Quilt for nephew #1

When designing the quilts for my nieces I had no problems picking fabrics and designing them. My aim was for something feminine but not childish so they might use them for years to come (I envisage them taking their quilts to uni with them but I think I am ahead of myself as they are only 2). Picking fabric with the same thoughts in mind for little boys is so much harder.

I purchased a fat quarter bundle of blue checked and stripped material about a year ago ready for Elliot’s quilt. Then I put it aside and did nothing with it for 9 months. I knew somewhere inside that the fabric wasn’t right but I was stuck with what to do. His 2nd birthday came and went in August with no present from his Auntie.

I finally decided that I needed to get different fabric and after a lot of blog research realised that it would probably work best if I stopped worrying about it being childish, what is the likelihood of it surviving 16 years in the hands of a little boy?

So I purchased a Moda layer cake ‘Mixed Bag’ in brushed cotton. I played around with the design for the top, cutting up the layer cake until I settled on a design. After sewing the top together I backed it in plain white as the front is so colourful, and found some lovely yellow fabric in a charity shop which I used to bind it.

The quilt was finally delivered six months late but he didn’t seem to care! Best get cracking on the next one for nephew #2 as his birthday is in June and I will need to ship it abroad to them in time.

   

   

Grandparent Christmas quilts

I am very lucky to have three of my grandparents still with us. They are currently 92, 87 and 85. I always struggle with what to buy them for Christmas so this year I decided to make them a lap quilt each for them to put over them each day whilst having an afternoon nap.

I decided to buy a Moda layer cake to make each of them and to have the design the same on both sides. Rather than binding them I used the bagging method again and did simple straight line quilting. To finish them I freehand embroidered a label for each of them.

I know one is used on a daily basis and that makes me very happy. I think for her birthday I will make a light weight one with no wadding for the summer months.

Christmas sacks

My next project was to make a Christmas sack each for myself and my husband. So far all my creations have been presents for other people and I have not kept any. I decided to design and make a quilted Christmas sack for each of us. I only have photos of mine below, but my husband’s is similar.

I used another Moda charm pack, this one was Joy by Kate Spain. For the back of mine I found some spotty material in John Lewis, and for the inside I used red gingham in mine and green gingham in my husbands. When they are not being used on Christmas Eve they are stuffed with packaging material and they sit either side of the fireplace.

Quilts for niece #1 and #2

I have two nieces that were both born in 2010, Isla and Elena. I decided for their 2nd birthdays I would like to try and make them a present that was unique and would last longer than the latest book/toy/game usually does. After a lot of research on different websites I settled on making them a quilt each. At this point the majority of the sewing I had done was in home economics in school when I was 13/14 years old, and I can’t remember anything of use that I made in that class!

I had a look on a number of craft websites and blogs for ideas on how to make a patchwork quilt. The best guide I came across was from the Missouri Star Quilt Company, who have a step by step guide on YouTube.

Next came the fun bit, picking and ordering the fabrics. I have now spent quite a lot of time and money on eBay, finding that the Moda Charm Packs met my brief fully and allowed me to pick some lovely fabrics for the girls quilts.

For Isla I chose ‘Strawberry Fields’:

For Elena I chose ‘Ruby’:

For both the girls I chose matching fabrics for the edging and backing.

The quilts took about 20 hours each to make with the help of both my mother and mother-in-laws sewing machines.

Here are some final pictures of Isla’s quit (I forgot to take any of Elena’s before I shipped it off to Germany with her Dad).