one and done

If you are my real life friend and just had a baby, close your eyes and leave right now! Your husband is bringing you this gift tonight :)
I finally finally finished one of my three in-progress baby quilts. And not even the one I was working on earlier this week. This is a baby quilt I started working on back in September, although I saw the fabric back in March. I based the blanket off of an idea in Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts- "Follow the Lines."


I didn't quilt nearly as much as that quilt called for, but I started in the middle by outlining every third or fourth animal, spreading outwards towards the edges. This way there would be no bunching or wrinkled fabric.


The fabric is Alexander Henry 2D Zoo in the blue colorway, and it's for a lucky baby boy! I bought flannel backing from JoAnn's, and regular blue double-fold bias tape for the edges, which I zig-zagged on.


The outline stitching did indeed take forever, but I made double use of my time by watching Season 1 of Mad Men (although the beautiful sets and costumes made it hard to focus on sewing). Last night I watched an episode of Samantha Who, The Daily Show, and two of Colbert Report while finishing and then re-fixing the bias tape.

I'm very proud of this blanket. The sewing might not be the best ever, but I love love love the fabric and hope that his (super cool) parents like it too!

in progress pictures

I figured out bias-tape binding, for the most part. Let me start by saying that making your own bias-tape? SO NOT WORTH IT. Even if it does coordinate with the fabric, it took two hours to make. And it's still not even. Do you know how much it sells for at Jo-Ann? Like two bucks.

I used a tutorial to cut one long continuous strip of bias tape. I'd say it was easier than cutting each strip individually and then trying to sew them all together, but it wasn't easy. I also had problems seeing my lines on the fabric, even with yellow colored pencil (busting out the art supplies!). When it came time to put the tube together, I had to just hope that the lines would line up after I sewed it. They did, but they were just a wee bit off. That made my strips a bit uneven, which I could have fixed but I was not in the mood.

I used the needle-method to fold my bias tape. It's easier if you think of the needle only as a guide- you still need to fold the fabric to the middle, but the needle is there to help hold it while you iron it. I was expecting it to just magically fold my bias tape for me. Sadly, this was not the case.

I still have to sew the bias tape onto the back, but this is roughly what it looks like. Please ignore the dangling threads!

so close

I was so highly productive today...but I didn't quite get everything accomplished. I:
-donated blood (1/8th of my way to a 101 Things goal)
-ran a bajillion errands, including buying two new shirts for work- one a Colts Jersey on clearance at Marshall's for $15! SCORE!)
-picked up a new wooden Christmas tree cutout to paint, since the dog ate my last one
-signed up at postcrossing
-watched Iron Man
-watched Jane Austen Book Club, and now I need to read Pride and Prejudice again
-quilted the top of the pink/brown baby quilt- simple but completed!
-painted the tree's first few coats
-began making bias tape with my new bias tape doomaflager, only to discover it's not very wide and not very straight
-found this tutorial instead and will have to try it tomorrow. How wide should bias tape be??

not much to say today

Notice I am typing and surfing the internets instead of working on my quilts. I started machine quilting the pink quilt I'm working on and blah. I hate the pink thread, but my brown thread has been chewed on by Bristow (Surprise!). I could work on the binding for the blue one or the piecing for the other blue one, but I just have no motivation. I should have just bought them some books instead :) I did finish the wordle cards for some other baby gifts, so at least I finished one thing today. Sigh...I'd much rather curl up under my blanket and watch Iron Man or Mad Men. :)

the general idea

I made yet another trip to the fabric store for these baby quilts I'm making. I have lost track of how many trips/yards/patterns I've purchased. I had three rows pieced together for J's quilt, and yesterday when I ironed it, I realized I hated it. I'm not very good at combining patterns. So I'm on version B now!

pink gone wrong:


what's with all the purple?

baby quilt

I am 95% done with the baby quilt I made for my friend. I still have to sew up a spot or two and do the quilting, but other than that, Finito!!! My first quilt, and the first thing I've sewn in years. Now that I've brushed up, I can work on the duvet cover for my bedroom.

I used a pattern from "Quick Colorful Quilts for Babies and Toddlers" by Rosemary Wilkinson. It was a very basic book, although I had to do quite a bit of math in order to cut out the rectangles. But I think it turned out well. All of the seams and joints between rectangles lined up and everything.

zippidee doo dah!

Zippidee zoo! I bought this adorable fabric for an upcoming baby quilt- bright colors, gender neutral, matches the nursery, and cute to boot!



I haven't yet picked a pattern, but it will probably be something very Denyse Schmidt-like, maybe like the one in Last Minute Patchwork Gifts, like this.

baby blankie

I've been working on an idea for my first quilt, a baby blanket. I started looking online this weekend for fabric, and fell in love with this Alexander Henry fabric:




However, it seems to be sold out everywhere and eBay wants $8 for a fat quarter. That is crazy! so instead I've set my sights a bit lower and settled on some different jungle fabric. I hope it comes in the mail soon; I want to get started!