Baby Quilts for Boys!

It started with the plus quilt on the left and ended with the charm quilt on the right... a commission to make a blue and green quilt for a baby boy coming (hope they aren't mad I added gold....)

 

Some wavy line quilting in my usual Aurifil (50 wt in light grey) using a stretched out zig zaggy stitch and my walking foot, plus some scrap-alicious binding...

And then I was reminded of another baby quilt I meant to make!  Some leftover squares from the quilt above (and some others) went so nicely with a few light squares I had left from a S'More Love layer cake from Moda.

This simple quilt needed a little something special in the quilting department, so I happily chose hand quilting.  Not a hard sell to me these days!

Some random lines in colourful perle no. 8 cottons and Aurfil 12 wt. cottons and we are good to go.  (Haha, get it? Go camping?)  Oh, and some wood grain print binding?  Yes, please!

So squishy, so fun to do, so satisfying.... hand quilting.  Try it!

Quilt Stats:

Baby Boy Plus Quilt

Finished dimensions:  29.5" by 38.5"

Fabric: various

Backing: Riley Blake flannel from Hooty Hoot

Binding: various

Batting: Warm & Natural

Thread: Aurifil 50 wt. in light grey

S'more Love Baby Quilt

Finished dimensions:  25" by 34"

Fabric: S'more Love by Moda and various

Backing: Riley Blake flannel from Hooty Hoot

Binding: Faux Bois in Tan by Patty Sloniger

Batting: Warm & Natural

Thread: various colours of Aurifil 12 wt and DMC perle 8.

I'm on a ROYGBIV Roll!

This is what happens when you re-organize your fabric shelves and see what you all have there.  I love to organize by colour.  This quilt emerged when I sorted my scrap strings.  And this one when I sorted all my fat quarters and larger scraps!

It was so fun, fun, fun to make! I have referenced it before and I will reference it again, because it is such a great tutorial. Go see Jeni Baker at In Color Order and her Plus Quilt Tutorial.

I backed this one with some snuggly flannel from Riley Blake in a lovely bright red. I quilted it using the "wavy" stitch on my Bernina (stretched as wide as it could go and at length "3") and my walking foot. It was so easy peasy and so satisfying because a little wiggle is totally unnoticeable, unlike with straight line quilting. I'm so happy with the results.

The binding is a fun orange Pezzy Print from American Jane. All pieced with Aurifil in 50 wt of course. I used Aurifil in a light gray for the top quilting and a rainbow variegated for the bobbin, to add colour to the reverse side. Dimensions are 36" by 52".

As much as I love it, it is a little small for the growing members of my family and even for me.  It will soon be up in my Etsy shop!

ETA:  I completely forgot to give credit to Becca at Bryan House Quilts!  Her Rainbow Plus Quilt has been such a part of my quilting subconscious for a while now I barely realized it was not from my own brain!  Becca's, however, is a sophisticated and grown up version which is absolutely breathtaking.  Go look!!

 

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2013

Welcome visitors, to my woodland kingdom in the forest, among the lakes and rivers of Canada! I am queen in my realm, and my subjects are a worthy brood of handsome princes, a cat, a dog and several fish. My king has carved out from these wilds a home and castle most suitable for the raising of princes and the traditional pastimes of the queen who plies the needle and thread, making quilts to brighten and warm the cold winters in the deep woods.

My entry to this Spring's Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side will count as just one quilt, since they are identical (think of it as a king size in two pieces!) and they simply go together. These were made last spring, and I call them Water and Woods. As these are for my two eldest princes, er, sons, who were 14 and 16 years of age at the time, I began with the most masculine fabric I could find. (Or maybe the fabric was first and said to me "make me into quilts!!")

Either way, I looked no further than the amazing Parson Gray. Totally hip, totally cool, totally masculine, and perfect for my very design conscious young men. (To see just how design-y THEY really are, check out their very trendy and popular You-Tube channel where they ply their artistic trade.)

The fabric line is Curious Nature, and the pattern is from the ultra talented Jeni at In Color Order. The binding is Kona Cotton Solid in Pepper. The backing is a charcoal and gray scrolly print from my LQS. The batting is Warm & Natural, and I used Aurifil 50 wt in a neutral 2325 to quilt straight lines 1/4 inch away on either side of each seam.

I am really very, very fond of these quilts and am eagerly anticipating Parson Gray's next line, World Tour, as I have several more princes to quilt for!  Here is also the link for my original post about these quilts!

Quilt Stats: 

Size: 67" by 90" 

Fabric: Curious Nature by Parson Gray for FreeSpirit fabrics 

Binding: Kona Pepper 

Backing: Charcoal 108" wide flannel from LQS 

Thread: Aurifil 50 wt in colour 2325

Previous Blogger's Quilt Festival Entries:     FALL 2012

Curious Nature for Boys

Anyone who has ever tried to make a quilt for a teenage boy knows it isn't easy. I enlisted the help of my sons to design their own quilts. One of them, I finished. Minecraft Quilt. The other, I really should finish... but oh, my creative son. It involves a pieced sword, an appliquéd "creeper" (from Minecraft), trees, mountains.... it is really an art quilt, and I am a patchwork gal. I like chain piecing! What can I say. When I saw man designed Curious Nature by Parson Gray, I immediately decided to make these fabrics into patchwork quilts for my teens that would last for some years and look nice in their (currently shared) room.

I call the blue colorway quilt, Water, and the green one, Woods. Which is where my boys spend much of their time, as our home is surrounded by woods, creeks and rivers. The tutorial I used can be found here, at Jeni's blog called In Color Order. I made my quilts larger, using about 1/4 yard of 24 fabrics for each quilt. I bought a half yard bundle of the entire Curious Nature collection.

 

I used a solid binding, Kona Cotton in Pepper, for both quilts and a dark grey/black scrollwork patterned flannel from my LQS for the backing (it was 108" wide, yay, no seams!).

 

Quilt Stats:
Size: 67" by 90"
Fabric: Curious Nature by Parson Gray for FreeSpirit fabrics
Binding: Kona Pepper
Backing: Flannel from LQS

Manly Quiltage

My two eldest boys (age 14 and 16) are woefully lacking in quiltage, compared to the rest of the family. When I saw this line of fabrics(designed by Amy Butler's husband!) it said "hello" to me.  And "you must make me into two matching quilts". Honest.

Anyways, the fabric is called Curious Nature and the prints have really cool names like Darkwater Starcomb, Night Empire Mark, and Academy Universe. I love hearing about the inspirations for designs and this one Really drew me in. Read about it on the designers website: Parson Gray.

Here is what I have so far. One quilt will be predominately in blues and the other in green.