A Few in the Queue

I've been doing not so much of this lately...

... because we started this:

Ahh... the madness that is homeschooling four children ages five and under.

But early this summer I put together a quilt top to become our family's beach quilt.  We've been using nothing more than this small, thin thing called a "neat sheet" that hearkens back to our undergrad years.

My friend, Anne, did some pretty sweet quilting on it.  Sneak Peek!

Now I'm just waiting for the binding fabric to come in the mail.  This has been quite the summer-long
work-in-progress, but I'm sure the end result will be worth the wait.  I can't wait to finish it and be able to share it.

Another work-in-progress is this little project called "Gray Matters."  Please stay tuned because if you like free fabric, tutorials, and supporting research for childhood cancer, you're going to want to come back and visit my little blog for this upcoming series.

Get updates by following me whichever way you like best.  (Chek out my fancy, new social media buttons that my friend, Kenny, added for me.)


I do have one little finish to show you.  I found this fabric in the clearance section of JoAnn's recently.  The day before I had bought my daughter both a fuschia and a turquoise top for this winter.  And then this on clearance for only $2!

I used the Lazy Days pattern by Oliver + S and added a color block to the bottom.  Oh, and I'm so happy the serger cooperated!

(Linking up over at Quilt Story and Freshly Pieced and at Crazy Mom Quilts.)

Sea Breezy Baby Quilt

My sister, Theresa, recently commissioned another baby quilt for a friend.  It seems like it's first-baby-making season for her group of friends.  Anywho... this was made for Laura Willt Horton whom, when I got to thinking about it, I have known for probably more than 20 years.

Wow.  That makes me feel really old.

Laura lived in the same neighborhood as our family when we were growing up; I think that we all met during our summers spent on the swim and dive teams at the local pool.  Twenty years later, she and Theresa must have more to their friendship than suburban, summer water sports, and yet, what an enduring theme this "water thing" must be... take a look at this quilt.

Theresa sent me a link to the main print from the baby's nursery, a yellow and gray ikat.  Soon enough, I stumbled upon this new line called "Maritime Modern" by Marin Sutton.  Theresa and I chose it because the mother-to-be now lives in a beach town.  So this collection has Moby, little ships, rope knots, planks of wood, sea flowers, and polka dots.

Laura lives in the lovely town of Wilmington, North Carolina, and works as a wedding planner.  (I know: dream job, right?)  I loved this little knot print even before I learned that her business is called "Knotical Weddings and Events."  How perfect!  

The pattern is called "Breezy" from Allison Harris's new book, Growing Up Modern.  It really was a breeze, and I love how this quilt turned out.  I backed it in this charcoal minky and did some very minimal quilting in order to keep it all nice and snuggly.

Apparently, it was a hit at the baby shower, with Laura saying that she could not have chosen the pattern or fabrics any better herself.  I think that's the best compliment that my quilting has ever received!  Thanks, Laura!

And thanks, Theresa, for supporting cutting edge, brain tumor research at Duke.

Linking up with Quilt Story and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Little Time, Big Pillow

I've had very little time to sew lately, but lucky for me, pillows don't take very long at all.  Didn't I warn you in my last post that I was planning on doing more pillows for my family room?  Here we go...

This pillow is about 23 inches square, which is a bit larger than the previous pillow at only 18 inches.  I followed this tutorial from Patty Young, which was actually one of the first links I ever pinned on Pinterest.  I'm so glad to have one more bit of justification for my Pinterest addiction: I really do use the tutorials!

I used a few more pieces of some of the lovely Denyse Schmidt prints that I picked up recently.  Oh, and the green eyelet which my friend Anne gave to me.  This pink print is one of my favorites; it's part of a new line called "Oh Deer!" by MoMo for Moda.  I love the one sparrow which is in color and flying away.  (Please do overlook the pucker there...)

After raiding my stash and coming up empty for about an hour, I finally remembered this other DS quilts print (stuck in a fabric pile for a new quilt) and used it for the backing.  I'm happy to say that this was the first thing the two men of the house commented upon.  When my four-year old, Henry, saw the pillow, he said, "Oooh, I like the back."  Then my husband said the same thing when he saw it!  This made me giggle because my mother-in-law is always telling me how much my son is just like his dad when he was little.  This adds a fun dimension to watching Henry grow up - picturing what my husband was like at age four!

Maybe you noticed that this is not an envelope enclosure?  Yes, that means a zipper.  My first.  Eeep!  After reading about a dozen different tutorials and not understanding a single one, I found this one and (loosely) followed it.  When I say, "loosely," I mean to say that it was midnight and I neglected to actually pull up the tutorial as I worked, so I was just sewing based on my memory of what she said to do.  I cannot recommend this.  And so, there will be no picture of said zipper here... (And if you come over, please do not inspect too closely.)

I'm really enjoying making these fun, bright pillows to freshen up my family room.  They are so quick and easy to put together.  Which makes me wonder... should I make a few for the quilt auction?  Part of me says, "Yes! They are so quick and easy to do, and they'd be less expensive than a full size quilt..."  But then another part of me says, "No... people's living spaces are so very unique and so you could make a dozen different pillows but not auction a single one because they wouldn't 'match' any one else's decor."

Well, what do you think?  Chime in on the comment form below if you have a second...


(Linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and with the gals at Quilt Story.)