Sneak Peek of a new patriotic quilt

This is the beginning of a new quilt for a special boy I know. Click to see them larger.

I got out my quilt books and asked him what a fictional seven year old boy might like on his quilt (it's a surprise) and he chose Uncle Sam and flags. I was like, uh..are you sure that's what he'd want? He was very adamant that this fictional boy would not like pirates, cars or dogs, just patriotic blocks. Ok....so here we are! Can't you just hear the Star Spangled Banner playing behind old Unkie Sam there? I guess it's appropriate in our first year with a new president.

You'll notice one star is unintentionally wonkified. I was using Stars by Magic by Nancy Johnson Srebro, and the cutting directions were easy but the sewing directions were more complicated. I decided to leave it. What do you think?



My own little fabric hog/thief Gigi says hi, she kept trying to swipe my blocks while I was trying to get a photo! She swiped them about 30 times before I just let her do it. She's not naked, by the way, just can't see her diaper. Swiper no swiping!



Wendy

The Sweetest Thing

Look what my sister made for Gigi! Is this not the sweetest little quilt you have ever seen? I love the Heather Ross banana seat bikes, I love the fish, and I love love love the border flower print. I also love the super soft minkee on the back and the silky binding. I love the perfect size, one foot square, for taking along in the car seat as a soother. My sister is so talented! Check out her etsy site to see what other stuff she's doing, and be sure to click on the photos above to see it in all it's gorgeous glory!

Wendy

Flannel Doggy Quilt

Hello All,

I just finished a doggy quilt for my first step-grandchild who is due to be born in about a month! Our son picked out the pattern he wanted and the fabrics for his son's quilt. The pattern is puppies in flannel with 3D ears tacked in different positions so the baby can get his hand under an ear and feel it to soothe himself. The quilt is very soft and turned out cute, though the fabrics are a little too mismatchy for my taste. I embroidered all the smiles by hand and cut out wool felt for the eyes and noses. The cat loves it! Get off there Boomer!

My Stash

It's Show Us Your Stash month over at Sew Mama Sew and I'd like to play along! Here are their questions:

What do you usually sew? Baby Quilts of course!

Do you prewash or iron? Neither!

How do you sort it? I recently became a designer fabric snob and have steadily been growing my collection. I look down upon my other quilt store fabrics now in the most haughty and unflattering manner.

So in this photo i'm showing my fabric grouped in the following way: Asian fabrics, batiks, repros, designer, "other" quilt store fabric, flannel, solids, backings, and ugly fabrics I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole that someone gave me a long time ago but that I keep for kids I teach to practice on.

How do you store it? In a linen closet in the master bathroom. Who needs sheets and towels??? I also have my scraps stored in buckets in the photo below. I have a bucket of designer scraps, a bucket of "other" scraps and a bucket of flannel scraps. My own little fabric hog/thief likes to help herself! I could barely take the photo as she wanted to spread them all over the bathroom.


Here's a shot of my favorite pile:

In my collecting, I often end up with many colorways of the same print as below.

Here are four of my current favorites below.

And here are another four favorites below. Love them all!!!

Hope you enjoyed my stash! Love to hear your comments.

Wendy

Wolf Tracks Quilt

This is my son Wolfgang with his Wolf Tracks quilt. I made this in 2003 before I met designer fabrics! I made it from a variation of a Bear Paw block called Bear Tracks. I just called it Wolf Tracks for obvious reasons! If you click on them to see them bigger you will see the wolf flannel I used for the back. It is so soft and I love the very subtle wolves in the design. He likes to pose in silly ways and smile in crazy ways so these are the best ones I could get of him!

Wolfgang says hi!

Wendy

Fabric Giveaway

The winners of the free fabric were kvinta and sunshineofautumn!
Congratulations and happy quilting!

Paw Paw's Coffee and Cream Quilt

Finally! This one is done and almost out the door. I wanted to make my father in law a couch snuggle quilt but I agonized forever over what I wanted to make. I'd never purchased a plaid knowingly in my life, but I wanted it to be flannel, plaid and suggestive of warmth. I chose a coffee theme and when I saw that gorgeous dark brown flannel I show here in the border, I knew it was perfect. By the way, the first photo doesn't do the border flannel justice. Look at it in closeup in the last photo to see how it carries the colors over.

The light brown print is a Civil War reproduction that is super soft. I like the colors, they are supposed to represent coffee, cream, black coffee and coffee with cream mixed in. The red is just for 'pop'. I painstakingly embroidered the curling steam coming from the coffee cups and the ID tag on the back: my second and third attempts at embroidery, respectively! (Ignore the pen marks behind the embroidery, they will come out the first time it's washed.) I even splurged on Warm and Natural batting, which is so lovely and blanket-like. I kind of copped out on the quilting and tied it very minimally.

I hope he likes it! What do you think? Click on the photos to see them larger and please leave me a comment!

Wendy

Alexia's Quilt

Today i'm showing off the very first baby quilt I ever made, 10 years ago last September.

I made it for the very first baby in my life, my sister Heidi's first daughter, Alexia. It's just a simple quilt, but I quilted it in a spider web pattern since I had read that spider webs had protective connotations in some cultures. Alexia loved it and still loves it today, so that is all that matters! That's Alexia as a newborn on top, then my sister holding it, and finally Alexia as a three year old snuggling it on the left in the second photo (that's the back). To her right is her sister Lydia.

I used Hobby Lobby flannel for this one too and the footprint pattern faded, though the integrity of the fabric held up fine. Enjoy.

Wendy