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.)

Quilting for Me (& Next Year's Auction)

I've finally done it.  After finishing my first three quilts nearly a year ago and quilting a dozen more projects for other people, I made something for myself!

I was out of town last week and so away from my fabric and machine.  I started to have the shakes (emotionally, if not physically) from not sewing anything... does this happen to anyone else, or do I have a problem?

In any case... in one fast and furious evening, I whipped up this pillow.

I was starting to get really tired of the orange and green scheme we have going on in the family room.  Thankfully, this cheers things up a bit.

The backing is this great Denyse Schmidt print that I picked up at JoAnn's.  I only bought half a yard, but wow! - that goes quite a long way when it goes into a pillow as opposed to a quilt backing!  Though I do think I'll have to go back and buy some more...

I'm in love and am now envisioning half a dozen other pillows which would make for a full room redo... Why didn't anyone tell me how gratifying a quick and easy pillow project is?

I'm so glad that Charlotte is so enthusiastic, too.  I actually put the pillow in the car for our most recent trip to chemo... Charlotte wanted to hold it for the entire ride - too cute!

Now, back to the real point of this blog: quilt auction for brain tumor research.  Over the course of six weeks from March to April 2013, we were able to auction quilts to raise over $3,000 for brain tumor research and for pediatric patient care. How exciting to be a part of something so meaningful!

I've brainstormed and schemed in an effort to learn from last year's auction and to have next year's pulled off without a hitch.  Here's what I've come up with: I want to auction all of our quilts simultaneously next year.  Which means that I will have to photograph the quilts and write posts all ahead of time.  It's still quite a few months away, but I'd like to have all the quilts in hand on February 1, 2014.  So plan accordingly, okay?  Surely you could whip up a quilt to further brain cancer research by then, couldn't you?

Don't quilt?  Click on over to my "Get Involved" page to see how else to help.  Hint: a $35 gift card to Fabric.com could go a long way.  Last year, I was given fabric that probably cost about $35, but the quilts that we made with them (Pink Diamond and Once Upon a Time) raised $250!  How is that for multiplying a friend's generosity?!

Please don't hesitate to contact me at charlottesgraceforacure[at]gmail[dot]com with any questions.  I'd love to hear from you!



(Linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and Crazy Mom Quilts.)

Celebration of Life Quilt

This quilt has been such a hard secret to keep!

Well, here's the story: This past May, my mother-in-law, Teresa, told us that she would be throwing a party on the Fourth of July.  She would call it her "Celebration of Life" and wanted us to come to town to help her celebrate ten years of life since her breast cancer diagnosis.

Of course, what better way to celebrate than with a quilt?  I got to work right away...

This is a nine-patch and diamond pattern from Me & My Sister Designs.  The original was only a baby quilt size, so I had to do a bit of math in order to increase it to this size of 59 x 59 inches.  And I did my own thing on the borders, too.  The nine-patches and diamonds were constructed with 5-inch charm squares that were cast-offs from Tracy.  (I promise I do buy my own fabric, too... sometimes.  :)   It's just that I seem to use the free fabric so much more often!  It's part of the challenge of quilting, I think...)  The neat thing about this fabric coming from Tracy is that she, too, is celebrating ten years of life since her diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

After about a week of piecing and some mad-dash phone calls to see who had room on their rack for a quick quilting job, off it went to Logan of Chocolate Dipped Quilts for some gorgeous longarm quilting.  Logan did such a wonderful job with this custom quilting.  There is a different medallion for both the nine patches and for the diamonds, then three different designs for the borders.  I just love it!  (And the pricing is so reasonable, too; click on over if you need some quilting done.)

After keeping this secret for about two months, I was finally able to give it to Teresa at her party just a few days ago.

Speaking of celebrating life... while I was at her home, Teresa gave me a quilt that her mother made.  So here's Marian modeling a quilt that her great-grandmother quilted about forty years ago!

I just adore many of these fabrics and think that I got the better end of the quilt-gifting Deel deal for this reunion!

(Linking up to Quilt Story and Crazy Mom Quilts.)

Robots and Rocket Ships

Happy July to you!  I have just a quick finish to share today.

This little baby quilt was lovingly stitched for my dear friend, Laura.  Or, for her new baby, rather.  It doesn't really have much to do with brain tumors, I suppose, except that Laura was the first person to whom I was able to break the news regarding Charlotte's brain tumor diagnosis.  I phoned her even before my husband got the news (he was en route to the hospital, and I knew that I couldn't tell him while he was driving).  Laura has been a dear friend of mine since we met in 2007, and she has been a constant source of support since Charlotte's diagnosis.

The robot fabric was a gift from my most-generous friend, Anne, and the pattern is from this issue of my current favorite magazine, Quilty.

This little guy is my absolute favorite - a robot walking a robot dog!  Check out how in the picture above, the robot's wheel is gliding along the border, but in the picture below...

...the dog's wheels are right on top!  Such good fortune!

This sweet, smiley robot wins a close second place in my heart.

The border is full of rocket ships like this one.

Tracy gave me the backing fabric, and here you can also see the quilting: stitch in the ditch plus crosses through each block.  Tracy is also friends with Laura and so whipped up a bunch of burp cloths for her, two or three of them matching, for goodness' sake!

I think the quilt turned out nicely; I am so glad that it and the burp cloths were well-received.

Alas, I forgot to photograph Charlotte with the quilt again.  But here's what she's been up to recently:

... riding around in a laundry basket!  It was not until after I committed to breaking my back that I realized that her everyday life involves being pushed around the house... It might be 2.5 feet higher up, but at least her wheelchair has wheels!  (Sigh... my aching back...)

Stitching for Sisters

Following my own advice in this post to not neglect the siblings, I went ahead and finished up some projects for Charlotte's sisters, Elyse and Marian.  First up: I sewed a little wrap skirt for the eldest.

It was over a year ago now that I ran across this blog post, describing how Amy, the author of  Kati Cupcake Patterns, had developed several brain tumors.  So Melanie and the good ladies at Lola Pink Fabrics put together some kits with this pattern and some lovely fabric, with half the proceeds going to Amy to help with any needs she had at the time.

Call me a softy, but combine fabric, brain tumors, and do-gooding, and I click "add to cart" faster than the Feds are printing money.

And then I do nothing.  For over a year.

Finally, time to make sister a skirt... if only because the size 6 pattern requires more fabric than I originally ordered, so I can't wait another year!  I had to make it while this pretty little thing still wears a size 5.

But doesn't she look cute?!  It's just a really simple wrap skirt (pattern for sale here) made with Ooh La La fabrics by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller.

I broke out the serger and took it for a spin and then remembered why I like quilting so much... because it's so EASY!  At least the type of quilting that I do...

Now don't be alarmed... The pony tat on her left shin is only temporary.

Really, I have to sew for this sweet girl more often.  Elyse is my most grateful recipient.  She thinks that all my quilts are take-her-breath-away "Beautiful!"  And when I sewed this skirt for her, she said, "Wow!  You're making me sooo many skirts, Mama!"  (In reality, this is just the second one in recent memory.)

Oh, and from what I can tell, Amy is doing just fine.  Instead of writing about brain tumors, her most recent blog posts are about Quilt Market - fun!- and giveaways.

Next up: a baby quilt for Charlotte's baby sister, Marian.  I was really dragging my feet on this one.  Let's see... where to start the story.  I first started using this fabric, "Children at Play" by Sarah Jane, in order to make twin-size quilts for Elyse and Henry's beds.  Then I used the leftover fabric from Elyse's quilt to make Charlotte's quilt.  And then what was left from that went to making this quilt for Marian.  Poor, fourth child.

In any case, I just made up this quilt design based on what I had.  So I fussy-cut some center pieces (little girls playing with dollies - how sweet!), then framed them with half-square triangles to make stars.  Oh, and I threw in two pinwheels in the middle row, too.  In fact, I have mostly forgotten how this came about because the quilt top was completed back in January.

I named it "Stars and Scraps" because I was "feeling" that little play on words as I completed the quilt top on Inauguration Day.  But my goodness - don't I know how to use up every last bit of my beloved Sarah Jane fabric?!  The stars are outlined with a scrappy strip that measures two inches wide.  Some of the scraps that make it up are only a half inch long!

While Marian may be getting the "leftovers" in her quilt, I did not skimp on the quilting.  This is the most intense quilting that I've ever done!  It's 30-degree diamonds.  (I used painter's tape as a guide, based on this tutorial.)

The most difficult thing was just making sure I didn't stitch through the foreheads of any of the sweet, little girls.  That would have been a disaster.  This block (above) did have a close call, though, and as Anne had called the blond girl her own "Kate," I did panic a bit as I watched the needle pass through "Kate's" neck.  And then I panicked even more as the needle stopped for a moment so that I could readjust my grip.  "Ah!  Keep going, keep going!" I told myself.  Yeah, I'm a bit of a nut sometimes...

At any rate, after I finished the quilt top, it must have taken me another month before I could get in to my local quilt shop and pick out this gorgeous piece for the backing.  The fabric is from the Cuzco line by Kate Spain.

I spray-basted the quilt in March, and I'm not quite sure what happened, but you're not getting picture of the back of the quilt because it was the worst basting job of my life!  Puckers galore as I quilted!  Well, thank heavens this was not an auction quilt...

It turned out a bit on the small side, only 32 x 37.5 inches Why?  Because I had to chop off about two inches from either side due to my poor basting job... sigh.

Ah, well, my sweet baby doesn't seem to mind.  She took to it the second she saw the quilt and I handed it over...

Isn't she just the sweetest?!


I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.  Their uncle has a brain tumor diagnosis and needs our votes to get to the Kona Ironman.  Click here to watch his video and to vote.

Also linking up to Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.