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.

 

Star Wars Jean Rag Quilt

Remember that pile of jeans? Here is the second quilt to come from all those jeans. This is the Star Wars Jean Rag Quilt. I had plans for doing plain red flannel backing with red bandannas for the star cutouts but when I saw the Star Wars and Millennium Falcon/X-Wing Fighter flannel fabrics I had to change my original idea. It was going to be perfect for a gift since the new Star Wars Force Awakens movie was coming out last month.

This was a fairly easy quilt to put together. Clipping the edges is the most time consuming portion of finishing the quilt. After clipping I tossed the quilt in the wash to achieve the ragged look. I had to stop the wash a few times to strain out the lint. This is important so that the lint doesn't get clogged in your pipes. Below are pictures of some of the details.

 

Sleeping Baby and Then Some

I used to post pictures of Benjamin sleeping all the time and now I have a small collection of Levi. These boys are so precious to me and I love seeing them sleep, looking so peaceful.

 Levi started to grab his own feet and put them in his mouth three months ago.

 We started feeding Levi solids almost two months ago.

Benjamin is still adorable when he sleeps. Below are some more of Levi.

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.