Treasures from the attic

This is a quilt my friend Stacy received from her mother this past summer. A little background first:

Stacy was expecting her first baby when the package arrived (in fact, Ella just arrived on Sunday!). Her mother, who is in Minnesota, sent her a package of gifts from friends there (from her shower) to her home here on the west coast.

When Stacy opened the package, she was delighted to find two treasures. This is the first one: the quilt Stacy's mom made for her when Stacy was born. I find it absolutely charming.

Stacy actually remembers her older brother having a suit made from the red gingham. The appliqué is done perfectly, and the colors are bright and bold primary colors--the patterns are solid and gingham. Simple, 1970s and utterly perfect.

The rickrack trim adds texture and character, and the wide red border gives weight to the design.

I have to say--Stacy is a lucky mom, and Ella a lucky little girl--to have this treasure in her family. We were able to gently clean this gorgeous quilt, and it's as fresh, bright and bold as new.

Slime quilt a la Dragonquest

I'm not into video gaming, but my brother-in-law is. He and my sister are expecting their first baby this month, and I asked if I could make a quilt for them as a baby gift. Their nursery has a Dragon Quest theme, and they sent me some pictures of Rocket, the character you see in the five corner blocks of this quilt.

The quilt came out to be about 43" square, so I could avoid piecing the backing fabric. It was also my first attempt at applique. I completed the five slimes first. I traced the slime design on interfacing. Then, I sewed on the traced line, through the interfacing and fabric (wrong sides together). I made a small slit through the center of the interfacing and turned the piece right side out and pressed. This gives you turned under edges, without all the work.

For the eyes, I used my embroidery machine and made three circles--one full white circle, one outline black circle, and one small black center circle. For the mouth, I used a free-motion satin stitch around a traced pattern. Then, I attached the applique to the sky background fabric with a satin stitch and a special foot called the Satinedge™ foot by Creative Feet. It's a great investment, especially if you lack confidence in your ability to sew straight.

I cut the alternating squares (a scenic print by Michael Miller) the same size as the slime squares, and attached some dark brown marbled sashing to make the squares pop. I added a grass green border (Easter grass), and used the same for the backing fabric.

For quilting, I quilted in the ditch of the sashing and border, and then also around each of the slimes. I also did some freemotion quilting in each of the scenic blocks as well. The light blue binding adds just a touch of brightness to finish off the quilt.

Baby batik

Here is a small strip quilt I made with about half a batik Strip Club jelly roll from Cozy Quilt Shop. I didn't use the (gorgeous) pattern that was included with this fabric pack--I wanted to do a few baby quilts instead, and this is a non-traditional baby quilt.
I grouped the strips together first into warm and cool hues, and then from light to dark shades. Then I sewed them together in sets of six. Then, I cut large 90 degree triangles from these strips, and arranged them into an inset square as shown.
As you can see, I didn't keep even seam allowances throughout, and my angles could have been cut a little bit more exactly, so my squares would have matched a bit better, but I think the effect is still kind of cool. I also think a true triangle ruler helps in this process.
In quilting, I used my new sewing machine, an Artista, and the Bernina Stitch Regulator, loaded up with Sulky variegated thread. It was very easy--and my first attempt. Click on the photos to enlarge. I was surprised at how quickly this process went!
I used yellow binding because it was what I had on hand, and surprise again, I like it.