rainbow quilt

The rainbow quilt is done!

This is an embroidery patch I did for her on the back.  It is about an 8" circle.

I love the turquoise and blue squares the best!

Each colored block has a heart with swirls inside.  Between each colored block you can see the free motion squiggles.  It took a long time, but I love how it kind of helps transition from one color to the next in the rainbow, and makes the white not such a solid.

This is a view of her bed, her name on the wall, the canopy, clouds painted on the wall, and the vinyl rainbow installed by her uncle.

rainbow quilt, in progress

This is the layout for the rainbow quilt.  Abby's "big girl" room is rainbow themed, and I'm finally getting going on the quilt.  Each block is pieced with scrap fabrics, some small squares and some large.  Once the quilt is finished, I'll do some more close-ups.  I took this picture so I could use my iPad & Adobe Ideas app to plan the quilting pattern.


After I sketched it out, I got busy using my new toy.  This is the free motion grip (and extension table hidden underneath the quilt) for my Brother Quattro.  It is great because I don't feel like I have to use my quilting gloves anymore.  There seems to be some pull on the fabric, but as long as I'm aware of it, I can keep it in check and glide right along.  I love it!


I decided to do some free motion quilting on each of the white sashing pieces.  I am using colored thread by each of the colored rows, adding to the coloring and making the white not quite so bright.  On each of the tall vertical pieces, I'm also including my daughter's name somewhere in the maze of squiggles.  I think that will be fun for her to find!  This is quite time consuming, but I love how it looks so far.



I have some more squiggling to do, then I will be quilting the borders & doing the binding.  The borders will not be quite as busy.  The backing looks like a cloud, and I will be doing the binding in some rainbow striped fabric.  Her birthday is in early April and I WILL have it done by then!!

turtle quilt for baby B

This turtle quilt is for my cousin's baby, due in July.  My cousin and her husband have actually seen turtles headed to the ocean - pretty amazing, I'm sure.  Add that to my bucket list, please!  When she saw this quilt a few years ago, she told me then to keep it in mind for her someday.  I am so excited that I finally got to make it for her!!


The turtle tracks around the edge are actually three wavy lines meant to be the part where the turtle's body drags along, and the bumps on the edge are the "paddle" marks they make.


The turtle applique was zig-zagged around the edges, and then zig-zag quilted on the orange swirl.  The yellow "sand" underneath was tightly quilted for texture.


The squares around the turtle applique were quilted in wavy lines to imitate the ocean waves.  The "blue" squares turned out various shades of blue and teal because of variations in the fabric.  I lvoe how it looks!


The binding is so beautiful - I love how the greens, blues, and teals all change and evolve around the edge.  I just need to work on the corners.  They are not easy for me.


Best wishes to S&T on their new arrival...whenever he arrives!

tool quilt

I realized I never showed off my mom's handiwork!  She made this fun quilt for Conner using a kit she bought while on vacation.  Each square is a different tool.  She even embroidered his name on the toolbox square.

Isn't it fun and bright and colorful?

Just a little close-up of the borders.

Thanks again, Mom!  You know Conner loves it!!!  He rotates between the tool quilt and the rock star quilt, sometimes even uses both at the same time.

parkinson's quilt project

My Aunt Nancy {of beautiful ocean quilt fame} and I have been collaborating on something special.  This is my portion.  I actually made two - one to send away to be showcased, and one for my Aunt Marge to keep.

Her photo was printed on fabric you can run through the printer, and then mounted on purple fabric and edged in yellow thread because those are the colors of the university she taught at.  The fabric used for parts of the brain are symbolic of things important to her.

My Aunt Nancy took the square that I made and added a border of prints and signature squares.  She gathered signatures from family & friends, as well as a paw print from her dog.  She then resized and combined the names as needed, printed them on fabric, and added print fabrics in between the names.  When she could she tried to pick special print fabrics that matched up with interests of the people who signed the squares.
Here is the finished quilt square:

{if you're paying close attention you may notice a few little differences.  The one on top was sent to her to keep, the one in the bottom is the one already sent off to the Quilt Project people.  I didn't photograph it myself because I was in such a hurry to get it sent on to my aunt for her to add her part.  Deadlines...ugh.}

My Aunt Nancy wrote this up about her when she submitted it to the PDF Quilt project:
"This quilt square is submitted to honor Marjorie E. Anderson, Ph.D., for her research on the basal ganglia, the portion of the brain which affects movement and is associated with Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Anderson was a professor of neurophysiology from 1971-2007 at the University of Washington in Seattle, and her research contributed to the deep brain stimulation procedures now being used to control the tremors often associated with Parkinson’s disease. Ironically, in 2003, Dr. Anderson was also diagnosed with this disease. The signatures of Dr. Anderson’s family, friends, and colleagues surround the center square to pay tribute to her research which benefits all those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and to show their support as she now lives with this disease. The fabrics chosen to represent the brain not only illustrate Dr. Anderson’s history and personal interests, but also are located in the portion of the brain associated with that activity."


If you'd like to learn more about the Parkinson's Quilt Project go to Facebook or their web site.

rock star finish!!!!!

It's done! It's finally done!!!!!!
He's off to school, so I snuck up for a couple photos of the quilt on his bed. I love it next to the blue wall!!!!! (surprise, surprise, right?) I just did a simple stitch-in-the-ditch quilting job, and a little bit of framing in the large guitar patches & paper piecing patches.
The backing is a crazy fun rock star fabric - black and white all over! For the binding, I found some fabric that was black at the selvages & white in the middle, shades of gray in between.
Sweet dreams, sweet boy!
(I think I need to whip up a pillowcase now, what do you think???)

rock star in progress

So.... like a year ago, I started a rock star quilt for my son. I cut, I planned, I did 3 of the special blocks. Then it proceeded to get stuck in my piles and I never got back to it. Well... it's about time!!!!

I've been paper piecing, putting blocks together, and sewing like mad!
I know the lines on the staff don't match up perfectly. I'm ok with that.
I have two more of the special paper-pieced blocks to go, and then I'll be able to piece the whole top. I'm excited to get it all put together. Maybe I'll have it done by his birthday!!!

eleuthera ... a remembrance

My cousin spent five years teaching on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. She is done teaching there, and my aunt is done with her special quilt.
Isn't this amazing!!!????!!!!My aunt spent years gathering specialty fabrics with shells and fish on them. She used a trapunto style of quilting when she put them on. Do you see the eel and the sea star? Did you notice all the coral that she machine quilted in there?
Do you see the octopus swimming by (in the quilting)?
The raw edge technique was used for a lot of the coral... and variegated thread accentuated it. The black coral was a circle, and the spikes were all stitched in.
She attached a few buttons here and there - a turtle was peeking out in this corner!
Isn't this a gorgeous jellyfish?!
See the little flippers swimming along the ocean bottom?
There's even more details that are too numerous to mention. My cousin said she feels like it's a fun game to play - see what else I can find that mom hid in the quilt for me.
What an amazing gift, eh? Leave her some comments & I'll be sure to pass them along!

(I saw my cousin this weekend & took the pictures then. Now it's a day later and as I'm writing this, I realize I don't even know all the names of everything that she was pointing out, and there's so many more details that I probably should have included. Seriously, a stunning quilt!)

center

I try not to get too religious or too preachy here. I just want to share my little Sunday inspiration. (yes, I know it's Monday. I just didn't sit down to the computer last night.)


We have a new minister at our church, and she was talking on Sunday about what is our "center" - and what is at the heart of our worship. Our church's logo has that swirly C in the middle of it, and coincidentally the church is located on Center St. I tried to make a meaningful symbol of the thoughts in my head.

It was a quick & easy applique on top, machine embroidered words, and then some quick quilting on top to hold the pieces together. I used yellow thread to make a cross in the heart in the middle. The yellow fabric is covered in swirls too. I made a couple turquoise ribbon loops on top so it can be hung if chosen. I didn't do a fancy binding, I didn't do a fancy hanging sleeve. I just wanted an outward sign to help remember what I heard at church.

travel updates

Here's a little bit of a travel update from Massachusetts...

First of all - any nature lovers out there?? What the heck is this white stuff????!!!!

The lovely Orchard House. I'm a bit of a Little Women fan... so I was excited to be able to get a peek inside and hear more about Louisa May Alcott's life. I gained so much more respect for their family!

Since I do try and keep it a little crafty around here... I thought you might enjoy seeing the quilt hanging in the library at the Eric Carle Museum. It's all appliqued renditions of some of his artwork. Gorgeous!!!!

And here is my son & his daddy making their collages "just like Eric Carle"... well they used glue and tissue paper at least! Abby did stick a couple pieces on, but she really just wanted to cruise around. After being stuck in a carseat for two days, who can blame her?!

tulips and windmills

I'll start with the back view first. I think it is just so pretty - I love the squiggly design and how the windmill pops out!The turquoise windmill was quilted with a variegated turquoise thread. The fabric that looks white actually has little green specks all over it. It was quilted with white thread. It is so quick and easy and fun to do the free motion squiggles! I know some people stress about them, I find them to be a blast!!
It is a three-windmill table runner for my mom - a (VERY!) late Mother's Day present. It will be on her table to greet her when she returns from her vacation to Prince Edward's Island and Nova Scotia. Her everyday dishes are Tulip Time (Franciscan) and I chose the fabrics to match. She saw the pink table runner that I did in this same pattern, and loved it enough to ask for her own. I think it's a nice combo.
Welcome home, mom!

swap this

Dear Jen,
You said you like pink - orange and turquoise - and a little bit of green. I did what I could. Enjoy!
Do you think your daughter would like to draw a little something too?
I know she's a little young, but she'll want one just like her sister, right?
You live near Lake Michigan, right? Well, closer than I do for sure. I'm jealous! Enjoy the swimming this summer with your new toteable towel. And I hope your oldest daughter enjoys her new monogrammed pillowcase! (I forgot to take pictures of those things. oops.)

And last but not least... a little something special for your spring/ summer kitchen table - or the girl's room - or your room for that matter!
Hope you loved the package! I had fun thinking up these fun projects and expanding my color palette.
Fondly, your swap partner,
Beth

P.S. Crafty Mama - thanks for hooking us up!

rock a bye baby

Check out this adorable doll cradle. It was one of my daughter's birthday presents. And you betcha - it was handmade by her uncle. Doesn't he rock?? (he'll make you one for a small fee. contact me for details. His business is called Rustic Ridge Woodworking.)

Here it is in her bedroom, photographed with the quilt from her bed. (My mom made her that tulip quilt before she was born.)
I covered the foam mattress in a dark blue swirly fabric. Why? Because I love blue and had a bunch of it in my stash, and I looooove the look of blue and white.

Here is one of her dolls in the bed, covered in a little piece of fleece. I did stitch her name on the little pillow, but these details are just temporary. I'm planning on something bigger and better. Something classier, for sure!

My mom said she thinks she has another tulip square. I know the perfect home for it!!!!

finally photographed

I finally remembered to take a picture of the finished quilt for my niece. I used a lot of wavy lines between the squares to hint at the water for the turtle, then did a bunch of tight waves between the turtles in the border. I worked my niece's name into the edge by the big turtle too. I love how it turned out, and am so happy that she uses it all the time!

While I was with my nieces today, I also photographed my niece's quilt. My sister-in-law pieced the top and I quilted it.

Isn't her bed adorable?

And of course, the pillow for the Princess.