Jamming With A Jelly Roll : :

My sister has just recently had her 3rd baby!! She now has 1 girl and 2 boys. So of course I made her a quilt as a present.  (I honestly feel like I write that that line at least once a month!)

Ive been hoarding a jelly roll of Sweet water 'Pure' since Mr Z was born (he just turned 3). If you remember I actually used the same fabric for his baby quilt!

Because it reminds me so much of Little Mr Z when he was a bubba, Ive been really reluctant to use it......but since its for my new nephew, I decided I could part with it. (Well, half of it. The other half I have stashed back away in my cupboard with every intention of keeping it forever)

I wanted a really quick sew, so I decided to use the 'Jelly Roll Jam II" pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop. Check out the youtube tutorial here.

So in between making fun of the American accents on the tutorial (ha ha you should hear my husband) and going to my brothers wedding, this quilt came together so so quickly.




I love it sooo much!! (can i just point out the blossoms on that tree? YAY! SPRING!!)

Out of all the quilts I have ever made, this quilt is the most well made. It is dead square. For some reason my quilts are never 100% square. But this one is.
Also all of my seams are perfect! (if I do say so myself).
I finally figured out why its so important to press seams in opposite directions so the seams 'nest' together! (slow learner)





The back I managed to scrounge out of the backing left-overs from the triangle quilt I made recently.
It took a while to cut all the trimmings into usable strips but I'm so glad I did. Its much better for the bank, and its a great scrap-buster!




To quilt it I decided just to use straight lines. I love it so much!! Its adds so much lovely texture!!
Another score with this quilt is that there are absolutely NO puckers on the back!! YES!! I think I may finally figured out how not to get puckers!! (we'll see how I go with the next quilt!)



The binding is a lovely linen look cotton that I picked up from my local craft store.

I love this quilt so much!! I've really noticed how much Ive improved at sewing when I look at this quilt...and especially when I compare it so some of my earlier ones.

Well, I'm going to chuck it in the mail today and it will soon be keeping a baby warm in sunny Cairns where my sister lives.  (or maybe it will be used as a floor quilt!! Ha ha its rather hot in Cairns!)

Jessica

WIP: Feather Blocks

At my brothers wedding, my sister gave me some fabric to make Little Miss S a baby quilt. It was a Moda Honey Bun (for those who don't know what that is its like the baby version of a jelly roll, at 1.5 inches). I've never quilted with a Honey Bun before, to be honest, I'd never even seen one! Apparently they don't make many.

At first I really didn't know what to do with it? The strips are quite small. I thought of using a Jelly roll pattern, and making it miniature with my honey bun, but it didn't really appeal.

I finally settled on doing something I've been wanting to do for a while....make a quilt without a pattern!! (well almost without a pattern ha ha)

I saw on pinterest some lovely feather blocks, and there was a free pattern online!! Score! So, following the pattern, i sewed my strips together then cut out my feathers.

For the stems I used some kaufman linen that I had left over from the nappy bag I made for myself earlier this year.

 

I then gathered up some different white-ish low volume backgrounds to use. (see the bottom fabric? thats cotton and steel!! It really lives up to all the hype!)

I've cut enough for 5 feather blocks...they will be my start and I'm just going to keep adding to the quilt until it feels done! '
I'm thinking some tiny half square triangles...maybe even a few arrow blocks too.
I don't really have a plan. I'm just going to wing it!! I've wanted to do this type of quilting for ages! But its so hard to figure out where to start. I think I just over-think my quilts, but this time, I'm just going to go for it.

Hope it turns out OK!

Jessica

Sorry, I cant remember the line of fabric...I know I kept the tag from the roll somewhere. Ill probably stumble across it soon, then I'll let you know. Its cute though isn't it?

Baby Boy Quilt : :

You remember how I posted that I made 3 baby girl quilts here?

One for my friend, one for my sister-in-law and one for my neighbour?  Well, I had given two out (to my friend and SIL), and still had the last one to give to my neighbour. I hadn't actually met her baby yet, but I wrapped it up and sent hubby over there to give it to her.

The whole reason I thought she'd had a girl was because Mr handsome told me that he'd seen her with a pink-coloured blanket. Anyway, as your probably guessing by now, when he gave it to her he found out that she'd actually had a boy!!

She said she loved it sooo much though that she was happy to keep it. She even came over to thank me, and tell me how beautiful it was.

I however was frantically whipping up a quilt for a boy so I could swap it with her.

Honestly, I finished this quilt in RECORD time!! My friend had actually given me the top sewn together to make myself a baby quilt for Little Miss S....but to be honest, I knew I wasn't going to use it for her as to me its more "boy", and I already have a lovely quilt planned for her!
I had to unstitch and resew some of it to make it more of the shape I wanted, then pin and quilt it to the back. I flipped over the back, which is a lovely soft minky, and used it for the binding as well.

 

I think it turned out really cute!

If she loved the first quilt, she a.d.o.r.e.d this one!!

Jessica

P.S. sorry about the photos! They were super quick snaps taken on my living room floor before I rushed out the door!

3 Moda Giddy Mini Quilts (+ tutorial) : :

There are so many of my friends and family who are having babies at the moment! Really! There must be something in the water.....or maybe they all took one look at Little Miss S and got clucky *wink*

Anyway...because there are so many babies that have either just been born, or are currently cooking, I've decided to make them smaller gifts. (I just did a quick count and there are 6 babies!!)

3 of the 6 bubs are girls, and I had a moda "giddy' jelly roll sitting in my cupboard just calling out to be used.

I wasn't ready to commit to cot quilts for each of them (not because I don't love making them, I just really don't have the time...and if I'm being honest, the motivation), but I decided a smaller pram/bassinet quilt would be perfect, especially since its sooooo cold at the moment here in Australia.

I wanted to keep it simple. No triangles or flying geese...just strips. So I opened my jelly roll (am I the only one who loves opening a new jelly roll?) and selected a good range of colours.....really no need to over think this part....just reach and grab.
When I had a good handful of strips I cut them in half...again no need to measure, I just eye-balled it...and started sewing the strips together into runs of 4. I just kept grabbing more strips and adding them in as needed.
Then once I had a smallish pile of 4 strips sewn together, I cut them into 2 1/2 inch strips. (I didn't take any photos...but its not that hard to imagine)

After that I just sewed all the strips together and voila! Baby quilt!
I continued this until I had 3 quilt tops.

Then it was a simple matter of pinning to the wadding, quilting the top (just 1/4 inch from every seam), then I pinned it to the back and just run down a seam every 5 inches or so.

These were the first quilts that I have backed with fleece. They turned out so soft and warm, but not too heavy like minky can be. I think its the perfect back for newborns.
I ran out on the last one however to I threw in a strip of tilda farbic in the middle. It still turned out cute.
I then used left over jelly roll for my binding. 

Two of these quilts have already been gifted and are currently keeping a couple of baby girls warm. This one will be going to its new home tonight.

If your looking for a quick make...I can definitely recommend. They were quick and easy...but look fab!

Jessica

Oh, I should add they measure roughly 32 1/2 inches by 24 1/2 inches for those interested.

Baby Play Gym : :

I wanted to make Little Miss S something to play with as she is now just about 4 months old (where did that time go?). She is just hitting that really fun stage where everything looks tasty and it all goes straight into her mouth!

I decided to make a baby gym for her as I've never owned one, but I did lend one from a friend and know how much babies like them.  I used the pattern from the book "Sew Modern Baby" by Angela Yosten, which I picked it up on a whim at spotlight ages ago.

However...if I had a crystal ball and could have known how much trouble it was going to give me, I definitely wouldn't of bothered!! 

I'll get to that bit later....first onto the quilt part, the mat!

I appliquéd!!!......AND I didn't hate it!! 
I honestly think this is the first quilt I have ever appliquéd something that looks half decent. 

(Let me just cut in here to say...i did it on my Bernina...not by hand. That's a hurdle for anther day!)

There are two types of blanket stitches on my Bernina 440QE (number 45 and 46 for those who want to know).

They are both the same, but 46 is double thickness. I decided to the thicker stitch, and while it definitely ate through my thread stash quicker than I would've liked, it looks so much better than the thinner one!! 

I mean, just look at that stitching!!

And again...

 
And again....

 
Yup, I think I can definitely say I'm more than a little proud of myself!!

Now onto the stuff that seriously gave me nightmares! The arches!! *shudder*
I sewed up the 'tubes' of fabric from my Sarah Jane stash (which is seeming never ending at the moment!! No matter how much I use, there is still just sooo much!).

 

That part was simple enough, but threading the black pipe insulation through the tubes took me hours and hours and hours!! 
Then after I finally had them threaded and sewn together I connected it to the quilt with baby links (like the patterns states) the whole thing just flopped over. (que me chucking a bit of a tantrum and refusing to look at it again for about a week!)

If anyone is planning on making this project take note...this book is American..so the materials listed aren't exactly the same as the materials I found in the hardware store here in Australia!!

After leaving it all in a corner for a few days, I decided to give it one more go and got my husband to go to my parents farm and get me a few lengths on fencing wire. 
I then cut them to length and wrapped the sharp ends in duct tape so they wouldn't poke through my fabric. 

After unpicking, threading then re-sewing, I can finally say that it works!! *happy dance*

And the best bit? Little miss S Loves it...which I guess makes it worth it in the end!! 

She is seriously happy under this thing. I love how I can change up her toys as well so she gets a bit of spice in her baby-life.

Jessica

A Very Belated Baby Owl Quilt : :

Want to know how slack I am sometimes?? Like REALLY REALLY slack?

 Ok, confession time! My good friend had a baby girl, and while she was pregnant I started making her a quilt. Ok, so far so good your saying.....here's the doozy, I only just finished a few weeks ago, and that unborn baby is now almost 18months old ....*shameful*!

My friend Kate is really into owls (well she was when I started this quilt), so I found a nice owl quilt pattern and decided to make it for her. The quilt came together quickly enough...but when I came to the applique I just lost all motivation!!

I LOATH appliqué!!  Its not that I don't like the look of it, I actually find it really pretty most times, its just I am absolutely no good at it and hence avoid it at all costs.

But for some unknown reason I thought it would be a good idea to give it another shot. Like in the two or so years since my last pathetic attempt I have some how become good at it. ..um...NO! If anything I have become worse *surprise surprise*.

So I had to forced myself to finish it (with some selfish-sewing bribery). I must confess I didn't enjoy a single moment of quilting this quilt. I just wanted to give it to her and never see it again.

Good news is she loved it and the baby (ermm...toddler) is still in a cot so she will get some use out of it now the weather is getting cold.

Before she took it home I asked if I could just take a quick picture of it.

I used the applique stitch on my machine for everything except the tail of the owl. I don't know why, but I did the tail by hand, and there is a very good reason why I didn't take a close up of that!

Well you cant love everything you make...can you?

Just for reference the fabric I used was a mix of a 'posy' charm pack and 'children at play'. The pattern was from "Acorn Quilt & Gift Company", called Remember whooo loves you.

I'm sooo glad I've finished that one....next time I feel like appliqueing (if there ever is a next time), I'm going to re-read this just to remind myself how much I don't like it!!

Jessica

Another Baby Quilt : :

This is a project that I completed last year before sewing became un-enjoyable (for some reason it felt like such a chore while pregnant!!).
My brother and sister-in-law had a lovely little girl so I decided to make her a quilt!! (Like I do every time someone has a baby!)

Here is my labour of love (aka the quilt)...

Ha ha this photo makes me laugh! I had my 6'3'' husband hold up this quilt and told him to crouch down. Poor guy was so uncomfortable trying to keep his head out of the picture! The whole time he kept asking me to hurry up and take the photo. What I put that poor man through! Love him!

This pattern was from one of Camille Roskelly's books I have previously mentioned here, here and here (and probably half a dozen other places that I cant be bothered linking to right now!)

 I used the Riley Blake fabric line 'The simple life', which is pretty old now but I've been hoarding it for baby girl quilts!
I also threw in some Kona solid fabric for the boarders, background and binding, and backed it with some Tilda fabric I got from my local craft store. 
 I used my machine to attempten a loopy-type stitch using the BSR. Not too bad for a first go hey?
Of course the BSR helps immensely!

 I've really got to work on my free motion quilting...but practice makes perfect I guess. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it (although I know its a far cry from perfect!).

I've also started being 'good' and labelling my quilts!! I think this is the first quilt I have actually labelled! I know some people like to include information about the quilt and what-not on the label..but hey at least its a start!! 

I liked this pattern so much I started making a boy version. Its still sitting unfinished in my cupboard (of course), but I know as soon as someone has a boy, that will be the kick up the bum I need to whip it out and finish that one too!!

Jessica

Baby Girl Quilt : :

Despite my obvious lack of posting on my blog of late, I haven't lost interest!! We have had a lot of things going on in the last few months.
 We are steaming ahead with our renovation, my logo for the store is now done, and we had the twins 5th birthday in the middle of all that as well (where does the time go?).
All that was done in between the everyday things of shopping, cleaning, kinder, speech pathology, visiting friends and family, and SLEEP!  (not nearly enough of the later though if you ask the bags under my eyes!)

But despite all that, I still love to squeeze some time quality time in with my sewing machine!

Earlier this year one of my good friends had a beautiful baby! (please ignore the clucking you may or may not hear coming from me).

So of course, every beautiful baby needs a beautiful quilt!

The pattern for this quilt is called 'Sweet Pea', and came from the quilt book written by Camille Roskelly,  'Simplify'. (I L-O-V-E her patterns, fabric....hair, and the fact she is a member of the same church I go to! Yup, she has got a lot of things going for her!)

I used my favourite fabric, Sarah Jane, Children at Play. (yes I know i have made a zillion quilts with this fabric range before. I just have a whole ton of it!)

This is also the first time I have EVER free motioned! I decided to just stipple the quilt instead of getting fancy (and frustrated) with a pattern. I used the Bernina Stitch Regulator (fondly known as BSR) and while it's not fool proof, it was definitely good for me!

I found that it really helped me stay a steady speed, as every time I moved the fabric too quickly, my machine would start beeping at me! I know it makes for 'lazy quilters', as I was told by a Pfaff sales representative when I asked if Pfaff sewing machines come with any sort of equivalent (really, I deserved it! I mean, come on, would any other machine even come close to a Bernina?)

I would like to be able to use the free-motion foot without the stitch regulator eventually, so I tried to maintain a steady speed while quilting. The best thing is that while I'm leaning, my quilts still look fantastic, and it gives me loads of practise!

I love the look of the heavy stippling. I'm not a great fan of sparse-stippling! I am honestly coming to believe that a quilt can never be too quilted!

So this quilt is now over in Baltimore keeping one gorgeous baby girl warm! I really hope I can go and see this quilt in action in the US soon!

Jessica 

P.S Sorry for the terrible lighting with the photos. I stayed up really late the night before and then got up at 5am to finish it! I just snapped a quick photo at my friends house before I left!! Ill up my game for the next post!!

A New Quilt For A New Baby!

My Sister had her second baby last Friday!! A darling little boy! I am now the proud Auntie to one niece and 5 nephews!!So of course I wanted to make her a quilt........Drum Roll.......

 TA DAA!! 
(Yes, I am crouching uncomfortably behind the quilt for the photo!)

I just want to say how much I L.O.V.E. this quilt! It turned out better than expected and I adore it! I used the pattern, Baby Love, from Camille Roskelly's Simply Retro. Yes I know, I have used this pattern before, but its such a beautiful baby pattern I just couldn't resist! (The fact that it whips up super quick, and I accidentally cut enough for this quilt when making this one has absolutely nothing to do with it!)

I have a quilting rule. NEVER make the same quilt twice! So for this quilt instead of just binding off my blocks, I added an additional white boarder, then my row of 'flags' (which were oh-so-easy, and look GREAT) then another white boarder. I really love how the 'flags' are free to wave about, and I'm sure will give my new nephew something tactile to play with and hold onto. 

 

I used two of my all-time-favourite fabric lines, Sarah Jane's Children at Play, and Out to Sea for the quilt top. There is just something about the little rockets, pirates, and paper air planes that just makes it absolutely perfect for a boys quilt (especially my handsome little nephew!).

 

I backed it in a minky dot fabric to make it perfect for newborn snuggles. Its super soft and matched so perfectly with the colours in the quilt top that I decided to flip it over and turn it into the binding as well. I have never sewn with minky before, but it wasn't too hard. I spray basted this quilt, which I have also never done, then just stitched in the ditch to join the three quilting layers together. 
I chose a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to stitch the binding down, machine binding being another first as well. 

 The decorative stitch kind of got lost in the minky fluff, but I was still happy with the result.
For a lot of 'firsts' on this quilt, I am super happy with how it turned out! 

 I cant wait to meet my newest nephew and get lots of baby cuddles! 


Toodles!

Jessica

Vintage Baby Quilt

My Sister had her first baby back in February last year. So of course I wanted to make her a quilt. My sister back then was really into pastels and muted colours. So I decided to make her a bright quilt. (Being the eldest of 6 children, its my birth-right to know what my brothers and sisters need, and dish it out accordingly!)

After much searching I settled on this Vintage Baby Quilt pattern. Its really really cute. The squares are not pieced into the quilt, but are sewn on top, so the edges get a lovely vintage ruffled feel.

I ordered a kit from a fabric store on Etsy called Quilt Taffy. They were so helpful. They sent me numerous photos of different bundles of fabric so I could pick which ones I wanted. They also cut all the squares for me, which was awesome! The price was really good too! (which is always important)

I thought this quilt would go together quickly, but it was an effort!! Getting each square to sit straight on the fabric and then sewing it was hard.    

 

I made this quilt bigger than the pattern, as I want it to get lots and lots of use. (The quality of the photos aren't that great because this quilt is actually in Queensland, and I had to ask my sister to send me some photos of it.) 

I love the back of this quilt! Its hard to see, but its such a sweet print, especially for my gorgeous little niece! 

I will definitely use this pattern again! Such a simple design, but it looks so lovely. I have actually been dying to make a baby girl quilt, but boys seem to be the trend amongst all my friends lately!

My sister is actually having her second child in about 4 weeks, (yep, a boy) and I'm going to make her another quilt. Cant have my handsome little nephew using a pink quilt!


Toodles!

Jessica

Monster Play Quilt

When Little Mr Z was smaller, and learning how to sit up (*sob* who stole my baby and replaced him with this cheeky toddler?), I wanted my make a thick quilt that he could use on the floor so he wouldn't keep banging his head every time he toppled over.

So I gathered up my fabrics and started cutting. I cut the fabric into strips, 4'' wide, 3'' inches wide and 2'' wide. Once I had all the stripes I just sewed them all together to make the quilt top. 

I decided after that that I wanted to make the quilt tactile, and add some little ribbon tags, as Little Mr Z loved to suck tags. I also thought it would be a good way to secure toys to the quilt so when he dropped them, he didn't loose them. 

So I went and purchased some red and blue ribbon, and unpicked small sections of my quilt to add on the tags.

I really like the tags on the quilt, and Little Mr Z does too!

I have this pattern, from the Australian designer 'Don't look now!' 

She has some amazing designs, and I really love them all! 

I decided to appliqué a monster onto the quilt.
Now I have to be honest, I don't like appliqué. My type of sewing is bang it threw my machine as fast as possible. Appliqué just seams like way too much effort, and it reminds me a lot of 'Nana quilts'. Yep, you know the ones I'm talking about. Country colours with appliqué flowers all over it (not that there is anything wrong with those quilts, its just not what I like for my home).

So I was super surprised when I actually really enjoyed making this monster! Seriously! I was considering appliquéing more of the monsters all over it!

 After my quilt top was completed, I pinned it to two layers of cotton wadding, and the back. I thought the extra layer might of made pinning and quilting difficult, but it didn't. I hardly even noticed it while sewing. 

I decided to be adventurous with my quilting, and did a whole lot of different patterns as you can see below. 

I then bound it in a great green circle print fabric (cant remember who it was from), and there you have it. One perfect floor play quilt!

This quilt has had tones of use, as during winter I also have used it in his cot when its been cold. 

Here is the back

 

I love making quilts!

Jessica

Sew Nesting!

Last year in July, I was heavily pregnant with Little Mr Z. As my due date loomed near, everyone kept telling me that I would soon start nesting.

So I kept waiting and waiting for the time when I would have so much energy and motivation to make my house really sparkle before the baby arrived.

IT NEVER CAME!

I was so so disappointed. I really wanted to make my home perfect, but it was such a chore! But then what did happen was I woke up with an overwhelming desire.......to sew!!

I remember I took over the whole kitchen table with my sewing machine, cutting board and fabrics! When I woke up, the first thing I did was sew. I pretty much sewed solid for the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy :)

I wanted to make my baby a quilt, so after searching high and low i decided that I wanted to use Moda pure by Sweetwater.

But do you think I could find it anywhere?!  It was an older line of fabric, and no where to be found!
Just when I was about to give up on finding any, someone listed a charm pack on Ebay. Just what I was after :) I bid like crazy and WON! (and paid a lot more than I normally would for a charm pack!)

Because this fabric has really relaxing earthy colours, I wanted to keep the pattern nice a simple too. I decided to cut 2 1/2 inch strips of my background fabric (that I found at my local craft store), and just surround each charm square.

You cant really see it in the photos, but the background is a lovely polka-dot fabric :)

Don't you just love the crinkled soft look/feel a quilt gets after its been washed several times?

I bound it with a solid dark brown, and backing it in a blue fabric. I wanted to keep the quilting fairly simple as well, so I just echoed each seam with 1/4 inch quilting. It was such a relaxing lovely quilt to make! 

Just don't look too closely at my wonky stitching :)

This was also the first quilt I used bamboo wadding instead of cotton, and I LOVE it! So much easier to use, with the added benefit of being hypo-allergenic and eco-friendly too! I found that the bamboo wadding didn't slide around like cotton does when its in the 'quilt sandwitch' (the top, wadding, and backing all basted together).

 And here's an adorable photo of Little Mr Z enjoying his quilt today in the sunshine! (Last day of winter!! YAY!)

Take it easy!

Jessica