To Chenille or not to Chenille... that is the Question?

There is no type of quilt I adore more than one made out of flannel for a baby. They are so soft, cuddly, cozy and always the most used. For this quilt I used a chenille technique and was so happy I did because it makes the perfect texture for little ones to play with.

I was actually able to use a completely random placement of the various blocks (a first for me)! This quilt was for the baby's Grandmother to use at her house when the baby came to visit. It's always nice to have things at all of the various places that are familiar to children.

Some of the back fabric says "I love Grandma" HOW ADORABLE!

There are little turtles and hippo's on the other side.

The blocks were 6.5" x 6.5" and consisted of two flannel fabric pieces sandwiched around a piece of 6" x 6" batting. I quilted two lines diagonally across the block then sewed the blocks together with all of the seams on one side of the quilt so the baby had at least one non-chenilled side to lay on.

Once the quilt was assembled I took the next few hours making snips in all of the seams. I sewed a line around the outside of the quilt and chenilled the outside as well. Lastly, I popped it in the washer and dryer gave it a quick cuddle (perhaps Liam loved it a little too) then I presented it to the baby's Grandma with love!

Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

"The most important things in life aren't things." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

Last summer, I was asked by a very good friend and co-worker for a quilt request she could barely put into words. I was relatively unfamiliar with the details of her situation but after speaking with her it was a double quilt request I wouldn't think to refuse. 

When my friend was younger, much younger, her boyfriend and her had been involved in a fatal car accident. Her boyfriend did not make it and she was left to carry the emotional scars of that day for the rest of her life. As she picked up the pieces, she saved a few (particularly his clothing) as a final reminder of his life and the relationship that had once been so real and tangible. 

Old clothing holds special value. Clothing has been worn, it holds memories. Clothing has captured smells, it contains reminiscing scents. Clothing has a style, it can tell a story as vague as a stain to the passerby or as deep as a relationship to the well-trained eye.

I always cringe when asked to create quilts from old clothing. As some are aware, clothing stretches and shrinks, warps and moves, it bleeds, puckers and never matches up. It is textured, silky, slippery, holey, stained and used. Old clothing is worn and in being so is the most beautiful, precious and sensitive fabric on the face of this planet and this situation was no different. 

My friend had kept a box of his old clothing tucked away for safe keeping, awaiting a time when opening it would once again flood the mind with memories and flood the senses with a slightly bitter pleasure of past love and loss. 

You see, the man that once wore those clothes had a sister, and she was now pregnant. She was pregnant with not one but two beautiful babies and her baby shower was fast approaching. The task at hand was to create two quilts from his clothing in a months time for the showering of well-wishes on the expectant mother.

Stipulations included:

1. The quilts need to be classy, pretty, baby-like without being overly so.

2. The quilts should match but one was for a boy and the other a girl. This needed to be done without using classic baby fabrics of pink and blue.

3. The quilts should not be glaringly obvious of containing clothing, the use of clothing should be subtle enough to be tasteful but obvious enough to provide meaning. 

As I dug amongst the array of old worn T-shirts, jeans and flannels I was completely overwhelmed. How do you capture all of those feelings in a quilt? How do you pick and choose, which ones should I use? What shirt meant the most or pair of slacks held those sleepless nights. As I started to plan out my design I began to see the symbolism forming throughout the quilt.

I started with the center. I used a well worn and loved navy t-shirt to sew into the center of every block on both quilts reminding them that love will always be there, in the middle of everything, to give you peace.

I wrapped all the center blocks with new fabric, fresh fabric, fabric representing new life, opportunities and birth.

 

Although the pictures make this hard to see, I next used a white t-shirt to attach the blocks to one another. All of the vertical strips on both quilts were made from the same white t-shirt. The vertical strips surround the new fabric linking them to each other and bonding them for life.

 

On the back of both quilts I used strips of his old jeans, laid horizontally to be the foundation for them to grow on, love on, live from. And on the front, in adjacent corners, I put his initials, a tribute from my friend to hers.

These quilts were made with love, tears, patience, determination and in haste but they were made! I love them both and I am so thankful to have been chosen to be a part of such a beautiful gift. 

 

I will leave you with a quote from Pericles...

 

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."

 

Be that which leaves you feeling satisfied with the marks you leave on this world and those around you. Spend not one day living in regret, and be constantly thankful for all of life's blessings because they are sometimes so quick to disappear.

 

Check out Finish it up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts!

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!

Tree Skirts a Plenty

There is nothing that can put me more into the holiday quilting spirit than quilting multiple Christmas tree skirts... which is exactly what I did. Back in early October, I joined a quilting class being held after work on Thursday evenings. The task at hand, Forever Green Christmas Tree Skirts! I will start by saying that almost everyone in the class, excluding myself and the "teacher", was a beginner quilter. Some had never touched a sewing machine, thread a bobbin, ironed a seam or heard of a scant quarter inch... that didn't stop the fun!

This was quite an advanced project for such quilting newbies, but aside from the under-the-breath muttering, deep sighs, seam ripping, redoing, and numerous expletives, they really did tackle it like champs! I will start by noting that this is the most difficult thing I've ever made by a long shot, which may lead you to two conclusions: A. this was difficult and B. I'm apparently not one to step out of my comfort zone!

This tree skirt had multiple triangles (not my strength), A LOT of tedious paper-piecing (a first for me), some complex assembly (lots of little corners to match up), prairie points (quite difficult on the inside corners) and some pretty intense hand stitching along the back in order to bind the quilt. Despite the many hurdles and late nights, most of the skirts are mostly complete with the exception of a few (but honestly, as time-consuming as this project was, who could blame them?)

After the majority of the quilt was completed I began to help everyone with the second half of quilting, the most laborious part. I assisted in the assembly, cut, ironed and sewed on many a prairie point, basted to my back's discontent, and quilted every last one of them! There were 9 ladies participating in this quilting event and in the last week or two I have quilted 7 tree skirts, talk about an all time high for my poor Kenmore (also note the lack of finished projects in the last two weeks, this would be the culprit!)

So although I do not have pictures of all of them, and of the pictures I do have most of them are in a slightly uncompleted stage, I still wanted to share these beauties with you! At the end of the day, I am very proud of every single one of these ladies and their momentous accomplishment. They each deserve a pat on the back; this was not an easy task.

Simone's:

Laura's:

Sherry's:

Nancy's:

Sara's (note this quilt was quilted with a red, green and gold variegated thread):

Joan's (my mother):

and Mine:

Each Tree Skirt turned out very unique and diverse despite the uniform pattern that was used. Fabric selection gave each quilt a slightly different edge and a beautiful, distinctive finished creation!

Note to Readers: None of these tree skirts are being used as tree skirts! At the end of the day, no one could face cutting through them and creating a slice down the center and a large hole in the middle of their magnificent work of art! But don't worry, I think they make perfectly lovely Table Toppers!

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.