Bloggers Quilt Festival: Fall 2012

I have always wanted to participate in The Blogger's Quilt Festival, but for one reason or another it has never happened!  I am squeezing in at the last minute to share a quilt that I love and use every day.

I first decided to make a Turning Twenty quilt when I saw this beautiful version done up in Good Folks over four years ago!  A little while later I fell in love with Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, and I knew I had found my fabric.  When I first started quilting I really was drawn to simple patchwork and letting large prints shine.  I have grown in my appreciation for more intricate quilting, but I still love big prints.  I think they work especially well for bed quilts.  

In the summer of 2011 I cut out and finished my quilt top, but when I finished I was indecisive about how to quilt it.  A king size quilt is no joke to quilt!  I was going to do straight line quilting, but I finally decided to quilt it with a large stipple since free motion quilting is a little more fun!  It took me about four days to quilt, but it honestly wasn't as bad as I had built it up to be in my mind.  

For the back I used a light blue king size cotton sheet, and I made two matching pillowcases.

I also *finally* finished two throw pillows.  For one I used scraps leftover to make a little hexie pillow appliqued on linen.  The other one is a pillow I crocheted using this pattern, and then I sewed to a plain envelope style pillow cover. 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to go check out all the other quilts in the festival!  There are some really beautiful quilts!

*Quilt Measurements:  approx 100" x 108"
*Special Techniques used- hmmm...how about easy? ;0)
*Quilted by… me!
*Best category – bed quilt, home machine quilted quilt 

-this week-

I made my first thing for new baby girl!  One of the softest, most luxurious blankets ever!  The pink floral is a velveteen by Anna Maria Horner.  The other side is a super soft minky.  I found it here at our local random fabric store.  It is a giant warehouse full of all sorts of interesting treasures and a whole lot of well, you know.... stuff you never want.  I found something similar over at Fabric.com.  I love making things like this.  Really isn't anything easier, and you get such a nice result!  I took it downstairs to show everyone, and Felicity immediately declared that she was freezing and needed a blanket.  Hmmmm....  I let her try it out. ;0)

I also got out my Turning Twenty quilt top that I made last summer.  It is finally a quilt sandwich!  I went to my mom's house and basted it there, since I really didn't have a big uncarpeted open space to baste this.   I think I am going to keep the quilting simple and maybe just outline the blocks?  I plan to quilt it here and there.  It is such a big quilt that I don't want to burn out on it.

I also started a crochet pillow to go with the new bed quilt!  I have had this pattern pinned on Pinterest for awhile now, and I am excited for how these colors are coming together!

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!  

-I have been crocheting-

My husband and I were lucky enough to get a little vacation for a few days this week for our anniversary.  It was so lovely to get a way for a bit with no kiddos.  We spent time hiking, shopping, eating, and relaxing all.by.ourselves!  

I haven't been spending as much time behind the sewing machine of late, but I have done quite a bit of crochet over the past month.  I finished this cowl for my mother-in-law for Christmas.  This was a super quick project.  It is called the Sedge Stitch Cowl, and you can find the tutorial over at The Aesthetic Nest.

I also finished Felicity's hoodie.  I used a bamboo blend yarn for hers at it is so soft and silky to touch.

So now the girls have matching hoodies.  This is the outfit they chose to wear together to go shopping with Daddy.  My husband said he felt like he was taking two little Fancy Nancy's to Home Depot. ;0)

Today I finished a Calm Cowl for myself.  I live the simplicity and versatility of this cowl.  You can wear it long or short.  You can find the pattern for this one over at Ravelry. I have some extra yarn left over, so now I am thinking a slouchy hat to go with?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been working on this little hoodie for Juliana the past couple of weeks.  I tend to get an urge to crochet around this time of year.  It is so cozy to sit in a chair under a blanket and watch a movie.  I found this pattern from Bonita Patterns and fell in love with this pattern.  It uses the crocodile stitch which I had never done before.  It is definitely a more involved stitch, but thanks to Youtube I figured out after trying to figure it out on my own unsuccessfully.  I am hoping to finish this one up tonight and get started on one for Felicity.  

I can't believe that the Thanksgiving weekend is already coming to a close!  We had such a lovely Thanksgiving with family and lots of good food.  We switched our family and dining rooms, which was wayyyy more involved than I thought it would be, but I am super pleased with the new layout.  We went and saw the new Muppet movie.  About half way through the movie Juliana came over to me and whispered that it was the Muppets!  She had been insisting they were called the Muffins.  Glad I know what I am talking about. ;0p  Yesterday I got to spend some time with our modern quilt guild working on a little Christmas table runner.  It was so nice to sit, chat, and sew with no interruptions!  Today was spent at church and selling advent wreaths.  It was such a great four days, and I am so thankful for my sweet little family.  It is going to be hard to go back to "real" life again!  

Now I am moving on Christmas sewing.  I have had a number of completed projects, but I am finding it hard to get pictures and on the blog.  I am really going to try harder!  I have a runner and some pillows I am hoping to complete this week for Christmas.  Then I have my Christmas presents to finish up, but I am trying to limit those to just a few as to not stress myself out. ;0p  We will see how successful I am at that. hehe...

What are you making for Christmas?  Do you have big plans?  

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a happy and blessed Easter! Christ is Risen! I decided at the last minute to crochet the girls some Easter hats. Sometimes it is nice to take a break from sewing and do a different kind of creating. It is nice how simple crocheting is. Just some yarn, a needle, and a couch. I used this pattern. The girls got to wear their Easter dresses from The Miss Lily pattern.

Hopefully, your family members were a little easier to take photos of in their Easter gear.