Some Simple Sewing

Let's keep things simple

when it comes to making

a donation baby quilt. 

I had some leftover

pioneer dress fabric.

from a previous project. 

It was just enough for some 

easy nine patches and 

a skinny border.

I try not to mark

quilt designs with anything

too permanent or a challenge to remove.

My favorite 

tool for light fabrics

is Sewline's

Air Erasing marker.

Have you tried it?

The marks disappear

in about 24 hours

depending on how heavily 

the fabric is marked.

Now the question always

looming in my mind is 

does that "magic ingredient"

really disappear?

Does it dissipate into the air
not leaving any residue behind?

I don't know.

 I don't wash my quilts very often,
especially if they are not used on the bed.

So I guess we'll see if 

the fabric holds up where I've marked
over time.

Each year one of my quilt groups
makes baby quilts to donate.

Simple is the way to go.

Then, hopefully, the quilt will be
used and loved
like they should be.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Animals on the Savannah

It was a delightful day

when I could finally

introduce my 5 month old grandson,

Weston,

to his quilt.

You can see he's thrilled.

Well, as much as a 5 month old can be.

It was a kit that I had bought

from Fat Quarter Shop.

After some initial issues, 

it went together quickly.

 Check here for the back story if you'd like.

Then it was off to my quilter,

Debi, who did some marvelous custom quilting.

The background around each of the animals is 

a solid.  Look at the quilting she did.

It makes each of the figures pop.

I'm usually not into heavy machine quilting,

but for some reason this just seemed to fit.

I love the pattern variations down the center.

It adds lots of texture to compliment the prints

and the animals.

 Debi did a wonderful job.

The backing was made up 

of all the leftover pieces

 and will be as much fun to look at 

as the front.

I'm thinking this quilt will stay

at Nana's house for awhile.

 It will be a fun place to play

especially with Running Man.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Oh, Baby, Baby, It's a Wild Week

 On Thursday I thought

my coincidence with the #31

was going to continue.

(see last week's post, here)

We all had a feeling that my Denver daughter  

was going into labor and would be heading

to the hospital before August 31st ended.

But it turned out we had to

wait until until Saturday, September 2 for

Eloise Frances to make her appearance.

She'll be joining her two brothers and

life will never be the same at their home!

I had to wait until Monday

to hold her.

It was a good Nana fix!

****

I have started a new school year commitment.

Each weekday morning
 I'm heading off early

to get my kindergarten granddaughter to school

Everdeen and Weston

and then bringing this serious looking 4 month old

back to my house for the day.

 Cat Stevens sang

"Oh, baby, baby it's a wild world."

I'll just change the words to
"Oh, Baby, Baby it's a wild week".

Quilting time is squeezed in during naps,
which are very short,

or at the end of the day.

We'll see how that goes!

****

But fear not,

I did get a chance to work on a baby quilt

for Weston.

I had purchased a Moda kit

designed by Gingiber.

I adored the animals and the prints
and thought it would make the 

perfect little boy's quilt.

One of the things about purchasing a quilt kit

put together by the fabric company is that

the fabric amounts included are

VERY generous, which, of course,
you are paying for.

For example: six different fat quarters that only 

required four 2 3/4"  squares cut out of each.

or eight different fat quarters that only

required four  2 3/4" x 5.5" rectangles. 

I understand they aren't going to take the time

to subcut smaller increments, but
even a fat 1/8th would have been better.

The problem that bothered me the most, though,

was that were was a error in the pattern, 

right at step #1.

You would have thought that someone
would have caught it along the way.

Well, I guess all that extra fabric came in handy.

The quilt eventually came together great

and the animals

are pretty cute.

And what about all that

 extra fabric?  It  made the perfect

pieced backing.

The panel included a miniature
version of each animal with a sweet comment.

It was fun to include them as well.

Hopefully, it won't be too long before
I can get it quilted.

We'll just have to see how "the wild week" goes.

 ****

 And as Bob Dylan says,

" The Times They Are A-Changin' "

I guess that's what keeps you young!

Until Next Time-
Kyle

A Couple of Favorite Tools- Tool Time

Have you ever had to share
your favorite quilting tool?

Seeing I started quilting back in
the prerotary cutter era,
I guess most conveniences
 could be considered useful.

The reason I'm pondering this
philosophical question is
because next month at a quilt meeting
we're to bring and share a favorite quilting tool.

I decided it might as well
be something I've recently used.
My reasoning being,
if I wasn't using it,
it wouldn't be useful.
Right?

Last week I finished
binding the Pinwheel Baby quilt.

The tool I love and used to save time
is the Clover Needle Dome.

It's a fantastic storage place for your

prethreaded needles.

I admit, I store at least 3 threaded needles

in each of the 10 slots.

That's 30 needles threaded, wound on a reel,

 and ready to go.

There's no tangling, no fuss, no muss. 

It's one of the top tools on my list.

The second tool can save you
 from being embarrassed.
It saves you from looking like you
don't know what you're doing.

It's another great tool from Clover.

If you haven't seen this, it needs
to be in your arsenal of tools,
just for emergencies.

Here's a close-up of the
tiny hook on the end.

Why did I need it?

I discovered a bush league error.

While hanging the baby quilt outside
 for it's official photo shoot,

I spied many stray navy threads.
I obviously hadn't been very careful clipping threads
especially, next to the dark pinwheels.

These rogue navy threads were
 shadowing through white areas.

I should have taken a photo
of some of the really bad ones,
but I was too embarrassed.

But my embarrassment was soon evaded.

The thread pic gently went through
the weave of the fabric and lassoed
those stray threads

 leaving no punctures, holes or marks.
I did use some tweezers to gently
remove the evidence.

It took a bit of time to remove all the
stray threads I had left behind.
I learned a lesson, but
this great little tool saved me.

I think I'm going to share how tools
 can save you time,
and help you save face.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Every Baby Needs a Quilt

 Spring is the time for babies,

animal and bird babies.

This is one of the three baby Kestrel Hawks

we had in our birdhouse last year.

This year it seems to be new babies

for nephews and my daughter's best friends.

It was time to get sewing on some 

quilts for these new little ones.

I have a "go to" baby quilt pattern

that I have used for years.

It has a center panel section cut 20 1/2" x 32 3/4".

 

or

It allows you to cut two panels from a yard of fabric
and it's a great way to feature some super fun kid fabrics.

Then that panel is surrounded by a border made up of
rails and nine patches.

From two fabrics cut:  In this case
(7) 2" x wof  - blue-fabric 1
(5) 2" x wof - red-fabric 2

Make some strip sets:
blue/red/blue (3)
and subcut: (10) 8 1/4" x 5"
                     (10)  2" x 5"

And then a strip set
red/blue/red (1)
Subcut: (20) 2" x 5"

Sew the 2" x 5" pieces into 9-patches.
They will measure 5" x 5" including sa.

Sew 2 sets together for the sides:
rail/9-patch/rail/9-patch/rail 

These will be sewn to the center panel first.

Sew 2 sets together for the top and bottom:
9-patch/rail/9-patch/rail/9-patch
Then add the top and bottom.

The outer border can really be cut
any size, but I have most commonly used
5 1/2".

On this quilt the border went all around the quilt.

On this one, the printed border piece was too short
so I added a square in the corners.
It's a very flexible pattern!

Here's the basic yardage for one quilt:
fabric one: 1/2 yard
fabric two: 1/3 yard
center panel: 1 yard = 2
Border: 2/3 yard
Binding 3/8 yard -straight of the grain
Backing 1 5/8 yard

The quilt finishes about
40' x 52"

A couple more quilts to sew
and all the new babies

 will have a quilt to call their own.

Until Next Time-

Team Work

 Way back 

when I was in school and 

had to do a group project 

it was so important to pair up with someone

who actually knew what

working as a team meant.
 Remember when that didn't happen.

This year my dear friend, Norma and I

 teamed up to make

two baby quilts.
 

We belong to a quilt group that

meets in a local church and

makes baby quilts for a ministry there

to offset the 

use of the building.

It's a great win win situation.

  Norma had a bunch of Fig Tree charms
that she didn't think she'd be using and

those quickly got stitched into a Chinese Coins pattern and

a little square medallion. 

So easy.

In a recent post I mentioned 

how careful I am about marking on quilts.

Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind

and try the Sewline

Air Erasable Fabric Pen.

 It marks with a very fine

sharp line,

which makes it very easy 

to machine quilt on.

And then the lines

vanish in a few days 

depending on how dark you mark.

Mine were actually gone

in a few hours.

I loved that!

I'm not sure how the word "vanished"

is defined, but

with the baby quilts it didn't bother me.

I figured they'll be washed lots and

if everything hadn't vanished, it soon would.

It was great handing the quilts off 

after they were machine quilted

for my teammate to do the binding and labels.

Two easy quilts

done and ready for new babies

All done with perfect team work.

Until Next Time-