Seriously Kimberly, the holidays are over!

I know, I know, the holidays are over and I need to get back to this blogging business. It is safe to say I took a small quilting / blogging hiatus; and it felt GREAT! I completely overloaded and overwhelmed myself this holiday season! Like usual, my crafting list was far larger than necessary and completely took over every ounce of free time I had. I spent many a night up until 3:00 am just trying to finish one of the many projects occupying my work space. I finished 4 bags (like those shown below), two purses (a lot like this one), a pillow (first talked about here), 10 potholders (with this fabric), and a Puppy (quilt) for Mr. Matthew.

(Liam is getting big! The little man celebrated 6 months on December 22nd!)

I managed to get some sort of photo before everything was shipped off, but it was always rushed and the lighting wasn't the best. I will try and post about each of these projects a little over the next week or two. In addition, this lucky girl won the giveaway on Lauren's blog (mentioned here) and received a new sewing machine from Santa (aka my Dad and Stepmother). I now need to get it out of the box and make sure it actually works and wasn't damaged in shipping. Come on Kimberly, get your butt in gear.

(This is officially Liam's favorite Christmas gift from Santa, a singing rocking horse! Although his Johnny Jump Up comes in a close second!)

Speaking of butts, I'm hoping to be shrinking mine this year! ;) I know, I know, not a weight loss New Year's Resolution... I'm sorry to tell you, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. This year I feel as though I'm not completely setting myself up for failure. My mother and I are tackling it together, we're taking it day by day, and I just posted about it on my blog so there's no turning back now!!! I will keep you updated as the mood strikes.

Now back to quilting!

This first bag is one I made one of my very good friend's daughter, Leah! I made her this quilt for her Mommy's baby shower way back when before she was born and now this little darling has gone and turned ONE on us (December 8th)! I used this tutorial for the bags and it was so simple, I ended up making four of them for the Christmas season.

Here is the little Peanut... she is getting so big!!! I love you Leah!

So as noted, pretty in pink:

Isn't it just adorable? I love this honeycomb pattern!

And this next bag I made for one of my Aunt's Granddaughters for Christmas. There is nothing more fun than pink fabric!

If you're looking for a fun easy pattern that takes just minutes to make, I would highly recommend this one! The pattern is flawless and the finished product, adorable!

Thank you for visiting everyone, I hope your holidays were fabulous and fun too!

One Puppy, Two Puppies, Three Puppies, Four!

My Little Liam and his Puppy inspired by this quilt at Red Pepper Quilts! I am submitting this quilt in the Fall 2011 Bloggers Quilt Festival, check it out!

When I was a little girl my fabulous mother made me a blankie, as she did with my younger brothers William and Christopher. Since I was the first child, mine was obviously the best and most unique and intricate as compared with my brothers' later models. This is/was my Puppy!

For obvious reasons Puppy was the "pet" name (no punn intended) that I gave my childhood quilt. It is the perfect size, made of cool feeling fabric and missing a lot of the original pieces (he is well loved). I say this "is" my Puppy because he still serves a very active role in my life (i.e. I still let him keep residence in my bed)!

I attribute a lot of my personality and individuality to my Puppy. He has been there in good times and in bad, through sleepless nights and home sick days, a tissue when I cried at 4 and when I cried at 24, in every place I sleep including cars, hotels, planes and even on vacation to Mexico and Hawaii (you should see the stumped look on TSAs' faces as they notice Puppy hanging out in my carry-on luggage).

Puppy has taught me that...

Some things never change, they just get older.
Home is where the heart is.
A mother's love is unconditional.
It's ok to cry or fall apart sometimes.
Everyone has something or someone they can't live without.

I always joked (although I was quite serious) that if there was a fire; Puppy was the first thing going out that window!

Since I'm quite positive my brothers always envied my Puppy and his steadfast love, they also chose to call their blankies "Puppy" as well; despite their total lack of any dog-like qualities what-so-ever!

This is William's (it went nicely with his boy doll, Dapper Dan; he loved that doll! My mother has since tried to find one for Liam to no avail):

And this one belongs to Christopher:

Liam has been very blessed to recieve a variety of blankets from all our family and friends. This one is from Jill; the mother of one of my very close friends.

Jill is also an amazing quilter and a fabulous person to be around (Liam just loved her)!

This quilt was fabric my grandmother picked up and I chose to bind in different orange fabric, I think it is very adorable!

This afghan was made by a family friend and wonderful person, Mary.

And lastly, this afghan was made by Liam's Great Grandmother, she makes truly beautiful blankets!

Although all of these blankets are more than adorable, none of them contained those, oh so necessary "Puppy" qualities... so I set to work!

My mother enjoys pointing out that ALL of the blankies she made were completed BEFORE the child was born. Now, as I enter this exciting and beautiful chapter of my life I have decided to follow in her footsteps. (Although I will tell you that Liam's blanket was not finished before he was born. I blame it mostly on him being born four weeks early, but let's be honest; I could barely put on shoes at 7 and 8 months pregnant let alone attempt to baste a quilt!)

This is what Liam's crib looks like so I tried to make his blankie along the same theme. I love the fishies and whales, blue and green go with everything baby!

The back and center pieces of the blocks are fabric from an old Pottery Barn sheet that was given to me by Liam's Aunt Kristine.

The rest of this quilt was made using mostly scrap peices and some stash.

I love using recycled fabric and scrap pieces, it makes me feel so thrify and resourceful! I feel it also helps to tell a story and stitches meaning into the seams.

I did an overall stipple pattern on the quilt and only deviated for one brief moment in this square.

Here, I put a heart to serve as a constant reminder to both Liam and myself of my love for him. He is incredibly special to me and I hope he loves his Puppy (or Fishie?) as much as I have loved and continue to love mine! Sometimes, he and I cuddle up with Puppy and I'm reminded of just how special he is and how lucky I am to be so blessed.

Even as I write this post, a tear sneaks out the corner of my eye, not unnoticed. I have learned that despite the heartache we sometimes go through in life, the love of family and friends will always surpass any obstacle, overpower all negative thoughts, break down those confining walls, and serve as a reminder that we are never truly alone and we are always loved.

Another Baby Quilt

Last weekend I did a lot of quilting and therefore I finished this pretty little thing. I'm having a difficult time coming up with a name for it. Hmmm... yup, my mind is still completely blank!

This quilt measures 41" x 55" and will make a gorgeous baby crib quilt.

One of the best things about this quilt is that it was made of mostly all scraps and completely of stash, not one fabric was purchased too recently. All of the white zig zags were pieced and are made up of different fabrics, I think it makes it look way more scrappy and quilt-like if that makes any sense.

I do enjoy when things are uniform, but sometimes I also enjoy a little variety.

I think these bunny rabbits are absolutely adorable, perfect theme for a baby quilt.

Don't even get me started on the binding, I really love the color, I think it makes the quilt that much more special.

This quilt has been washed and packaged and is off to its intended recipient. Currently the only quilts in my WIP list are for me... how exciting. I'm not sure that has EVER happened!

I was also able to quilt this Christmas quilt last weekend. I took a fairly large chunk out of my to-do list, quilting 2 quilts. I know what you're thinking; "It's too early for Christmas talk." Well, then I won't tell you that I watched The Grinch That Stole Christmas the other day, because you might think I'm crazy... (or I just really love the holidays)!

I saw soooo many pretty decorations for Halloween and fall. I love the colors, all of the oranges and reds, so fun and bright. We only had 13 trick-or-treaters, but I had a blast giving out candy with my husband. Halloween is such a fun time, and now we have enough candy to last quite a while!

Party Dress

Now this quilt was definitely harder than I originally thought it would be. I try to keep baby quilts relatively simple, because:

A. the quilt is likely to get dirty,

B. there's not a lot of room to work with since it is so small, and

C. they can't really appreciate the time and effort it takes to make a quilt for at least another 20 years.

That said, I just can't help but complicate my life sometimes. I have been wanting to try a Bento Box pattern for quite some time and just never have the right moment.

So I figured, why not on my friend Jess's baby quilt. First off, let me start by saying the quilt turned out beautifully and is definitely a piece of art. I am so thankful it was Jess I got to make it for, but boy was it time consuming. Some of those pieces are less than an inch wide and there are 48 teenie tiny completed Bento Boxes.

I feel like the white sashing definitely helped to open up the quilt. Some of the fabric was busy and therefore it needed a lot of white to give it the clean fresh feeling.

I love how my friend Jess decided to go with a Zebra print in the baby room. It is absolutely a fun theme to work with, it really opens up the possibilities.

This was my first pink baby girl quilt. I have made many quilts for baby boys, twin baby boys and little boys. This quilt had me feeling the adorable little girl vibe. I am so jealous that Jess will soon have a little baby girl to dress up in pretty little pink dresses and frilly shirts. Leah is going to be absolutely adorable Jessica!

This quilt measured approximately 48" x 64", slightly larger than a crib quilt but hopefully one she will have for years to come. I might be in love with the Zebra print back, it is priceless.

I had the name picked out before the quilt was even finished, it just came to me and I think it fits perfectly. It reminds me of one of those adorable black and pink cocktail dresses that only a girl under the age of 16 can wear... oh the days!

If it wasn't pouring outside the entire week before I wrapped up the quilt I might have been able to take some prettier more vibrant pictures. Perhaps I can persuade Momma Jess to take some when Leah arrives! So exciting!

Basting Tutorial

One of the most important and labor intensive steps in creating a quilt is the basting process. Although your quilting could very well not turn out perfect regardless, without a properly basted quilt, it definitely will not be what you had hoped for.

Basting is the process of aligning the top, bottom and middle (batting) of a quilt together so the quilt can be "quilted". (This entire process can be ignored if you will be sending your quilt to a long-arm quilter - lucky you!)

The first step in basting is to select the appropriate materials:

1. Quilt Top - All seams should be ironed to one side or open. The quilt top should be square and should be even enough to lay flat.

2. Quilt Back - If your Quilt Back is pieced (i.e. not a solid piece of fabric) you should iron your seams as you did with the quilt top and consider marking the center of each side of the quilt back and front with a pin. This will allow you to match up the top and bottom and ensure the piecing doesn't turn out crooked. If this is your first time basting, this technique might also help you put the quilt together straight. Your Quilt Back should be about 2 to 4 inches bigger on each side than the Quilt Front.

3. Quilt Middle (Batting) - As I use only 100% cotton fabrics in my quilts I also prefer to use 100% cotton batting. My batting of choice is Warm and White. When I first started quilting I used a polyester fill which I later found out was better suited for hand quilting. Although the quilts I made turned out just fine, there were puckers in the back and it was absolutely more difficult to work with. Your batting should be about the same size as your Quilt Back, maybe slightly smaller so you can see all of the layers when they are stacked in the quilt sandwich.

4. Basting Pins - Although average safety pins will work just fine, they make special curved pins especially for basting and boy do they work! Depending on the size of the quilt anywhere from 200-300 safety pins should suffice.
5. Crochet Needle or similar instrument - This is used to close the safety pins. Laugh now, but after 200 or so pins your fingers will become quite sore and you will wish you had listened.
6. Packing Tape - To hold the Quilt Back securely in place some people use masking, duct, electrical or painters tape. Use what you are most comfortable with or what you have on hand.
7. A spot to baste on (tile, linoleum, cement, hard surface) - Ideally this space should be large enough for the entire quilt. Basting half a quilt at a time is not only difficult but could also lead to inaccuracies or a mismatched Quilt Back. Be careful if you're working on a linoleum floor as the pins could dig into the floor. I don't mention wood in my list of approved surfaces because I just wouldn't want to put pin holes in your expensive wood floor. As I progress I find I don't hit the floor very often. As a beginner, I really scraped to get through the three layers. I suggest tile if available.
And we begin:

Lay out your Quilt Back on the floor good side facing down. Pulling the Quilt Back tight but not stretching the fabric tape down the corners. I typically will put 1-3 pieces of tape on the sides of the quilt as well so it lays perfectly flat.
Next, lay the batting on top of the Quilt Back. Smooth out any ripples starting in the center moving towards the outside edges. This is my favorite thing about cotton batting, it will lay perfectly smooth.
Next center you Quilt Top on top of the batting good side facing up. Match up the center pins now if you used them. Smooth out any ripples again starting with the center of the quilt moving to the outside.
As you will notice my batting is not as large as my Quilt Back and is barely as large as my Quilt Top. Do as I say, not as I do! This was leftover batting and it just happened to be the right size, just barely!

If you used any light colored fabric in your quilt, then now would be the time to make sure you can't see any loose dark threads through the light fabric. If you can, lift up that portion of the Quilt Top and remove it. Once you baste the quilt it becomes more difficult.
Next I start on one corner of the quilt and make my way around the quilt. I put a safety pin about every 4" making sure to go through all three layers of the quilt sandwich. I stagger the pins to create more coverage. Remember to keep in mind the type of quilting you will be doing. If you will be quilting near the seams put the pins in the center of the blocks. The more pins, the more stable your quilt sandwich, too many pins and you may have a difficult time finding a free spot to quilt.
In addition, I always put pins around the outside of the quilt, you don't want the excess fabric getting in the way.
Once complete, stand back and admire your handiwork. You might even consider a back massage or hot bath, this is far more work than it appears. Once fully rested, rip up that tape and begin quilting!