Rainbow Baby Quilt Top

I've been working with an etsy client on this personalized baby quilt. I do love a rainbow quilt! The top is all done and was made with Good Morning fabrics by Me and My Sister Designs from Moda. The pattern is another one from Three Times a Charm, book 2 by Me and My Sister Designs. That book has so many cute patterns for baby quilts. And these fabrics, wow, they are so bright and cheerful! This quilt top was featured at Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday!!

The backing is going to be an adorable owl print by Timeless Treasures. The owls will be all used up after this quilt - I need more. The teal squiggle is one of my all time favorites by Tim and Beck from Bungle Jungle.

We were auditioning fabrics for the personalization and ultimately went with the pink on pink print for the baby name. I used wonder under and appliqued with my Pfaff to attach the letters. You can take a look at the finished rainbow baby quilt here.

I was also asked to join do.Good Stitches, a charity bee, this week! Umm, for sure, I am in! I joined the Promise circle, which benefits orphaned children through Threading Hope. This month we are working on Jacobs ladder blocks (mine are all done) and I've got to come up with a block as I'm going to be the quilter for February which is coming up super fast!  Eek!  I'm thinking mustard, mint, navy and hot pink fabrics - sounds yummy! But I change my mind a lot....

I also finished another dog quilt this time for a Bichon Frise! You can check out The Sophie on my instagram

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts From Bolt to Beauty Quilt Story and Whoop Whoop Friday 

The Bella Chica

I'm sure everyone is nearly tired of me yacking about my latest dog quilts but what can I say - that's what I've been working on! Plus they all have a story to capture and if I don't do it here I'll probably forget! The Bella Chica is my latest finish. This dog quilt is for an apricot colored mini poodle. She's a new puppy gift/memorial gift for a spa owner in Arizona.

The Bella Chica was done in deep purples and bright pinks with pops of lime. The house, letters and binding are all by Art Gallery. Two different batik fabrics were used for her head, ears and paws. I managed to find just the right shade of pink minky dot for the backing. When I'm quilting with minky I try to stick to 'easier' free motion quilting patterns like the meander. Even though meandering isn't that easy for me - I always struggle with keeping the pattern moving and not getting stuck in doing a repeat of the same bubble over and over. I noticed that one of the issues when quilting with minky is that it is a little harder to move freely while fmq and I feel myself really pushing and pulling the fabric and sometimes getting stuck which results in slightly squared off meanders, yuck! The Supreme Slider was recommended by one of my lqs to help with that issue. I ordered one on Amazon the other day since I have two more minky backed quilts coming up and I'll see if that makes a difference. 

The Bella Chica has been shipped off to sunny Arizona and I'm onto the next dog quilt, a bichon frise in pink on pink (and more pink!)! I also took out my remaining teal and pink strips from my Gumballs quilt and pillow and have been sewing them together... we'll see what comes out this time! 

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts Val's Quilting Studio and Whoop Whoop Friday 

What's In a Name

I had a tiny handful of WIPs unfinished in 2014 and my name tag for my guild meetings was one of them. I did manage to finish it up just in time for our January meeting!

I didn't have much of a plan in creating this. I started with a small white rectangle of Kona white, apx 3.5x5, and just added my favorite scraps until I was happy with how they looked. I moved the whole mess onto a piece of scrap batting and backing. I free motion quilted the little scraps in place starting with those closest to the back. There was a little deconstructing and reconstructing involved with that. I free motion embroidered my name to the dark teal solid with a piece of stabilizer behind it and then attached it to the top of all the other scraps using the special stitch, which reminds me of bird footsteps, along the bottom and straight stitch around the top and sides. That was my second attempt at my name... the first attempt had a better R at the end but messier is other places. Hope its legible! Or close enough! I mean really, its the fun colors and prints that matters the most isn't it!?

And look, there's that design wall I was yacking about awhile back. Seems like a good place to hang it up so I don't forget to take it along... we'll see if that works anyways! Sort of brightens up the space too!

I don't think the Kona white was entirely necessary but it forced me to stay within my limitations otherwise I would have just making it bigger and bigger - I had lots of other 'favorite' scraps waiting in the wings. As it is I'm already going to need a bigger chest to display this beauty! I didn't think to measure that...

I backed it with more little birds and attached a scrap piece of teal binding... always love a teal binding!

Link Parti's 

Take a look at the linki parti's I get down with here or by clicking on the Linki Parti's link above. Linking up to crazy mom quilts, Richard and Tanya Quilts Quilt Matters My Quilt Infatuation and Whoop Whoop Friday