wonky triangles baby quilt

A little over four years ago, I made a chevron quilt for my friends' new baby daughter. It's a quilt that I'm happy to say has been well loved and is still in rotation, so when my friends recently commissioned me to make a baby quilt for their second daughter, who was born in April, I was super excited.

I knew I wanted to do something fun, and slightly different, for the quilt design. I remembered that I had a copy of the Wonky Triangles paper-piecing pattern by Owen's Olivia, and thought this could be the perfect opportunity to finally use it.

My friends sent me a few pieces of fabric to include in the quilt: an aqua-and-brown polka dot and a gray, lime green, brown and aqua print. I used those fabrics as my starting point, and pulled coordinating lime and aqua scraps from my stash.

I paper pieced each of the triangles, using various shades of white and cream, and a low-volume print, for the background. I included one solid magenta triangle for fun, which added an unexpected pop of color.

I backed the quilt with a teal and cream polka dot, quilted it with a simple cross-hatch, and made a scrappy binding from the leftover pieces of fabric. I also added a custom cross-stitch label to the back, with the baby's name and birth date.

It was so fun to make a quilt for a baby that I hope to meet soon, and I love knowing that the quilt has gone to home where it will be used and well loved.

twin quilts

At the end of April, I became a proud, first-time aunt to beautiful twin boys. One of the best things about being an aunt, is having the chance to make lots of handmade things for my nephews; however, since they live in Japan, I have to spoil them from afar.

To celebrate their arrival, I made each of them a quilt. For the first quilt, I made yellow and gray half-square triangles using some of my favorite prints, and laid them out in a manner similar to my Prismatic quilt.

For the second quilt, I did scattered green plus signs, using Jeni's tutorial as a starting point. I included lots of fun prints, including some Alexander Henry cars, Ed Emberley elephants, and Heather Ross horses.

I loved making these quilts and can not wait to meet the boys they were made for---hopefully that will happen this fall!

purple color wheel mini quilt

Not long after posting about the mini color wheel quilt top I started for September's LMP+QG challenge (which I opted to create using only shades of purple), I managed to quilt it, bind it and mail it to one of my good friends (who loves the color purple) for her October birthday.

I opted to hand quilt the piece, using purple floss in the wedges and white floss in the inner and outer borders.

For the backing, I chose a Japanese print I've had in my stash for years.

And for the binding, I used an Anna Maria Horner print, which was leftover from this quilt that I made in 2011.

I was smitten with the finished wall hanging (I love the look of monochromatic scraps!), and so happy to gift it to a good friend.

gray + yellow flannel baby blanket

Though I already made a quilt for my friend who is due with her third son this month, I decided to make one more quick, last-minute project: a flannel baby blanket. The project is from Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts (I'm obviously constantly inspired by the book's projects!) and is super simple and cuddly---it consists of one yard of charcoal flannel and a yellow polka-dot binding. I can't wait to see the new baby wrapped up in it!

P.S. I'm walking in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in DC this month, and I'd love your support! More details here. 

LMP+QG september challenge: color wheel quilt

Each month, my friend Kait and I are making a project from the book, Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts ("LMP+QG" for short). You can see previous projects here.

For September, Kait and I decided to make the iconic Color Wheel Quilt from LMP+QG. While I love the original pattern, I decided to change things up a bit since the idea of sorting through my scraps and selecting and arranging 52 fabric wedges in color order quickly overwhelmed me. Instead, I decided to shrink the pattern down and stick to one color. Thanks to this Purl Bee tutorial, based on the Color Wheel Quilt, I was able to print out smaller templates for my mini version.

I typically don't work with purple, but since I decided this would be a birthday gift for a good friend who loves purple, I decided to give the color a shot. Thanks to some creative piecing, I managed to scrounge up 16 unique purple wedges.

Though the piecing is not perfect (there was definitely some bubbling due to all of the bias-cut edges stretching), I love the results and am particularly smitten with the purple---I'm surprised at how well all of those scraps work with one another. I can't wait to quilt it and turn it into a wall hanging!

Coming up next month: Sewing Summit! We'll be back in November with Bird Ornaments.

P.S. Want your own hand-stitched cross-stitch button? I'm sending one to everyone who donates to our team for the Walk to End Alzheimer's and leaves a comment! Details here. 

UPDATE: And here's the finished purple color wheel mini quilt!

blue baby quilt

One of my good friends is due with her third little boy in October, so for her baby shower a few weeks ago, I made her a quilt.

I started with two cute jungle animal prints by Eleanor Grosch, which I picked up from Spool during a trip to Philadelphia last year, and then pulled two coordinating dots and a solid blue to go along with them. I wanted to keep things simple, and show off the adorable prints, so I stuck with large squares for the top.

For the back, I pieced together the top leftovers, and as is usually the case, I love the back even more than the front. To personalize it, I added a hand-embroidered label---my first in awhile.

I did the entire quilt in a weekend (yay for small baby quilts!) and was so excited to make it with fabric and batting I had on hand. It always feels like such an accomplishment to work exclusively from my stash!

jelly roll quilt

For my sister-in-law's birthday back in June (can you tell I'm just now catching up on things since our July move?), I made her a quilt. I knew I wanted to do something simple, yet try out a new technique, so when I saw Deborah's quilt made from the Jelly Roll 1600 quilt tutorial, I knew it would be the perfect project.

For the quilt top, I used an all-solids jelly roll from Moda that I'd been hoarding for over a year.

For the back, I used a Nani Iro double gauze (so soft and pretty and perfect for the back of a quilt, though a bit fussy to work with!) and paired it with two simple prints, including one by Denyse Schmidt. Thanks to the double gauze, the quilt turned out super cuddly.

I love how the quilt turned out---as did my sister-in-law!---and how quickly it came together. It's definitely a pattern I'll be using again.

paintbox pillow

A pretty patchwork pillow to brighten your morning, made by my mom for my birthday last year:

embroidery project: labyrinths

For my dad's birthday last month, I stitched up a pair of labyrinths for him to hang in his meditation space:

{Stitched onto scraps of linen and chambray using iron-on embroidery patterns designed by Sublime Stitching.}

quilting project: log cabin pillow

A log cabin pillow made for my sister-in-law's June birthday:

{Made using this Sew Mama Sew! tutorial and pink and green fabrics pulled entirely from my stash, with a bit of hand quilting thrown in.} 

quilting project: zig-zag quilt

Back in February, my friends had the most adorable baby girl named Luna Maria. I, of course, wanted to make a quilt to mark the special occasion. Using this tutorial from the Purl Bee, which I'd been eyeing for quite some time, I created this zig-zag quilt for her. 

I stuck to solids on the front (most of them from my stash) and a 1920s/30s reproduction kids' print on the back that I picked up at G Street Fabrics. I quilted it on my machine, used a solid turquoise fabric for the binding, and added a hand-embroidered tag to the back with Luna's name and birthday. 

I really love working with solids (and half-square triangles!), and was so pleased with how this quilt turned out.