Loopy Squares

I finally made a quilt for my parents. Long overdue. All the fabric was from the same line, so I thought squares would be fun. A few cutting errors later, squares became rectangles. Happy accident I suppose.

Rob says the strip down the back is my "signature." In reality I'm usually scrimping on fabric so I have to add a strip somewhere :)

This was my first go at loopy quilting like this. I originally saw the idea here. It was so fun. I used the seams on the front as my guide. If you're not super confident with stippling yet, I thought these loops would be a great way to ease into free-motion.

Striped binding, of course. I love this Dick and Jane fabric too. I've been holding on to it for years. My mom said it was fun because that what they grew up with. 

 Off to a good home.

Heritage Quilt

This quilt came to me in a very round-about way. Long story short, someone found out I quilted, so I after a first unsuccessful attempt, they asked me to make this "heritage" quilt. It is for a little girl and all the squares are from clothing items of family members. When they asked me to do it, I immediately thought of this pattern I had in an old book. It's called an Autograph Quilt, and I ran with the idea.

 So after interfacing every single block, I came up with this. Her name is on the middle on the bottom row. Her parents are on each side, and it graduates all the way up to her great grandparents on the top row. 

They were originally going to write the names on with fabric marker, but I wanted to sew them in. (Read: add tons of extra work) It ended up being a lot of fun though. I used a dissappearing ink pen to write it in rough, then I sewed over it with my free motion foot. Thank you fourth grade cursive...

Green on the back.

 Stippled around the names. 

Stars on the border.

And a little helper through it all.

So glad to have this baby done for Christmas. It was a job.

You Can Make This Quilt

Another quilt post. Sorry. I'm kind of on a roll here.

This one was for Adam and Kari's baby boy, due in November. Have I mentioned how fun baby quilts are? They're so fast. No pieced back. No pieced batting. It's lovely. I whipped this one out in two or three days I think.

I found the idea for this one on a favorite blog I follow. It's called a "Strip and Flip" quilt because as you can see, you just piece the strips together and when you are done, you cut out that middle section and flip it. That's it. The best part is that you only need tiny little strips of your 44" wide fabric to make it work. If you're a beginner quilter, this would be a great project for you.

 New wavy line quilting method. You can do this with your normal foot. No need for any fancy quilting stuff. And almost all the fabric is from Walmart (shhh....don't tell).

 Striped binding. Again, I'm addicted.

 Rob says the back is borderline girly. I think it's so manly and cool.

Likey.

Kaleidoscope Baby

Another quilt done. I made this for John and Christine's baby that will be here in November. I seriously loved making this one. It was something different. I found the pattern here. She originally put circles on hers, but I decided I didn't like that look as much. Plus, I didn't want to cover up my points! They looked too good :)

You use paper templates to cut out the star shapes, then you piece half the square together on a diagonal. Sounds complicated, but it was actually really simple. I think if I were to do it again, I wouldn't do the greens so scrappy. I think it looks better uniform in a solid color. 

The quilting is my favorite part. I tried out this Dogwood quilting pattern, and it ended up being a ton of fun. 

Rounded corners and a pieced back. 

Again.

Candy Jar Baby Quilt

I've been eyeing this pattern for a while now. I just found an opportunity to make it happen. This Eleanor Burns quilting book is a little older, but I thought I could make a really cute baby quilt if I updated the fabric. I love how it turned out.

 I didn't buy any fabric. This is all stuff I had in my stash. 

Kind of dying over this backing. The ultimate girly fabric. I splurged and paid a little more for it, but I think it was worth it. 

I'm becoming obsessed with rounded corners. It's so much prettier than my mitered ones. I think it looks a little more feminine too. I actually have begun cheating and machine sewing my binding lately. With my new walking foot, I think it looks great. And it's so much faster!

 Back to the stippling quilting. An old favorite. 

All ready for its new home. My friend paid me to make this for a new grandbaby. I think they'll love it. I do.

Twinner Quilts

These babies have been in the line up for a while now. A friend of mine paid me to make her twin  12 year old granddaughters quilts. The girls picked the color scheme, but I did everything else. I thought it would be fun to use the same color scheme and squares, but two do different patterns. I think they turned out super cute. They are lap size. About 48x58".

 Inspiration from my sister in law, here.

I could have quilted them tighter, but they stay softer this way. The squares were 4" finished, I think. That's a lot of triangles--572 to be exact. 

I found an amazing tutorial online of how to make these Half Square Triangles. Usually people cut out one square, and draw a line diagonally from corner to corner, then sew on either side of the line. This method is different, and much faster. Check out the video here, it's worth your time.

I'm not a huge purple fan, as in there isn't one speck in my stash, so this color scheme was outside my comfort zone. The backing is the same on both. Some people don't like the scrappy strip, but I do.

I entered this one into the county fair (the other one wasn't quite done yet). It's always fun to have your work judged. The best part is when you drop it off and the older ladies squeal in delight because they're so tickled to see a young girl like me quilting.

My score sheets were all over the place, from a 65 to an 85. They said my corners didn't come to 90 degrees and that my binding was "too full". I never knew that was an issue. Good to learn for next time, even if I was 3 points off of a blue ribbon :) Even if it was a red ribbon, I'm adding it to last year's. 

Now, on to start another quilt!

Lattice Safari Quilt

This quilt is for my Carrie. She's having her first baby girl this spring, so I wanted to do something special for her. I really really love how it turned out. Seriously. If this quilt wasn't for her, I would have a hard time giving it away. It's probably in my top three faves. She chose the grey/navy/yellow color scheme and I took it from there.

It was fun doing a palate so traditionally masculine, but keeping it feminine with all the floral, girly prints.

 I think the quilting really kept it simple and soft. Aren't these prints so fun? There's a bit of a safari theme going on, not on purpose though.  Tip: I always like to wash my quilts before I send them off because it really changes the look of them. I like the rumpled, worn look. 

 First attempt at bias binding and rounded corners. Won't be the last. I loved not turning corners.

Off to your new home in Montana!

Wrapped in Love

By Kathryn


I have been thinking about Grandma's birthday since last week, so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We love living so close that we are able to visit often. It is always a treat to be down on Sunday nights to enjoy tradition with everyone. 


For your birthday Grandma, I wanted to share with you the quilts we love at our house. When I tuck the kids in bed, I like them wrapped in love. 

There are four squares near the middle that have kittens on them. 

She loves this kitty right now, so a kitten blanket is just perfect!

Four puffed-up hearts are in the center of this one. 

I love that they poke out, up above the rest of the blanket. 

I love the soft flannel on this nine-patch. 

The quilt in the back in mine from high school graduation. 

The polyester front and flannel back make it just perfect. 

It still looks like new- even after ten years of use!

We're sleeping in our lovely blankets,

Well, mostly. :)

A warm greeting from the kids. Listen to little L near the end...

And a final song for such a wonderful person on this special day. 

With Lots of Love, 

Katie

Fabric Stash Heaven

One of my most favorite memories with Grandma was when I just started getting into quilting. I told her about it and she was so tickled. Then, she took me to her sewing room and opened up her fabric cabinets to me. She let me pick whatever I wanted! I was in heaven to say the least. 

These are some of the prints she let me have. (I've been hoarding them for years, waiting for just the right project) I think she said she made Betty a blouse out of that apple fabric. I love it!

 

 She also gave me some quilting books. 

 I love the vintage feel of the patterns. I've got my eye on this one next.

 I made her a quilt this summer. I can't believe I hadn't done it sooner! It was probably my favorite quilt to give away. I think she knew first hand how much work went into it, so she was happy!

My love of quilting definitely comes from you, grandma. I cherish that I'm named after such a wonderful mother and grandmother (and quilter) like you. Happy birthday!

Love you,

Mary