Little Eye: A Finished Quilt

Be warned: this is a very picture-heavy post!

For years I have wanted to make a modern I-Spy quilt, influenced mostly by this quilt by From the Blue Chair.

I finally made that wish come true with this quilt, Little Eye (as in, I spy with my little eye...) for my youngest daughter. It was meant to be a second birthday present (she has a January birthday) but it was not meant to be.

None the less, here is Little Eye, all finished (and already in very heavy rotation):

I really liked the mix of colours and totally random sizing and placement of the fussy cut pieces in the inspiration quilt. I think I was able to capture that pretty well.

The sashing is Kona White (obviously) but the other Konas (I am listing these especially for Jenn at A Quarter Inch from the Edge) are: Pomegranate, Cypress, Kumquat, Celestial, Punch, Black, Wasabi, Jade Green, Kale, Salmon, School Bus, Capri, Magenta, Tulip, Ash, Shale, Ultra Marine, Willow, Prussian, Berry, Windsor and Glacier. There is also an Art Gallery solid in there (Yarrow?) and two colours I'm not sure about but could check now that I have a brand new 303 colour card!

The back is a Heather Ross print from her Tiger Lily line that I adore and pre-ordered as soon as I saw it. My daughter loves cats (her first word was kitty) and these are kitten and a Mama cat playing and walking around.

Here's where the post is going to get a bit nuts...I wanted to take a picture of each block so I have a record of each fussy cut fabric. Feel free to stop reading now. :)

Castle Peeps by Lizzy House

Penguins by Kokka

Far Far Away by Heather Ross

The Lovely Hunt by Lizzy House

Hedgehogs from the OOP Outfoxed line by Lizzy House

Natural History by Lizzy House

Kitten fabric from Tiger Lily by Heather Ross

 Not only is my daughter loving it (we play actual I-Spy with it...she calls it "Play quilt") by my cats are on it whenever it is out.

Thanks, Marlowe.

Honeymoon from Cotton+Steel

Whale fabric- anyone know what line or designer this is? Also, you can see my daughter's name in FMQ in this block. I did this in three different blocks, in different directions, to add some personalization to the quilting.

Wee Wander

This pig fabric is from Andover, but not sure of the line.

This handsome llama is from Laurie Wisbrun's etsy shop Scarlet Fig.

Photo bomb: Marlowe. Fabric: Brambleberry Ridge by Violet Craft

I know this is Sarah Jane as the designer, for Michael Miller, but I'm not sure which line.

Matryoshkas by Riley Blake

Nursery Versery by Heather Ross

Zephr I think? Cotton+Steel

More Wee Wander

One wee Cotton+Steel tiger

These delightful clouds are from the Zephr line for C+S

This is a Spoonflower print I bought in the first few months I started sewing.

This block is special. It is not a fabric; this is embroidery from a pillowcase that was made by my grandmother, whom I never met. The pillowcase was aged and no longer usable but the embroidery held up beautifully so I rescued it to put it in this quilt.

Ballerina from Tiger Lily by Heather Ross. Paw is by Marlowe.

Fox and the Houndstooth

Rare OOP Heather Ross fish fabric. I special ordered a little scrap bag of Heather Ross prints particularly because I love this one print so much.

Lizzy House Natural History

A charming sloth from the Honeymoon line of fabric by Sarah Watts for Cotton+Steel

Another rare OOP Heather Ross

Wee Wander

This is from the Tokyo Train Ride line by C+S

I think that is all of them!

I did a meandering stipple throughout using white Aurafil. The binding is Kona Steel with a strip of Ultra Marine for fun.

I'm so glad I made a quilt that is actually staying at our house and that my youngest already adores!

Which is your favourite block?

Linking Up with Crazy Mom Quilts Finish It Up Friday!

AeroPlus: A Finished Quilt (and terrible pictures)

A friend who recently gave birth to her second son in as many years lives quite a distance away from me- about a seven hour drive. I made her new son a quilt, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to pay the ridiculous shipping costs. Some texting late on a Thursday night had us finding a solution- I would take the quilt with me to a school I had a meeting at the next day(Friday), leave the quilt with the vice principal (who is my quilty friend C), have a teacher at that school pick it up from the VP and bring it home with him to Orangeville (an hour away from me), and then he dropped it off at my friend's mother's work so that the mom could bring it with her to visit my friend in two weeks. Phew!!

This last minute game of hot potato meant no time to get decent pictures of AeroPlus. You will have to put up with iPhone pictures, taken while standing on a chair (hubby was out late at ultimate frisbee so I didn't even have a quilt holder!) and at night. Too bad. 

Here is AeroPlus:

I love the blues, oranges and greens. There is a hint of yellow. All colours are based off the Ann Kelle airplane print that inspired this combo.

The binding was a 50/50 mix of these two Bonnie and Camille prints. I love them as binding fabric.

I used a free Greek cross tutorial (can't remember which one!) and made all of these fun blocks based on the colour scheme in this print right here. I then quilted straight lines on either side of each seam.

The back is mostly one print, with a fun little corner with some additional prints for interest.

I love love LOVE this navy on blue dot from Bonnie and Camille. I wish I had bought 10 yards, seriously.

This was the quilt all rolled up and ready to wrap. It is now in the hands of my friend's mom, and she will get to see it in a couple of weeks!

I am really happy with the quilt, if not the pictures, and since baby is only just over a month old I think that's not too shabby timing-wise!

This combo of prints was supposed to be used initially for a neighbour, but then she asked for greens, blues and animals. I set this pull aside and I am so glad I did because it turned out so nicely for this baby instead!

Linking up with Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Taggie Blankets

Babies love tags. They love to stroke them and chew them. Give them a toy or blanket with a tag and they'll gravitate right to it. There is even a line of products designed around this fascination.

Ages ago, when I first started quilting, I figured taggie blankets were something I could make with my very limited skills. I continue to pull this little trick out of my hat when I need a very fast gift.

When the March Birthday queen from my #birthdaybonusclub shared that she was also expecting a baby in March, I threw in a little extra gift for her new bundle:

Those dinosaurs, am I right? And is there any time when Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets aren't the best choice?

I used some scrap Lizzy House on the back, too.

And since I was making one for a baby of someone I don't even know, I knew I should make one for my nephew, Pork Chop, as well. His nursery is elephant themed, so I hunted through my scraps and made:

This side is flannelette.

And this side is pieced with elephants from Bungle Jungle.

My sister-in-law then posted a picture on Facebook of my nephew enjoying his taggie blanket. Because she tagged me (ha, see what happened there?) a work friend saw the post and sent me a not-so-subtle hint that her 10-month-old (the recipient of my Meow Mix quilt) reallllllly loves tags.

So here is the one I made for sweet baby R!

I went with similar colours as Meow Mix, based on mom's request. I made this one pretty girly!

These fun peacocks on the back seemed the perfect fit for this pink and teal taggie blanket!
Plus, donuts!
Tee hee.

These little blankets are usually 8" x 8" before sewing them together, so a perfect size to throw in the car seat or in a diaper bag to entertain a little one. And they only get softer and squishier with more use, so they are fun to use and abuse!

So those are some of the non-quilt things I've been making lately!