Patriotic 4th of July Quilt

I am building my collection of themed quilts. I got the idea of this quilt on Pinterest, although I did lay out the squares in a different pattern.

I bought the fabric from JoAnn's. They had a nice selection of patriotic fabrics.

Putting the blocks together was very simple. I sewed strips together and cut into the size of squares I needed.

I tried laying out the blocks in different patterns and liked the way it looked with the chevron.

Again, this was a very easy pattern to put together.

Here's the finished quilt top ready to take to the quilter.

I had my machine quilter make a firework pattern with a variegated red,white and blue thread on the back. The backing is a white star on white, so the quilting shows up prettily with the simple fabric. Below are the details.

So happy that this quilt is done and I'm excited to display it come July.

Valentine Quilt

The Valentine quilt is ready in time to enjoy for the month of February. I used the Moda Table for Two fabric with the Radio Way pattern. This was a quick and easy pattern to piece together. The framed rails are quilted with a heart pattern and the inside rails and long rails are quilted with a feathered pattern. My machine quilter was excited how it turned out and sent me a picture after she finished.

Below are details.

 

 Looks great on the wall...bright and festive to cheer up the room!

BYU No-Sew Fleece Blanket

I made the perfect Christmas gift for Mike last month. If anyone knows him, he's a fan of BYU football. I'd say he has a love/hate relationship with watching them play. So when Mike mentioned he would like a BYU blanket (I think he was a little jealous that I hadn't made him a blanket since I've made Ben and Levi quilts) I remembered that when I was in Texas last November I helped tie a blanket for my mom to give as a gift to my Uncle John.

Before making my Uncle John's blanket, I had only made a tied fleece quilt once before. It was tied making knots. The technique for Uncle John's and Mike's blanket was different because after cutting the strips, instead of tying them in a knot, a hole was cut in the top center of the strip in order to thread the strips through. I used a crochet hook to help pull it through. This reduces the amount of bulkiness around the edge.

It has been a cold winter so far and I'm happy to see that Mike uses is every time he gets a chance to settle down to watch a show!

Batik Pillowcases and Pillow

Two years ago I made a Batik Puzzle quilt for a family Christmas gift for Lan. I happened to draw her name again for last Christmas. Since I had some leftover fabrics, I used them to make two pillowcases and a monogrammed pillow. I get nervous when using fusible web because it makes my sewing machine needle sticky and then the thread frays. I was happy how everything turned out and didn't run into any problems.

 

Circle Jean Quilt - The Picnic Quilt

I was so happy to make a quilt that used a lot of scraps. This wouldn't have been possible if my cousin, Ingrid, didn't give me a basket full of old jeans. I immediately went to work researching different jean quilts when I got the basket. 

When I determined the quilts I wanted to make I set out to sort and cut the jeans into the different sizes and made my piles. I think I'll get four quilts out of the stack.

I chose to make the circle jean quilt first. The jeans had to be starched before I cut the circles to help prevent stretching.

Once cut out, I drew lines to mark where I needed to sew. Then pinned the circles together.

Sewing the circles together went fairly quick.

In each circle I placed  a square of batting...

and then a square of fabric.

The layers were then sewn together along the circular flap.

Once completed the strips were sewn together.

I love how the jeans and the scraps of fabric turned out random.

This quilt will be used as our family picnic quilt...sturdy on the bottom and comfy on the top with the splash of vibrant colors.

Puffy Quilt - Baby Boy

Here is a baby boy puffy quilt I made for a friend. Another fun quilt to make.  However, it was a battle between me, the quilt and the sewing machine. My hands were a little thrashed after making this one, but I won since I finished this on time.

I'm planning on using a different technique the next time I make this style of quilt. This quilt (as the previous one also) was stuffed after each strip was sewn together. The other technique is to sew all squares and strips together and then making a slit in the backing to stuff the blocks. After stuffing, the squares would be stitched closed. It would be a bit more time consuming, but it might be easier on my hands.

Update on the Snowflake Quilt

I completed all the indivitual triangles about mid-July. I'm amazed I got to that point. Now, the snowflakes are coming together. Below is detail of the paper piece. Fabric was sewn onto all the lines which end up like the finished snowflakes above. I still have a long way to go, but am so happy to not be sewing tiny pieces of fabric together!

Batik Quilt

I quickly made this  batik quilt sampler for a fund raiser at work for Voice of the Children. It's a colorful quilt with beautiful batiks. A little crazier than what I normally make, but I think it turned out neat. Below are the details.

Progress on the Snowflake Quilt

I started this quilt many years ago. I think that I bought the pattern in 2008. The first snowflake I completed was in 2010. There are 6 patterns that can create a variety of snowflake designs. I have completed 4 of the 6 patterns and have 2 more to go. This is the most complicated quilt I have worked on to date. Since Benjamin has been born, I have (for the most part) been consistent with spending 30-45 minutes a day working on piecing. I'm happy with the progress I've been making. There's still lots of work to do!

Here's a sneak peak at the fabric for a lap quilt I'm going to work on for a little break:

Quiet Book

I fell in love with this Moda print block and when I found the pattern and material at Just Sew, I knew I needed to buy the kit. I was a bit worried that I was getting in over my head, but reading the instructions over and over again helped me get through this project. I took a break from the snowflake quilt to make the quiet book. I spent three weeks on this project. It's one of the most expensive books that Benjamin will ever own.

I love the blackboard fabric. I haven't gotten any chalk yet because it will go straight into Benjamin's mouth. The front page has a zipper where you put the chalk and fabric to wipe the board. Benjamin enjoys looking at the different pictures and likes to flip the pages. Below is a video of all the pages.