Wee Wander Quilt

Well, hello and welcome back! Indeed, let me welcome myself back to this little blog.  The thing is, I haven't had as much time for quilting in the past two years, and I haven't felt much motivation to blog. But I do feel that "keeping up" with the quilting community inspires me to keep sewing. It feeds my creativity and my motivation.  

So sharing a blog post or two every now and then will hopefully keep me connected to my quilting (and other) friends and keep me motivated and on track in my quilting goals.  Also, I just like to have pictures of my quilts in one spot. That's here. There are a few quilts that I made last year that I was in such a hurry to gift that I didn't even photograph them.  Now, that makes me sad!  At the time, I didn't think that I cared too much. But it turns out, I do.  So here's to better documentation of my quilts!

As it turns out, this is my THIRD quilt out of these "Wee Wander" by Sarah Jane fabrics.  The other two were baby quilts (seen here) that were given to a friend and sister-in-law for their new babies.  But this one is for MY baby!  Actually, it's for my oldest baby, Elyse, for her ninth birthday.

The pattern is called "Red Velvet" by Camille Roskelley, and gee did I wish I had a bigger design wall when planning this quilt. My sweet husband was a dear to put up with it sitting (in dozens of pieces) on the bedroom floor for what turned into two weeks!

We're always told not to play favorites, but heck - this print (above) is mine!  The girl reminds me of how I used to collect fireflies as a child, and now, she reminds me of how my daughter currently does.   She looks like us!

So many of these prints are really lovely and perfect for my daughter. She loves the outdoors and especially loves horses, so I love that particular theme in this fabric line.  I also love how the prints used for negative space still had images in them, like the girls feeding the birds.

A last little touch that I think is sweet is the addition of this "P.S. I love you" tag.  I have a miserable track record when it comes to labeling my quilts, but this was a super cute find at a local quilt shop, and I've enjoyed adding them to quilts lately.

And of course, a huge "shout out" to Anne who quilted this with her signature "meander". Thanks, friend!

Up next... my third "Posy" quilt.  Can't wait to share that one.  See you back here soon!

Charlotte's Birthday Quilt

This is the quilt that I made for Charlotte's birthday.  Only, poor dear, when Charlotte unwrapped the quilt, it still had the clover clips attached and the binding only half done!  Oh, I'm terrible with deadlines...

(And nevermind the outdated pictures.  Spring is in full, glorious swing here in North Carolina. I meant to post these pictures right away when I took them in late February, but life gets in the way, you know?)

Anyhow, this quilt got started back in September when I spotted the Heather Ross "Itsy Bitsy Spider" fabric for the first time.  I'm such a fan of Heather Ross, but am also so new to quilting that some of these older fabric lines are "news to me." And Charlotte is a fan of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (she was singing it just this morning, in fact), so of course I just had to buy a fat quarter or two of this sweet fabric.

And then I threw in a bunch of coordinating fabrics.  See "Posy" below.  I cannot get enough of this sweetness!  (I'm making another Posy quilt now using Fielke's "Made in Cherry" pattern; it's divine, if I do say so myself.)

Back to the quilt at hand, though: more Heather Ross fabric in the form of Briar Rose strawberries.  A favorite of mine... sigh.

Anne gave me these trees as a little scrap probably two years ago now! I am proud to have made a place for it here.

Here's the backing: two different DS quilts fabrics from JoAnn's.

I love the backing.

I also love the quilting.  Logan did this for me yet again.  I love how it crinkles after it's been washed.

One thing I don't love is the gray (Kona Shale) that I used.  I should have gone with Kona Ash.  Oh well: that's one reason I love quilting - I'm always learning.

See the snowflakes on the quilt?  Oh, it was not lost on me that the morning I wake up to a six-inch snowfall, instead of wrapping my kids up in quilts to keep them warm, I toss the quilts out on top of the snow to take frivolous pictures!  The quilts came back inside wet and useless.  Ridiculous.

Here's my youngest.  At age 2, this is the most snow Marian has ever seen.  She loved it.

And I love this last picture.  Clearly, Marian has been studying and practicing her impressions of Marion Cotillard.  While my Marian might want to step up her fashion game, the glance and smile over her shoulder aren't bad, eh?

Mix It Up

Thank you so much for your kind comments (and even tears!) following my last post.  I am so grateful for this online community and for your cheering on my Charlotte in her journey.

Today I want to show you a quilt finish that is long overdue.  I started this quilt over a year ago.  It was the project that kept getting pushed to the side as other projects had actual due dates.  Since this one was for me and my husband "just for fun," it did not really get priority.

It goes very well with this month's Le Challenge theme, "Mix," so I'm going to use that as a starting point for sharing about this.

When the Alexander Henry fabric that I used for backing was released, I just fell in love with it.  Those skyscrapers and big flowers... they called to me.  So I started with that print.  And then I just bought this fabric and that fabric and used a bit from my stash.

I think this quilt fits so well under the "Mix" category because usually I don't mix designer fabrics so much.  My default quilting style is to use just one fabric line or a few different lines but from the same designer.  This quilt has prints from many different designers.  There is some Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, Aneela Hoey, V. & Co., and Lizzy House, among others.

This quilt measures about 72 x 72 inches.  It was too big for me to quilt, so I was happy to send it off to Logan to quilt for me.  She did the "square dance" pattern; same as on my Hashtag Glimma Quilt.  (I don't like change...)

I have it folded and sitting at the foot of our bed.  It is not big enough to have a "proper" drape, but I don't care.  I love it, and it perfectly matches the Glimma plus pillow that sits at the head of the bed.  More points for me for "mixing it up!"

I figure cute pictures of Charlotte never hurt, so here she is with Goldie again.  I didn't plan her outfit, but she looks straight out of the eighties to me...

...Ready to record her first mix tape!

P.S. If you like the pattern, I used the measurements found here.  But if you need a full tutorial on how to do this, I suggest the one from Film in the Fridge.  It will be a different size block, but lovely results all the same.

Raffle quilt for Allergy Research

*Note: Quilt Raffle has ended.  Julia Jech is the winner. Thank you for all the entries and support!*

It might be hard to believe, but this lovely quilt could be yours by the end of this week!  Ain't nothin' in life free, though, friends, so I'd better give you the details...

Tracy used Allison Harris's "Suburbs" pattern.

One of Charlotte's best friends in all the world is this sweet kid:

Elijah is the son of my friend, Tracy. (And yes, he is every bit as sweet in person as he looks in this photo... and then some!)

Lots of lovely fabric by Bonnie & Camille

Tracy has made quilt after quilt after quilt for my brain tumor auction, and now she's made another one to help raise money for allergy research because her sweet Elijah is living with life-threatening food allergies.

And even some Wee Wander goodness!

Here is what she wrote on her fundraising page:

"Our sweet Elijah's life is affected by food allergies every day.  He is so sweet, strong, and resilient - he constantly amazes us.  Even though he has risen to the challenges before him each day, having to be kept separate from so many things to keep him safe is very, very hard for him.  We pray each day for his allergies to become less sensitive or go away.  We pray for researchers to find ways to help or to find the cause.  We pray that we can keep him safe so the unthinkable never happens.  We educate the people around us to help Elijah have the most normal childhood possible.  FARE supports both research and education.  We ask you to support our team and join us in prayer for a cure.

*Note: Quilt Raffle has ended.  Julia Jech is the winner. Thank you for all the entries and support!*

Look: a little gray house made out of wooden planks!

"We are having a raffle for a large, throw-sized Christmas Quilt to thank our donors.  For every $5 you donate, we will put one ticket in the bucket.  When you donate $20, we will give you a bonus ticket.  Winner will be chosen on the eve of the allergy walk."  (That would be this Friday night!)

You are still welcome to support food allergy research, but...

*Note: Quilt Raffle has ended.  Julia Jech is the winner. Thank you for all the entries and support!*

This kid's gonna be a heartbreaker... so handsome!

Even $5 will get you a ticket into this raffle!  And really, that's nothing when we're talking about keeping our little people safe.  Elijah is one of the nicest boys I know.  Really: he is always looking out for others.  When he comes to play at my home, he sticks close to Charlotte in order to make sure she is doing okay and having fun.  Or, last time he was here, we couldn't find him.  But he was off "babysitting"  my youngest, Marian.  (Which I guess means that we couldn't find her, either - oops!)  Anyhow, we love Elijah so much, so please, be nice like Elijah: donate a few bucks.  And you just might win this very pretty quilt...

*Note: Quilt Raffle has ended.  Julia Jech is the winner. Thank you for all the entries and support!*

The quilt is no longer available, but you are still welcome to...

Click here to donate now and help us say FAREwell to food allergies.

Anne's Pickle Dish

Yesterday, I wrote about my favorite quilt as part of the Sew Mama Sew series that has been running all month long.  I'm so sorry I didn't get the memo sooner, so we are squeezing in right under the wire here!  As I was writing my post, I couldn't help but think of my friend's Pickle Dish.  Anne Reinhart is the dear friend who makes her way into so many of my posts.  I've been able to show many of her quilts here, as she has donated them for auction.  But this Pickle Dish deserves a post all its own!  I love it so much and really think it demands being shared with and appreciated by as many as possible.  Since she doesn't have her own blog, I've invited her to share about her "favorite quilt" by completing the Sew Mama Sew interview.  
 

Q: Tell us about your favorite quilt.  When did you make it?  What pattern did you use?  What fabrics?

Truth be told, every time I finish a quilt, I think "THIS ONE is my favorite EVER." But when I finished my Denyse Schmidt pickle dish last month after a pregnancy-mandated quilting hiatus, I knew it wasn't just my favorite, but that it would be a hard one to top.  I started it last fall after seeing so many beautiful examples pop up online.  I debated for some time between using Sarah Fielke's pattern in Material Obsession 2 or Kaffe Fassett's pattern in Quilt Romance.  It was a little like choosing between two evils as both required me to venture outside of my quilting comfort zone!  I ended up choosing Kaffe Fassett's pattern as my starting point since I enjoy paper-piecing.  The fabric choice, however, was never in question.  I have an outlandish supply of Denyse Schmidt prints, and I figured that if I was going to tackle the pickle dish, I might as well go all out and cut into all of those lovely prints that I have been stockpiling!

Q: What memories or people does the quilt make you think of?

This one definitely makes me think of my little guy, Matthew.  I started it unaware that he was on his way and finished the quilting with him tucked in the Baby Bjorn.  And, well, I'll go ahead and blame him for being the hold-up on finishing the binding... he and I have been too busy snuggling for me to do my hand-stitching!

Q: What do you like best about the quilt?

I just love those gorgeous fabrics all playing together so nicely.  I'm not sure I came close to making a dent in my Denyse Schmidt stash, but I love seeing so many different prints from her different lines.  The only fabric that isn't hers is the black and white polka dots.

Q: How did you grow as a quilter while making it?

This quilt was definitely a challenge for me... not so much in execution, but in overcoming my fear of curved piecing and my dislike for templates.  Two new skills in one quilt... what was I thinking?!  Thankfully, I discovered that cutting out all of those center "eyes" with a template was manageable and that curved piecing isn't so bad... although it requires a lot of pinning!  So I survived the process, and amazingly, when all was finished and I unfurled it to show off to my husband, I found myself telling him how much I really want to make another one!

Q: If you could make this quilt again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

I would absolutely make it bigger.  When I started it, the projects seemed so daunting I was worried that if I increased the size, it would end up in my UFO pile.  It was such a relief when I finished the paper-piecing, and then the block assembly, that I convinced myself that it was big enough just the way it was.  In hindsight, one more row would have really made it perfect.

Q: Where is the quilt now?

I'm a quilt-stacker.  What can I say, I love the look of a stack of quilts!  In the weeks since finishing up my Pickle Dish, my husband retired from the Army, we moved most of our belongings into storage, and moved temporarily to the beach.  But no worries, I smuggled most of my quilts to our new locale and have happily stacked them here with us.  Although... this stack is a little bit "to-do" (confession: I have five quilts with bindings to finish!) and a little bit "where-am-I-going-to-put-all-of-these-in-this-tiny-house?!"!


Really... isn't Anne GREAT?!  And don't you think she needs her own blog?  Please join with me by protesting her lack of a blog in the comments section.  All the quilts in the pretty stack need their own airtime.  Want to see the ones I've already blogged?  Surf around by clicking the list below.  And enjoy!

Dolce Quilt
Little Stripes
Mark's Quilt
Classic Rail Fence Quilt

My Favorite Quilt

It's finally time to show a quilt that I get to keep for myself... hooray!  And just in time to participate in the "My Favorite Quilt" series over at Sew Mama Sew!  Throughout the month of June, they have been showcasing the favorite quilts of quilt bloggers.  Then regular folk like me can participate by completing their interview and linking up.  What fun!  So here we go...

Q: Tell us about your favorite quilt.  When did you make it?  What pattern did you use? What fabrics?

Last November, I participated in a Kate Spain charm swap that Michele over at Quilts from my Crayon Box hosted.  Around the same time, my quilty friend, Anne, brought over her "HST Overload" quilt to show me.  I wanted to keep it for myself.  But being the good friend that I am, I let Anne keep her quilt and decided that I would just make my own, using the Kate Spain charms that would be arriving soon.  I've never looked back.  I did look on Pinterest a few weeks later, though, and realized that I had pinned Rita's quilt many, many moons ago.  So I guess it was on my "to-do list" even before I saw Anne's quilt or signed up for the charm swap. All at once, the quilting stars aligned, and I had the impetus to actually make this quilt.  I love it when that happens! And I love it when the perfect fabric for backing goes on sale, too.  

Even though all this happened back in December, the next few months were quite busy with the quilt auction.  So this quilt was not actually finished until a few weeks ago.

Q: What memories or people does the quilt make you think of?

Well, of course it makes me think of Anne.  I had to channel her good taste in order to put all these fabrics together.  I usually would not do such a "loud" quilt, not to mention one that lacks Kona White!  Also, Anne did the clamshell quilting for me, and when her third baby was only a week old!  (I promise I did not ask her to do it then.  She gave me a coupon for Christmas for a "free quilting" - what a sweet friend! - and I do believe I got the quilt to her before her original "maternity leave."  But she had a harder-than-expected pregnancy, so it did not get done before Baby Matthew arrived.)  

I also think of my husband when I see the quilt, mainly because he dislikes it so!  At first glance, he reported with disdain, "It has too many colors in it!  I mean, there must be 25 different colors in that quilt!"  If only he knew that the selvage of the backing alone showed 25 different colors...  

Q: What do you like best about the quilt?

I love the colors!  Quilting for me is primarily about the fabrics.  I was excited to participate in the Kate Spain charm swap because I love Kate Spain's use of bright colors as well as her lovely, nature-inspired designs.  I'm not sure that I was originally planning to use all the charms in one project, but I'm so glad that I did!  I might have otherwise agonized about how to separate the charms into different projects.  But that would have required too much thinking and too much making things "matchy-matchy."

Q: How did you grow as a quilter while making it?

I learned that I might really want to start trimming down my HSTs.  Or at least snip off the dog-ears.  With four little kids and one with special needs and cancer, I try to cut corners and quilt as quickly as I can.  But I must admit that handing over the quilt for Anne to do the quilting was a bit embarrassing.  "Umm, try to avoid the points where the blocks meet; you might break a needle," I sheepishly confessed.  Fortunately for me, the quilting seemed to go well for her, and now that it's all said and done, I really don't notice the bulk in those corners.  Still... I might want to do it "right" the next time.  

Q: If you could make this quilt again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

I would work a bit more on the layout.  Now that I see pictures of the quilt and also look at it at every meal (it's in view of my seat at the dining table; makes me happy!), I see blocks that I wish weren't right next to each other.  I do remember working on the layout quite a bit, though, and agonizing over it.  I'm sure I reached a point (as with every quilt) where I just threw my hands up in the air with "enough is enough!" and went with what I had.  

Also, I would make the quilt bigger.  It's only 52 by 58 inches, so rather small for a throw quilt.  Big enough for me to keep warm, but no room for my husband.  Though, I don't think he minds!

Q: Where is the quilt now?

We just moved into a new home, and my new-to-me quilt rack has a perfect home on a little wall by the fireplace.  So the quilt lives there.  It's kind of in between two rooms, so like I mentioned before, I can see it at every meal.  It's also in sight of my husband's new couch.  It's a pretty sweet couch that is the centerpiece of his study.  And though he loves me dearly, he has his limits with this little hobby of mine.  As soon as we got the couch into the room, he turned to me and said, "Listen: no draping quilts over this couch, or making pillows for it, okay?"  (How does he know my mind so well?!)  All that to say, the blues in the quilt really do accent the couch nicely!  So the quilt is close enough to the couch for me get a bit of homemaking satisfaction out of the connection, but still far enough away from it to maintain this thing called "marital bliss" that we've got going on.

But when he's out of the house, who says I can't stage a photo shoot?! 

So there is my favorite quilt.  It was an easy choice because it is, in fact, my only quilt! That's right: I've made dozens of quilts for auction, for friends, for my own kids, but this is the first that is just for me and just for fun.  Wow, that makes me happy!  I think I'll sign off here so I can go pet it right about now...

Little Apples

This quilt is pretty wonderful.  There. I said it.  I did not even know that it existed and would be donated until it was finished and Laurie asked for my address.  Quelle surprise!

As I blog this (two weeks ahead of the auction), I realize that I didn't get many close up pictures of the fabrics.  But I think that's okay.  I'm too short on time to take more pictures, and...



I'm hoping that all I have to say is: "Little Apples by Aneela Hoey" and a bidding war will ensue.  Right?  All for the children's sake, I'm sure.



Or am I the only fan of this designer?  Seriously: look at those sweet kids playing "Ring around the Rosy"!



And in the picture above: turtles!  And one is eating an apple!  It's so cute that it's out of control.



And here we have little outfits all picked out and ready to be put on for school in the morning.  (The little knit cap and scarf are just too sweet!)



This is a generously sized lap quilt.  I love it because, sure, you could give it to a kid.  But it's big enough to keep you warm if you want it.  (Which I'm sure you do.)



Laurie did some wonderful straight-line quilting around the borders, and then stitch-in-the-ditch and some pretty medallions that make for faux cornerstones.  (Please excuse my non-technical quilty lingo.)



And here's the back.  The wind simply would not cooperate for this shot.  Sorry.  (But hey!- you can see Anne's baby bump!)  You can also see that Laurie used up every last scrap she had for that offset strip, and that shade of red is just so warm and cozy.  Really... it's begging you to come snuggle up with it.

Remember: you get a great quilt, and kids get cures.  It's as simple as that.

Click here to bid on this quilt.  *Bidding Closed.

Quilt Stats:
Size: 53 x 60 inches
Made by: Laurie Manske
Fabrics: Little Apples by Aneela Hoey and Kona White


Oh goodness!  Would you look at that?  I just found more photos!  Cute fabric is self-explanatory, so just scroll on through, okay?  Enjoy!




















(Want to see more?  Click here to see all the quilts that are on auction until Saturday, April 5, 2014.)


"Someone in your life needs a quilt, and someone in mine needs a cure."
  Charlotte's gRACE for a Cure 2014 Quilt Auction to benefit the PBTF