do love how it's turning out. I'm actually considering to bind this baby now and continue just add in my quilting. Good idea? Bad idea? I just don't know right now. However, ready at little one's arrival? I sincerely doubt it now, not that it matters that much.

Either way, working with the silk thread is a blast. I love how it highlights the piecing of the top and looks somewhat like children's drawings on the backing. Obviously this is due to my not quite accurate stitching but the effect is wonderful and I'm embracing it rather than stressing myself.

My first action was to quilt the outline of my stars with a grey thread as to give the quilt some stability. This way I can drag it around now and it won't fall apart as soon as a line of hand quilting gives up (if that should be the case sometime, hopefully not before 20 years hence...)

The plan is not to highlight all stars as intricately as the big one but we'll see where inspiration takes me. I'm done predicting too much with this quilt and just taking things as they come - but there will be snowflakes! Stay tuned.

I'm also currently binding my nephew's whaley Christmas present. I'd called it a quick fix, right? Haha, well, the top was. Then it took 3.5 weeks to touch it again and put in a power session taking care of the backing, quilting and binding. In love with it, though. Can't wait to show you.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #10 - Basted!

December? Really? Wow. Well, good on me that I spent November being all serious about my Winter Baby Girl Quilt because I'm certainly quilting on borrowed time. Only 3.5 weeks until the due date and babies do tend to show up earlier in our family...

I finally finished assembling the top and backing and have basted my quilt today. Quite a feat. Let me assure you that cutting and pinning curtains on the floor at 28 weeks is definitely-entirely-utterly different from basting a quilt on the same floor at 37 weeks. Huffpuff, I had to go much much slower with some serious breaks and boy am I glad to be done with it. No more of this until after the baby.

Since the front is a rather busy nightsky of stars and snowflakes I kept the backing simple. It should make a nice canvas for the quilting and hand quilting I'm planning. The simplicity does appeal to me and I think a quilt with just one big, intricate star on a darker background with tons of handquilted tiny stars and snowflakes above the trees would also look absolutely stunning.

Never fear, though, those aren't second thoughts. I'm still chuffed with how this quilt is turning out. Seeing it basted - quilts immediately look so much more substantial once the sandwich is done, don't you think? - has given me another huge boost and I can imagine it finished in time. But not tonight. I think I'll cut into some fabrics for cushions for a change and will keep the quilting for tomorrow.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #9 - Assembling the Top

So I did it, I made a new snowflake using Shape Moth's beautiful paper pieced "Snow Cristal". This time around I avoided the mistake of cutting away my seam allowance and I made the block so much prettier, too, by using different fabrics for the different tiers. I still like the idea of a white snowflake against a dark background but it simply wasn't working for this particular quilt.

Just look at the difference a proper seam allowance makes! The new block is lying all flat and wrinkle-free.

This block has given me a huge boost and I've finally decided on my layout. Not only that, I've even started assembling the top as evidenced by our bed.

Time for a break now because the bump is getting in the way and demands a period of rest but I'm sure to sew up at least another column today. Whoop whoop.

Evening update:

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #8 - Layout

And the journey continues.

It's not that easy to put all my blocks together in a well-balanced way that pleases me. It took me probably an hour to come up with these variations. The first one isn't so good because there are two irregular stars next to each other.

In the second one the faulty snowflake (still to be re-done) is too dominant and the snowflakes are too close too each other.

I think I like this third layout best but the big snowflake is still too prominent. Maybe I should rather make a third one from parallelograms if my scraps allow for it, maybe I should consider re-doing the big snowflake with some of the beige fabric and not just my teal remnants. I'll give it a pondering. What's your take? Excess blocks aren't problematic. They'll be relegated to spicing up the backing.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #7 - HST Star Blocks

Argh, I've run out of white white fabric so can't re-do my faulty snowflake today. Yes, I will re-do it. It just doesn't live up to the standards for this quilt. It might do just fine in another project but not this precious baby quilt. Nope.

Well, this little stumbling block hasn't stopped me from getting a bit more work done before visiting my parents with both my sister and nephew for the weekend. Actually, it freed up time to finally get around sewing my HSTs together.

And these blocks definitely meet my criteria for the quilt. The first one will be embroidered with little one's initial - once daddy and I finally make up our mind/finish our discussions. Hehe.

When I'm back from my mini-holiday it's time to set my mind on layouting the quilt. Hopefully it'll all come together!

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #6 - More Snowflakes

I should have cut the triangles with a proper seam allowance as Joanna clearly writes in her tutorial - silly me for not reading it and simply plunging in. Though I'll certainly not repeat that mistake! Piecing the halves together was hell and it's a tiny bit puckery now when it was all so accurate due to actually paper piecing the block - and I'm a bit scared whether it'll hold up with such a small allowance - 3 mm?

In the quilt or out of the quilt? We'll see. I'm piecing two more star blocks and then I should be done and able to piece my top and back. Maybe I'll just make a new big snowflake and keep this one as a reminder to work slowly now and then.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #5

I made this yesterday and am unsure whether I like it enough to go in the quilt or not. For one, I made a construction mistake - the white was meant to go to the edges and the teal in the middle. I didn't realise my misstep until I'd attached and cut to measure the background fabric on half the pieces. Given that I'm running low on this fabric and am still planning further blocks I didn't want to disassemble and cut more.

So the star doesn't look as planned. It's also not as perfectly matched in the middle as all those seams have made it rather bulky. But it was a ton of work!

All in all I like it better after a night's sleep but I'm still on the fence. Guess it's best to just continue with my blocks and see how they fall into place in the end. If I don't use this one it'll still be good for a cushion or some other trinket.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #4 - Snowflakes

More block additions to the Winter Baby Girl Quilt and yes, I did go with the snowflakes! It might have been a bit mad not to paper piece these but I managed and am deeply satisfied with the results. Can I just say how great I feel about this quilt already?

These will likely get frames in the evening, for now I'm off to visit my colleagues with cake and a gazillion sweets. Soul food to make up for my absence.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #3 - Seeing Stars

The joys of pre-baby maternity leave - I've got lots of time to sew and you get tons of eye candy and regular blog posts - enjoy it while it lasts *wink*.

Here are two stars with a stained glass window effect that I started yesterday and finished today. Gee, I love love love them. And to think that it always starts with tiny strips of fabric nowhere close in effect.

The big one isn't one hundred per cent perfect and it's entirely my fault for hypercorrecting with the roll cutter during the sewing process. (Btw, I got a new blade in the mail today - it's always such a dream to cut with a new blade, isn't it?) I was more relaxed when assembling the smaller star and wouldn't you believe that it's ever so neat! This makes me especially proud as I didn't paper piece them.

I'm collecting quite the wonderful selection of stars here and am terribly fond of them. But, methinks, I might throw in something else. What do you reckon, wouldn't one or two snowflakes go perfectly with them? Either blocks or quilted, or both? I'm off to have a look for patterns to see whether I'll go for it.

Happy sewing and have a great week!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #2 - Saturday Stitching

I simply must share a few quick pics documenting my laborious but glorious afternoon.

Sticking with the star theme and still making it up as I go. Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Happy sewing!

Winter Baby Girl Quilt #1

I did it. I cut into these very special fabrics.

I'd been huffing and puffing about what to do, itching and aching to make a decision, very unsure and insecure - so I did something. Something most often beats nothing. Something to see how the fabrics look sewn together, something fun and quick, something not necessarily becoming part of the baby quilt. In short: something to free my mind. Say hello to irregular stars!

At the same time I made a bunch of tiny HSTs using the handy paper I won ages back and which I used to make the nephew's Fish & HSTs quilt. I'm not yet sure where exactly this is going but I'm happy to take this less planned journey. I've got a feeling this is going to be good.

Happy sewing!

Maritime Baby Girl Quilt #2

Last weekend I made some progress on the baby girl quilt front. Not only did I wash the fabrics for our little one but I also spent time with the mermaids of the Maritime Baby Girl Quilt for B's little sister.

Not much, granted, but enough to keep me satisfied. I'm sure I would be quicker with a proper block and layout but I don't mind. It's interesting to work with less of a plan and see the quilt grow nonetheless.

Most of all I'm just glad to be creative again and I adore these teeny mermaids.

This weekend, alas, had to be spent in bed due to a nasty cold but it hasn't kept me from being creative. I've taken up my sister's scarf again. Yes, the one with the November 2013 deadline - I'm determined to make the November 2014 one! This is an old picture - it's actually only a few repeats away from being giftable.

Further, I spent considerable time on ravelry and have tracked down two cowl patterns as well as a hat pattern that I'm dying to try out for quick but pretty knits. After finishing my sister's zig zag, of course. But I simply had to ponder and order yarn already. Best to be prepared, right? Most importantly, it's all DK/8-ply Worsted/10-ply yarn. No more sock yarn for me - I've grown to despise the stuff.

On top of that I've also ordered backing fabric for little one's curtains - Kona Regatta will go with this beauty.

To speed up the delivery I've ordered it from a German store this time. As I'm slowly starting to notice the pregnancy more, I'm 25 weeks along after all, it's probably best to get the curtain sewing out of the way as quickly as possible. Crawling on the floor pinning fabric panels of nearly two metres length (and that twice!) won't be the most fun thing to do but I do want these badly and at least I don't have to make sure that the stripes are perfectly vertical this time around.

Happy sewing!