Waterfront Park Baby Quilt

A few weeks ago I bought a fat-eighth bundle of Violet Craft's latest line Waterfront Park. Amanda always has the best bundles in her shop Westwood Acres and I find the fat-eighth ones irresistible. They're a great size to use for one or two baby quilts and not feel like you are breaking the bank or have loads of scraps left over. 

I have been wanting to try the Log Cabin HST tutorial by my friend Natalie since I first saw it a few months ago. So I decided to combine the two and see what happened. Turns out, it was a little chaotic, but after looking at it a bit longer I really like it.

 

I decided to use this calm Ikea print for the backing as a counterpoint to the busy front. Kona Cerise just happens to go really well with the colors in this line, so it was an easy choice for the binding. And of course my go-to wavy quilting was another given. Straight lines echoing one of the diamond shapes would have been cool, too, but what can I say? I like the waves.

If I get a little time today, this one will probably be going in the shop. Have a great day!

WIP Wednesday

I feel like my WIPs are taking over the place, so that must mean it's time for a list, right? Every time that I do this it turns out that I don't really have as much going as it seems and I calm down a little. I guess that's a good thing! Or else I just have a bad memory!

 

I started this quilt a couple of weeks ago and finished the top on Monday. I'm using the rest of my Chicopee left from this quilt, plus Essex Linen in Natural. I love it, but I'm having a hard time deciding what to do for the back. For now, it's been folded up and put back in a WIP bin. 

 

This is another quilt that I started a few weeks ago to use up some odd triangle scraps that have been hanging around for too long. This is one of those that I really liked at first, then hated for a few days. But after having it stuck on my design wall in the dining room for about a week, I decided that I do like it and may even hang it somewhere once it's done. It has been basted and is just waiting for me to quilt it. And speaking of design walls...can you see where a certain little mouse named Jill keeps tearing little bits off of mine? It's a good thing she's cute.

 

Have you ever had one of those projects that you were so excited about and knew it was going to be so incredibly cool once you finished it, only to absolutely hate it? Yep, that's how I feel about this one. 

I have had the Geese in the Forest pattern sitting around for quite a while now and keep changing my mind about how to use it. I also had a bag full of scraps from my Modern Maples quilt so I decided to combine the two, fully expecting some scrappy Autumn masterpiece to emerge. Sadly, it just didn't happen. I was looking forward to hanging this baby by my desk, but now it's in a drawer somewhere. I think that if I had just switched the pieces and kept the background white with scrappy  "trees" it would have been much cooler. 

 

I also need to finish this guy. I just need to choose the background color and get to it. If I can get it done in time, this one will be my contribution for 100 Quilts for Kids.

 

I bought a fat-eighth bundle of Briar Rose and coordinating solids from Westwood Acres a few weeks ago and have been patiently waiting for the right quilt to come to mind. I had fun making some Lemon Squares blocks for a bee mate last week, so I decided to make a few more out of that lovely bundle. And the bonus? I should have enough Briar Rose left to make another baby quilt so I can play around with them again!

Churn Dash blocks from my Bee{Purposeful} ladies are slowly coming in, so hopefully I'll be able to work on this quilt in a week or two. Should be a fun one!

I also have two more finished baby quilts that I just need to take pictures of and I still have quite a few things on my FAL list that aren't finished either! Looks like my list wasn't as short as I was hoping...

Star Flare: A Simple Tutorial

While I was making my Star Flare quilt, I had thought about making a tutorial for it but really wasn't sure if anyone would be interested. Well, when Dana put in her request I knew I needed to listen! 

This is a simple quilt to make and though mine is in solids, I think it would look really cool in prints, too. 

In this tutorial, I'll be referring to the fabrics we use as F1 through F5, with 1 being the inner star and working out from there. In my original version of the quilt, the fabrics that I used were Kona Cheddar (F1), Bella in Clementine (F2), Kona Tomato (F3), Kona Pomegranate (F4), and Kona Berry (F5).

Materials:

F1: Fat Eighth or Fat Quarter

F2: Fat Eighth or Fat Quarter

F3: 1/2 yard

F4: 1 yard

F5: 1.5 yards

Finished size: 48" square

Seam Allowance: scant 1/4"

Cutting:

F1: (1) 3.5" square, (4) 2.5" squares 

F2: (4) 2" squares, (4) 2.5" squares, (4) 4" squares

F3: (4) 3.5" squares, (4) 4" squares, (4) 7" squares

F4: (4) 6.5" squares, (4) 7" squares, (4) 13" squares

F5: (4) 12.5" squares, (4) 13" squares

      

Instructions:

1. Pair up your F1 and F2 2.5" squares, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line through the center of each pair and sew a line a scant 1/4" on either side of your drawn line. Cut on the drawn line and press your seams. Trim the resulting HSTs to 2". 

2. Sew the 2" squares of F2 to either side of the HSTs as shown in the diagram, then assemble your first star. Trim to 6.5" square.

3. Pair up your F2 and F3 4" squares and make four HSTs as described in Step 1, but trim to 3.5" square. Using your block from Step 2 as the center square, assemble the next round as shown using the 3.5" squares of F3. Trim block to 12.5"

Sorry for the bad lighting... it's raining. But you won't hear this farmer's wife complaining!

4. Pair up your F3 and F4 7" squares, make HSTs, and trim to 6.5". Use your block from Step 3 as the center and assemble the next round the same way that you did previously, with the 6.5" squares of F4 on either side of your 6.5" HST. Your block should now be 24.5".

That rain didn't last long, did it?

5. Pair up your 13" squares of F4 and F5, make HSTs and trim to 12.5". Using your block from Step 4 and the 12.5" squares of F5, assemble your final round. 

6. Assemble your backing, baste, and quilt as desired.

 If you need help finishing your quilt, Amy Smart from Diary of a Quilter has an excellent Beginning Quilter Series with tutorials for all the steps you'll need. If you have any other questions, I'm always here to help, too. My contact info should be up there at the top of the page.

I would love to see pictures of your quilts if you make one using my tutorial! 

Feel free to email me or leave a link in the comments!

Random Thursday

Very, very random.

Lemon Squares blocks for Michonne

I just finished most of my bee blocks for September. I haven't gotten much sewing time this week, but what I've squeezed in has just involved basting a couple of quilts. I was itching to actually do some fun sewing!

Little Boy's Nonsense blocks for Amanda

Rog and I are going on a date tonight. According to my calculations, it has been about a year and a half since our last date night, which also included the ultrasound where we found out I was having a girl. I'd say we're due for another one. Date that is... not baby.  

We also celebrated our 8th anniversary a few days ago, so you get this lovely picture-of-a-picture.

I went to my first PTO meeting yesterday. I guess that means I'm all grown up now.

I'm working on a tutorial for my Star Flare quilt if anyone's interested. Hopefully I'll have time to finish it in the next day or two. I had a bad cold while I started writing it, so I've definitely had to re-check a few things!

I made this soup the other day with peppers from our garden. It tasted really good, but was too spicy for anyone but Roger to eat. We had a delicious soup when we were in Mexico for my brother's wedding and I was hoping this would be similar. It was, but needs some adjusting. And look, our whole month of meals is planned already! I always mean to do this, but never do. It was one of my New School Year resolutions. Hopefully I'll stick with it!

So what randomness has been going on in your life lately? Linking up with Cindy and the other random ladies.