Today

I finished this block this morning, using a tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman. It is for Leanne, who so graciously offered to make a charity quilt this month with our Always Bee Learning blocks. It was a fun block to make, and I think it looks more difficult than it really is. And isn't that the best kind?

Since I didn't take any pictures of the process while I was making my Baby Steps quilt, I thought I should make another one so I could have some visual aid for the tutorial. Only, I put the blocks up on my design wall and I completely hate it.

When I started it, I thought it would be really cute with the Les Amis prints and a soft yellow solid. But it looks awful. What do you think? How to salvage it? I'm definitely going to take out the browns. The scrappy blocks seem a little distracting, too. Maybe I should just stick with one color per zig? Who knows.  I have a feeling these blocks may just end up in the scrap pile

Soccer starts on Tuesday so I was really hoping to get the tutorial done before then since I'm not sure how much sewing I will accomplish once sports and farming start back.

Claiming...

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Patchwork, Baby

Here's the last in my recent trifecta of baby quilt finishes:

 

In case you forgot, I cut these squares last spring when I was stuck on a project and needed something fun to regain some enthusiasm.  But then I had a baby and didn't get around to assembling them until now. 

 

I had originally planned to finish this little guy with some orange peel quilting, but after a couple of failed attempts I went with something much simpler, just a three-step zigzag along the seams.  Honestly, I really wanted to do some straight line quilting, but I felt like I should try something new. After I finished this quilt I thought about it for awhile and realized that it really is okay for me to prefer straight lines and not feel pressured to fmq just because everyone else is doing it. When I browse through my list of favorites on Flickr and my pinned inspirational quilts, the majority have straight-line quilting. I do think free-motion quilting is fun and I would like to get better at it, but I've accepted that I'm really more of a straight line gal. 

For the backing, I just used the remainder of a sheet that I had originally used to make a bedskirt for one of the boys. I think the zigzags look kinda cool on the back and adds a fun texture. I don't really have any plans for this quilt, so it will probably be donated to Project Linus.

And with that comes another check off the Finish-Along list!

A Sweet Pinafore

In the last few weeks, I have become slightly obsessed with something.  Thankfully, that obsession centers around making clothes for my sweet girl. Since before Jill was born, I have been on the lookout for cute, easy patterns that I could make for her. But it has always been sort of a low-key affair, just pinning them when I found one and randomly buying fabrics to stash away for the day I actually made her something.

I love that little pleat.

 I did make her some cute dresses and pants before she was born, but since then I haven't even made her a bib. That is, until the day my friend Rachael sent out an email asking for pattern testers for a pinafore she was working on. I knew pinafores were cute and looked easy to make but I really didn't realize how cute and easy until Rachael sent me the pattern.

Reversible! For when she's feeling funky.

 I'm pretty sure I sewed it up one evening while I was making supper (I am a bit of a multi-tasker.) Then I pinned it to my design wall and stared at it for a few weeks before I finally gave in and sewed on the buttons. I have been trying to get some fun pictures of Jill wearing it, but that is a little hard with a baby, so not too many action shots.

I realize the pants don't match, but how cute is the back of the pinafore?

  If you are looking for a super-easy, super-cute outfit for a girl in your life, I can highly recommend Rachael's Roly Poly Pinafore. The pattern is still in development, but be on the lookout for it's realease! Also, since Rachael is pretty much constantly churning out awesome projects she could use some feedback from time to time. If you have any interest in becoming a pattern tester for her, check out this page.

And another one because she's so cute:

Baby M.'s Quilt

Some of you may remember this quilt I made last summer for my cousin who had recently gotten married. Well, guess what? Now she and her husband are expecting a baby in May so of course I wanted to make them a quilt. I think I have around 20 first-cousins on my mom's side of the family and as far as I know, Taryn is the only one with an interest in sewing. My mom taught her to quilt a few years ago, and it is fun to make gifts for someone who you know will appreciate them. 

I first got the idea for this quilt from a picture, I believe on Instagram, that Megan of Canoe Ridge Creations had shared. She was showing a quilt of hers that was being featured in an upcoming issue of Quilty Magazine. Just a few days later, I saw that Quilt Dad had written a tutorial for a similar quilt on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog. That pretty much sealed the deal, so I started pulling all the grey and yellow fabrics I had since those are the colors in Taryn's nursery. 

I was so excited when I found this yellow dotty fabric at JoAnn. I went there searching for backing and honestly didn't expect to find one that I wanted, but this was perfect! It is from the latest DS Prints line, a very pretty shade of yellow with small grey dots all over. I'm even thinking of making a little dress for Jill with my leftovers. I only quilted in the solid white (Kona Bone, actually) areas of the quilt, making various chevron shapes in each one. Honestly, I'm not that impressed with the way it looks but it wasn't bad enough for me to rip it out. The binding is a great charcoal-grey Confetti Dot by Dear Stella. 

I won't be able to go to Taryn's baby shower next month, but soon enough this little quilt will be winging it's way to Iowa. Hopefully, it will get there before the baby does! 

Baby Steps Quilt

I'm not quite sure how this has happened, but I have three finished baby quilts to share. So here's the first: 

I made this quilt for some really good friends of ours that are expecting a little boy in April. I'm quite sure that their little guy is going to have a good bit of John Deere in his life so I decided to stick with those colors. Before Roger even knew who the quilt was for, he remarked that he was glad to see me using such a good color scheme. 

For the most part, I just used single prints for each block, but there are a few composed of various scraps and I really think those are my favorites. For the quilting, I first went about 1/4" inside each seam of the white. Then, I just made zigzags at random widths, following the path of the blocks. Super easy and quick! 

 I used one of the newer Denyse Schmidt plaids from JoAnn for the backing, and this navy Joel Dewberry herringbone for the binding. I had a bit of a hard time choosing what color binding I wanted, but I'm on a bit of a navy kick lately. Once I realized that I had enough of this print I went with it, and am so glad that I did. 

I think I said earlier that I was inspired by this quilt by The Girl Who Quilts. It is a quick top to put together and zigzags are always fun, right? I know there are about a thousand tutorials out there for various zigzag quilts, but I am considering making one for this. Anyone interested? While that is honestly something I never thought I would do, I have used more than my fair share of free tutorials that generous quilters and sewists have put out there, so I kind of feel like doing one is a way to return the favor. Even if no one uses it. Does that make any sense? 

***Linking up with Heather and Megan at Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday***

The View from Where I Sit

Feathers for March dGS, free pattern by Anna Maria Horner

Two out of three dresses for Jill waiting for buttons.

First three months of Elizabeth's Lucky Stars BOM.

An old quilt laying out to dry

Random blocks/batting sitting on top the KitchenAid

Three baby quilts flung over a chair, finished except for burying threads

Random yarn/construction paper creations by the kids

Fabric basket thing confiscated from under Max's bed, containing stale bread and half an orange

Glorious wallpaper.