Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Just trying to keep my head above the water

It has been a trying few months for my family. We are still in the midst of taking care of my mom and making decisions for the future. 

I have been able to finish a few small projects, mostly out of necessity, as there are new babies and baby showers. First, this adorable baby quilt. 
I used the border print, On Parade, from the line Children at Play by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller, and some traditional blocks set in rows to create this quilt. The contrast fabrics are Follie by Lotta Jansdotter and a gray scratch print.
The backing is pieced from the coordinating print, Balloons, from the same line and Follie from the blocks.
 The first row of blocks is a simple square in a square block. I straight lined quilted around the center square.
The second row of blocks is the friendship star block. In the star, I FMQ a feather pattern. 
The third row of blocks is churn dash. I also did some FMQ on this block. Each block in the rows are 6" squares. To separate the rows I used some Kona White in a 5" banner which I FMQ rows of ribbons. 
In the border print, I used a FMQ stippling quilting design.

The finished size is 33" x 42"

Another baby project I made is this cute ruffled baby bib.
I used this pattern which I had pinned quite a while ago. The pattern is by Nana & Company which makes so many pretty things. 
The tutorial is so easy to follow and simple to make. The fabric is Simple Nature by Cynthia Coulter. The contrast fabric is Heath for Alexander Henry.
I created the little patch by finding a cute clip art online and printing it on muslin. I then fused it and finally used a zig zag stitch to finish. 
Just too cute!

I also have been knitting to keep my hands busy while I don't have a lot of time to spend in my sewing room. On a trip to visit our kids in Austin, TX this spring, I picked up some organic cotton to knit Spa Washcloths at Hill Country Weavers. 
I knitted 2 in each color using 2 different patterns. The yellowish green cloths are the pattern found here. The orange cloths are the pattern found here. Both were easy and fun to knit. The yarn is very nice. It is called Sprout from the Verde Collection by Classic Elite Yarns. It was hard to pick colors as there were many pretty ones. 
That's what I been up too! I haven't been around much lately so I have to ask. What have you been working on?