LMP+QG march challenge: pieced pillow [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. 

So for the month of March, Kait and I decided to make the Pieced Pillows from LMP+QG. However, my husband and I already have a number of pillows around our house (see Exhibits A, B and C), so I decided to revise the plan slightly. Instead of making completed pillows, I made two pillow tops which I then turned into quilt blocks for a baby quilt that I'll be donating to a local children's hospital. 

The blocks came together super quickly (it took about ten minutes to cut and sew each one), and it was fun to do a bit of improv sewing when placing the white stripes.

As I've mentioned before, I'm trying to use these monthly challenges as an opportunity to try out new fabrics and techniques. So for the top and part of the back, I used fat quarters from Laurie Wisbrun's new collection, Jack and Jenny. I wouldn't normally opt for fabrics in this color palette (or with donkeys and rain boots on them!), but I have to say, I love the results! I think this will be a great quilt for a little boy.

I also decided to stretch myself a bit in the quilting department, and chose to free-motion quilt the entire thing---my first time doing so! Though it's not perfect, I'm really happy with the overall effect of the stitching and look forward to practicing and perfecting the technique more. For binding, I used scraps of orange and yellow, which added a fun and surprising pop of color.

 

See Kait's gorgeous Pieced Pillows here.

Coming up next month: Peanut, the Wee Elephant

quilting project: white and navy log cabin

In January, right before my parents arrived for a visit, I managed to finish their Christmas gift: a queen-size log cabin quilt made from navy prints and solid white.

I collected the navy prints from a variety of places (including Whipstitch, CityCraft, and Stitch Lab) over a number of months and based the design on quilts I saw in Modern Log Cabin Quilting and Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. For the back, I pieced together all of the leftover scraps.

I sent it off to Joanne, who beautifully quilted it with loops, and then bound it with solid navy (and a little bit of white) when it returned. It's the largest quilt I've made to date, and I'm so, so happy with how it turned out.

london

A few snapshots from our recent trip to London:

View from the London Eye

Thai chook pie and mash from Pieminister

Liberty fabrics from Shaukat & Co.

Cute car in our neighborhood

New scarf from Spitalfields Market

Vintage hankie from The Shop

Afternoon tea at the Saatchi Gallery

English paper piecing project

Pretty tray from Liberty

spoonflower staff challenge

My coworker, Thomas, and I recently did a photo and embroidery project for the Spoonflower Staff Challenge (I hand-embroidered fabric photographs onto backgrounds that Thomas manipulated in Photoshop). You can learn more about our project here. Voting for the challenge has commenced, and competition is pretty fierce, so be sure to cast your vote for your favorite staff project before voting closes on Wednesday night.

LMP+QG february challenge: stacked coins quilt

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

This month, Kait and I tackled the stacked coins quilt in LMP+QG. I've been trying to have these monthly challenges be an opportunity for me to both work from my stash, as well as try out new materials and techniques. In that spirit, I pulled out a fat quarter pack of Julia Rothman's Miscellany line for Cloud9 Fabrics, which I had been hoarding for months, and finally cut into it, and paired it with a linen-cotton blend (Robert Kaufman's Essex), a material I've loved the look of and have been wanting to try for ages.

For the back, I paired leftover coins with white from my stash:

I finished both the top and back for the quilt, though I haven't had a chance to put everything together quite yet. I must admit that while I'm happy with how the top turned out, I love the back more. I loved piecing all of the leftover coins into scrappy blocks---it's definitely a technique I'd like to try again.

See Kait's pretty blue version of the pattern here.

Coming up next month: Pieced Pillows

paintbox pillow

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

craft social mug rug swap

Earlier this month, I participated in Craft Social's mug rug swap, the first swap I've done in awhile. For my swap partner, Yvette, I made this churn dash mug rug from linen and a floral print from the Dream On collection:

The inspiration for the design came from this Purl Bee project, which my friend Kait had reminded me about the week before.

In return, I received this adorable crocheted mug rug from Beth: