Bunting Quilt

Do you ever feel like the project you're working on isn't going to turn out?  I have the tendency to think this about almost ALL of the projects that I work on, and for me it leads to, "hmm...maybe I'll start something else and come back to this later."  I do it all the time!

So, when I felt that familiar feeling coming back I fought the urge to give up and pressed on!  I'm loving the result...

Fabrics - Denyse Schmidt ~ Flower & Dot in Turquoise Flower & Dot in Green,
Michael Miller ~ Groovy Guitar in Lime
Inspiration from Knotty Bits

The quilt backing is a fleece gingham that is ever-so-soft and hug-able...I have to admit, I almost took a nap on it!  :)

yup...that's two pairs of legs behind that quilt!  :)
finished dimensions: 40"x 49.5"

Once the quilt top was completed I felt like it needed some more warm colours - red/orange/yellow.  I didn't have quite enough of Denyse Schmidt's Seedpod in Turquoise so I supplemented with the Turquoise Dots and Stripes from Piece O' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman.  

quilt binding Seedpod Stripe in Turquoise and Turquoise Dots and Stripes 

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to straight-line quilt this baby, and I really love the result.  There's something about straight lines that registers with me...maybe I have a little bidda ocd?  Thank you, painters tape!

My spool got dangerously thin while I was quilting this one...oh dear!

 I decided to machine bind this quilt using the zigzag binding method even though the first time I attempted this method the results were not even close to acceptable!  This time I took my time (that's the key, folks!) and it turned out wonderfully! It was much faster than hand-binding and I love the result.  If you're interested in trying it out for yourself, check out this tutorial!

zigzag binding - quilt front

zigzag binding - quilt back

 I gifted this one on Saturday to a friend who's having her first baby in a few weeks.  To be honest, it was hard to part with but the side of me that LOVES giving things away won that war!  :)

~Karina

Champs Elysees Baby Quilt

A simple little quilt made for a sweet little baby girl.

front

Isn't this material the cutest?  Aux Chanps Elysees in Pink

back

free-motion quilted

Add caption

binding

I can't wait to get this quilt all wrapped up!

~Karina

Quilt Number ONE!

So, I finished my very first quilt way back in October, but since it was a Christmas gift for one of my sisters, I had to wait to post the finished product (and also tried to keep my mouth shout about it...that was difficult)!  She's having her second baby boy in a few weeks and I hope this quilt will make him feel welcome...though, I guess it's a little big right now.  :)

Here it is!

I selected all the fabrics online from Hawthorne Threads and (as usual) fell in love when they arrived in my mailbox! 

The back:

I used my good old (okay, it's not that old) Kenmore sewing machine to free-motion quilt this puppy and It turned out great!   I did have numerous run-ins with my bobbin thread that would snap every few seconds, but once that was under control it only took a few hours to quilt.  Thus, my love of quilting had begun!  Thanks to Elizabeth Harthman's book The Practical Guide to Patchwork for the pattern and inspiration!

Click here to see my second quilt!

Quilt Number Two...

Okay, so I know that there is no post on my blog called 'Quilt Number One,' but you'll understand why I posted this one first in a few weeks!  I have a friend who is having a baby (and I'm not telling who it is in case she is reading this!), but again, in keeping with my inability to keep gifts a surprise, I just had to post photos of the quilt I made for her baby!  Here it is!

The quilt was made mainly from scraps that I had from previous projects, and I think that the colours look pretty good together considering the only thing I bought for this project was the white sashing.  I had originally cut some 5" squares into triangle quarters for a project that I was starting but ended up kiboshing it because it didn't look quite right.  So, instead of the 'easy' formation of pinwheels (like found here), I pieced all of the triangles individually.  This took much time, and I admit, I almost gave up (pinwheels are not my favourite right now). :)  I also didn't use any sort of pattern, so I had to change a few things along the way which added to the project time.  But, now that it's finally complete I can tell you that it was worth the effort!  Now for some more pics (sorry they're a bit wonky...I really need to work on my photography skills)!

Front:

  Back:

I used a meandering stitch to machine quilt the entire piece...I think that using a walking foot and quilting with straight lines would have been beautiful as well, but I don't have a walking foot yet (I really need to get me one of those)!  Here's a close up of the meandering stitch:

I'm thrilled to be able to wrap this one up...look out, it might be coming your way!