9/27/2013

Not A Usual Pick For Me, But I Love It!

When this fabric line, Indian Summer from Art Gallery fabrics was first released, it didn't jump out to me.
Southwestern style is not my thing. The more I seen it online, the more it reminded me of a certain someone. I kept thinking, "I really should get that and make her a quilt". I waited and waited...and it came up on sale at an awesome price at Vintage Fairytale Fabric . I couldn't pass it up. This was my first time buying from this shop and I love it. I will be checking their inventory often. The price was great (sale is over now I believe), shipping was fast and they have great customer service. They also tucked a nice little pen and tape measure in my order, extra points for them! Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised with this fabric in person. The colors are so pretty. And of course, like all Art Gallery fabrics, it's so soft. I love their fabrics, such great quality!
I also chose the Nocturnal Art Gallery Pure Elements solid to mix in and it matches perfectly. The solid tan color is Moda Bella Stone, it also fits perfectly! The solids were on sale as well, so I grabbed some Bella white, we can always use white.
I have discovered lately that sometimes the prints I would least likely pick end up making the prettiest quilts. This has been added to my mile long "to do" list!

Patchwork Gift Bag & My Aurifil Experience

I only have a small finish to share this week. I had purchased a mini charm pack of Happy Go Lucky/Moda quite awhile back. I laid the squares out several times and ended up putting them back. I was waiting for just the right thing to use them on. There are several of these cute little bags floating around the internet. The tutorial that caught my eye the most was this one from A Quilting Life. This is such a great use for these cute little squares. They will make awesome gift bags!
I messed up on how I did the handles, a real DUH moment, so I will have to redo that. I used the mini charms on both sides, totaling 32 charms. There's enough left to make a potholder or maybe I will save them to my 2.5" stash pile. I had purchased my first small spool of Aurifil 40 wt awhile back for a baby quilt that I haven't finished yet. I decided to try it out on this bag. Not sure if it's just me, my machine or what the problem is. This thread did not work well for me. I adjusted and adjusted my tension for an hour and it still would not cooperate. My automatic thread cutter wouldn't cut it either. Any suggestions here?? Finally I took out my other spool of blue 50 wt given to me from a friend. It worked like a charm, no tension issues, just smooth sailing. This was my first time using Aurifil for quilting anything and I will definitely only use the 50 wt from now on! Not that it's bad thread, it just doesn't work well in my machine. Have a great weekend!

9/20/2013

Giraffe Baby/Toddler Quilt Finish

I have been trying to concentrate on using up some of my fabrics that I've had awhile. I grabbed up a bunch of yellow and grays on one of my SAS fabric store trips. I put some of them together and came up with this little quilt.
When I saw this Little Leap Frog quilt tutorial I immediately knew I wanted to use this giraffe print to make this. I had a strip of the giraffe left and added it into the backing.
All the prints are from Michael Miller, except the lightest dot, it's a Riley Blake print. I love the citron gray stripe binding! I had one 2.5 inch strip left of the stripe and it was just enough to use as the little squares. The only thing I did different from the tutorial is shorten it up a row. It finished at 42x48.
I will probably use this pattern again. It was pretty fast to put together, doesn't use a ton of print, and it's just cute!
I listed this one in my Etsy shop. 
Sold
Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday!
And Richard and Tanya Quilts, Link A Finish Friday 

9/15/2013

New Labels and Sunkissed Progress

I finally had some labels made for my projects! I ordered these from Jennifer's Jewels. I'm very happy with them. The color is much better than they look in these quick photos I took. Her turnaround was pretty fast and her prices are really great, especially if you order more than one set. I like the feel of them and I'm hoping they wash up better than the last ones I'd gotten somewhere else.

I have almost gotten the Sunkissed hourglass quilted. I have a few more of the secondary lines to finish, as you can see. Then I will bind and wash. This quilt will be a gift.
I'm hoping to finish this by tomorrow and then I will be starting on my first crib set. I'm a bit scared about the bumper pads, but I think it will go ok.
Have a great week everyone!

9/03/2013

Peak Hour Baby Quilt


Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. I finished up this adorable little car quilt.
Now I know it's no "knock your socks" off kinda pattern, but I am proud of this one. It is my first time putting together a pattern of my own. I love fabric and I love quilting. Trying to be creative...well, I'm not so great at that yet! Yet! I had a charm pack and 2 car strips and was determined to figure this out on my own. It is made with fabrics from the Peak Hour/Riley Blake line. I got these great fabrics from Melissa on Etsy. Her shop is craftconnoisseur and if you haven't been to her shop, you must check it out folks. She has awesome prices on this and other great fabrics. Along with that, you couldn't find a more helpful or nice person to deal with, honestly! The backing is a Riley Blake/Zoofari dot print that I also found one time on one of my trips to SAS Fabrics in Phoenix. 
The colors are so bright and cheerful, I just love this fabric for a little boy!
And the little classified ads...too cute!
I think this is a great quilt pattern if you only have a small amount of fabric to work with. It only takes 20.5 charm squares and the two strips. I evened the strips up at 5.5 inches. You could get two quilts with a Moda charm pack and a 1/3 of a yard of your favorite print from the same line or a coordinating fabric. The only regret I have is that it didn't end up a bit bigger. I always manage to lose an inch or two on my quilts. I've yet to figure out how this happens...I have supplies to make another one, so it will be bigger. This one I listed in my Etsy shop as well...SOLD. Maybe this will be my first tutorial once I get a few more followers. Have a great day!