Elle's Unicorn: A Finished Quilt

A colleague whom I cherish recently gave birth to a precious baby girl. This Lisa the Unicorn quilt (an Elizabeth Hartman pattern) seemed the perfect choice. The background is Kona UltraMarine. 

For the unicorn's mane I used all Alison Glass Sunprints and I LOVE how it turned out. The unicorn's horn is Tula Pink.

The backing is an old OOP Aneela Hooey print that I find charming, in a light pink.

I did organic straight-ish line quilting.

The wee bub (and her mom) loved the quilt!

Jungle: A Finished Quilt

A lovely human being at work, whom I consider both a co-worker and a friend, was having a baby. And we all know what that means. Baby quilt!

She did not want to find out the sex of the baby and decorated the nursery using a jungle theme and I knew JUST the Rifle Paper Co. fabric to make her vision happen.

Here is Jungle:

 This pattern is called Zebra Crossing and you may recognize it because it is maybe my sixth time using it? It makes such a sweet, quick baby quilt that highlights the fabrics but doesn't take too much time.

 You can see the Rifle Paper Co. fabric I started with. And look at those Cotton + Steel tigers!! Aren't they precious? I am all heart-eyes over the fabrics in this quilt!

 Including some Lizzy House mini Pearl Bracelets on the back! (In Dragonfly). 

It was gifted June 26 and good thing because this sweet baby boy arrived two weeks early on July 1! His wonderful mama already sent me this picture of him snoozing on his new quilt. Couldn't you just eat him?

2018 Wrap Up

Blogging is just not something I seem to prioritize these days, which is also the case for the vast majority of quilters I know who have blogs. Still, I see this blog as a way of tracking finishes and goals and so I will do a wrap up of 2018.

My goals as set in January were:
1. Turquoise and yellow quilt for my cousin's new baby that I made but have been avoiding basting. FINISHED!

2. Teal and grey baby quilt for a friend. FINISHED!

3. Finish binding my Christmas Improv Quilt. FINISHED!

4. Quilt the Rainbow picnic quilt. FINISHED!

5. Quilt my Aviatrix Medallion. FINISHED! (Though technically I had it quilted).

6. Finish a Knuffle Bunny quilt I have waiting. FINISHED!

7. Pineapple Farm Quilt (for April). FINISHED!

8. Gamer Quilt (for hubby...maybe March for his birthday?) FINISHED! (Though for our anniversary in July instead).

9. Finish the QB travelling quilt that I have been doing with friends...assuming C gets out of thumb jail after some minor surgery on her hand in the new year. FINISHED! (Just waiting for A and C to finish so we can exchange at March Break!) I can't show you a picture because they haven't seen it yet!


I also made these things in 2018:

Baby quilt for a co-worker

A map quilt of Southern Ontario from a workshop I took through the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild with 3rd Story Workshop.

Pillowcases for my nephews.

A shoe storage bag for packing for my MIL.

A pineapple Sew Together Bag for my MIL (my other MIL...yes, I have two!)

I kept it simple for her and she loves it.

I used the stars I won at the West End Modern Quilt Guild for our Block Lotto to make this baby quilt to donate.

I made 17 of these vinyl pouches using the pattern Pouch with a View from Three Owls.

They will be the goodie bags for my daughter's fifth birthday party the second weekend in January.

And they have these adorable charms on them.

I put binding on this quilt that my friend C pieced and A quilted as a gift to a principal friend who was retiring.

My older daughter had a sleepover party in October and each girl got a pillowcase.

A Peppa Pig pillowcase for my youngest daughter and a Mario pillowcase for my best friend's son.

I made more of these then I can count, but this large size (Project) was for a family friend's son who LOVES flamingos. It held his birthday gift.

This Thank you Nadia quilt for my daughter's Grade 4 teacher in June. I guess I never posted about it? It uses the free Art Gallery Plenum pattern and I quite love it. (The teacher's favourite colour is red).

So I was busy quilting. I do not have as many quilt finishes as I normally would (only 11 this year) because of our new, furry family member who arrived in August. Basting has now become impossible because of the help of our very friendly puppy. I have FOUR quilts ready to baste at my friend A's house later this week! So stay tuned for some new finishes soon!

Hooray for another awesome year with lots of great finishes!

Alpine Company: A Finished Quilt

A man at work is expecting his second child, a little boy, this coming July. I have no idea what the nursery colours are and didn't have a lot of time so I went with my go-to baby quilt pattern. I started with these adorable black bears on a cream background and then built a white, black, grey and gold quilt around them. I have to tell you, I LOVE this quilt, so if the new owner isn't a fan I will gladly keep it for myself!

Here is Alpine Company:

The polka dot binding makes me giggle. I had a bit of the Nummer fabric from Ikea left in my stash and decided this was a great, modern choice for this modern quilt.

The overall impact is so cute.

Those black and white mountains had me giggling in delight. I don't even remember how or when they ended up in my stash!

A strip of bears brought the backing up to size.

This will be gifted to my co-worker next week. I hope his new bundle of joy enjoys it!

Kitties: A Finished Quilt

A former co-worker recently had a baby boy. When I asked about the colours of his nursery she let me know that she was keeping the same colours her daughter had, teal and grey. The daughter received Meow Mix from me when she was born, and so I jumped on making another teal and grey kitty quilt (they love cats at their house!)

I also had the perfect fabric on hand- a fat eighth bundle of Sarah Watt's line Cat Lady she did for Cotton + Steel. 

I used some Alison Glass feathers and some other neutrals from my stash to even out the colours, and I love this pattern for baby quilts. I think this might be my sixth (?) quilt using this pattern. 

I love this cat twisted to lick himself. So typically cat.

The back is a bunch of a Cat Lady print I had in my stash plus some other leftover bits. Love using up little pieces on the back!!

I will be sending this to the parents (and a gift for big sister too!) and I hope they find it charming. 

Hooking up with Finish It Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Sunshine Menagerie: A Finished Quilt

I have had a fat eighth bundle of Bungle Jungle sitting around for four years, since I made quilts for twins that were arriving for close friends. When I found out that my cousin was expecting a little boy  I thought it was a great opportunity to pull out the fat eighth, pull out the turquoise and yellow colour way and put together a sweet and simple baby quilt for her.

Here is Sunshine Menagerie:

The squares are 8x8 with some squares made of two pieces for some visual interest. I added one other yellow print from my stash because I didn't have quite enough from the fat eighth bundle.

The quilting is very simple straight-ish lines on either side of the seams, plus a double line down the centre (vertically not horizontally) because 8x8 blocks are quite large to leave without some additional quilting. I want this one to hold up in the wash! 

The back is a yellow I had in my stash with a strip of this Joel Dewberry print on the side. That same herringbone print is also the entire binding.

Simple and sweet and on the way to a new baby for tummy time and snuggles!

Moving Mountains: A Finished Quilt

My dear friend, whom I've known literally my entire life as our moms are best friends, had her second child in mid-November. He is a tiny little peanut and he is sheer perfection. Obviously I was going to make him a quilt.

My friend is very particular about...everything, really, so I let her tell me what she wanted for his quilt. She picked the pattern by scrolling through Pinterest, then came over to my house and went through my solids and my Kona card to pick the colours. She also ordered one fat quarter of a special origami fox print from Spoonflower for me to add in as a couple of HSTs. I was surprised when she let me pick the backing- ha!

She is delighted with the end result and promised me pictures of my wee "nephew" on his quilt as soon as she can manage. 

Here is Moving Mountains:

The quilt is intentionally very modern (as per mom's taste) and is also simple HSTs.

For any "mountains" that had white space above them I did some loose echo quilting.

The backing is all one fabric because that is also what the mom prefers.

I used this grey fabric that looks like a lot of tally marks. I am not even sure who makes it but it was the perfect modern, neutral fabric for this quilt while still having something slightly interesting going on.

 Baby is still very tiny and it certainly won't be in his crib until he is older, but I anticipate some tummy time will be on his quilt from me!

WIP Wednesday: Back to School is Cramping My Style

I am back to work (as a teacher I have July and August off so I have more sewing time) and it has meant a real slow down in progress.

Here is what I am working on:
1. I have my Christmas Tree quilt top finished. I need to piece the backing and then baste and quilt it.

2. My #QBTravellingquilt exchange is set for September 16 which is also the first meeting of the West End Modern Quilt Guild- my first ever guild! It is brand new. I will let you know how it goes! I have a round this time with my friend C's quilt. I will only show you a sneak peek until she sees it in person.

Cutting through an Ex Libris panel is PAINFUL.

Marlowe does a good job keeping an eye on things.

3. I also basted my Snail Along Quilt (named Molasses) and have it ready to quilt when the opportunity next turns up.

4.  In addition I have been working away on both a quilt and a pillow for a new baby arriving in November to a very close friend. (The new baby's big sister is my goddaughter). This pattern from 3rd Story Workshop will be turned into a pillow for baby's nursery. Isn't it precious?

Now if only I didn't have to do things like feed my children or do all my school work!