Quilt for Gavin

The last thing on my 2009 To-Do List was to make a quilt for my friend's new baby. He was due January 1st, but arrived a little early, healthy and gorgeous.

This was the perfect opportunity to use a portion of the giant Box O' Fabric from Heather Ross. I love her fabrics, and they're perfect for new babies. No pastels for these artist parents!



A little bit of washing.



A little bit of drying. Some cutting and a lot of ironing. I kept it simple, and made 6" x 6" squares, 4" wide strips and 2.5" strips. Then I ironed it fastidiously, but didn't agonize over uneven lines. You know that I'm a lazy quilter!



I wanted to make sure that the colors were not all lumped together, especially with the squares. The strips were put together more haphazardly. I have a tendency to put certain colors together, so tried to break it up a bit.

I made it on the generous side, clocking in at 45" x 60". The front is pieced together with a thick batting and soft chocolate brown fleece. The green cordury edges are not perfect, but the new mama is not one to notice. So I let it go and didn't worry about it. Plus, I had a deadline! I was co-hosting the baby shower with friends.



She loved it, and I'm really happy with the results. The baby is using it already, I hear!



Happy New Year, by the way! Wishing you all health and happiness for 2010. Twenty Ten? Veinte Diez? Whatever you'd like to call it...

June To-Do List

Why is it that the small odds and ends of projects to wrap up can be more daunting than a monstrous project? As a recovering procrastinator, I think that my mom was right. If I would just sit down and get it done, the task would be completed in no time. I waste more time dreading finishing something than actually doing it!

I created an illustrated to-do list in order to delay the completion of said tasks further. (Perhaps I'm a ex-procrastinator in training...)



The most daunting of my small tasks was sewing the bottom of the quilt Mike and I nearly completed in 2006. We've been using it for two years, mind you. I did not understand the concept of a quilt sandwich at the time (it's called the Internet, why didn't I use it?!). I thought it made the most sense to create a duvet and sew the batting inside. Yes, I now know that it was the worst idea in the history of the world. You all are quite smart, and I know that none of you will ever do that! Lesson learned, and the quilt is still great. I fixed it the best I could, and am okay with it not being perfect.



My long term goal is to become a LEED Accredited Professional. I spent this past Saturday taking an all day course to learn about Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). I have a lot of studying and memorizing to do this summer, but I'm looking forward to learning, and hopefully taking the exam in the fall.

I may have completed some other small projects that I hope to reveal after some drying and daylight.

Sonny's Quilt

Sonny's Quilt is finished!


I wanted it to be machine washable, so I stitched the heck out of it and tested it out in my mom's washer and dryer.

Luckily I did that, since a small part opened up. My awesome Mom stitched it up while I did a janky embroidery job. It was very quick because I was so excited and impatient to see Brooke and Sonny.



My highschool friends call me "Merce", which is the mumbled form of "Mah-riss" created by an old friend with a thick Puerto-Rican accent. It's probably my favorite nickname.

Here's the photo shoot on my front lawn in December no less!



Here's the finished product! It's not perfect, but Brooke and Lou loved it.



It's the perfect size for Sonny to roll around on the floor and play, when he gets a wee bit older.

Quilting Karma

Brooke is my sister from another mister. We met in the eighth grade when we were just emerging from that extremely dorky stage. I had a fake tooth attached to a retainer that could pop out on command. Brooke had poufy hair and braces.

We bicker like sisters, but she lets me sit on her lap during really scary movies if I promise not to scream. We've been though all the aches and pains of growing up, as well as some of the harder parts of life, too early. I've watched her grow up, and tomorrow, she'll be a mom. I know she's going to be a great one.

There is an old wives tale that babies cannot be born until the handcrafted present is finished. I needed some cute cotton and fast! So on Saturday afternoon, I checked out Cloth and Bobbin at Aimee's recommendation.

I came home with this loot. I must confess, the purple and turquoise toile are for me.



Inspired by the lovely Denise Schmidt, I decided to do five vertical panels full of various sizes of rectangles. The quilting gods must have been cringing as I rotary-cut, eye-balled, approximated and made do, resulting in this:

But after a quick spin with the iron, I had this:



It's not fully completed, but I think getting the top done in one day is enough good crafting karma that Brooke can have her baby safely tomorrow. Adding my civic karma of jury duty today, and I think they will be fine.

Collaborative Stash Quilt

Lisa had the fantastic idea to collaborate on a baby quilt for Courtney's pending arrival. Lisa kept describing our collaboration as anal retentive meeting creative and carefree (or something along those lines, but in a way that didn't sound like bad writing for feminine care products).



I am obviously the lackadaisical and creative one, as I am constantly eye-balling, and don't always measure. Lisa is the creative one with great attention for detail (let's not call her anal). She hand-stitched a gorgeous quilt comprised of 1" squares that are all Liberty of London fabric. It's swoon-worthy, I tell you. Go harass her to post a picture of it, I've tried.

Our goal was to make a quilt that was uni-sex, would suit the styles of the parents (no boring pastels here!), and be just plain fun. The majority of the fabric was from Lisa's vast and organized stash. You may recognize the yellow dog fabric left over from Adjani's Quilt.



We spent one Sunday afternoon drinking pear cider, cutting, ironing, and sewing the top together. Then we divided and conquered.

I sandwiched and hand-stitched the quilt layers together.



Lisa created bias tape using the fabrics from the top, and hand-stitched it up. She also washed that puppy, which is great, because my local laundromat is slightly sketchy...



This type of quilt is a great present, since it looks like you labored away, but it really was so much easier that knitting something. (Um, especially for Courtney, since she is a knitting master!).

Best wishes to Courtney and Max!

P.S. You can see the finished version with bound edges here.