Serenade for Matilda

I recently finished up another commissioned project - for the same coworker that got the last one! She asked for something girly with butterflies for her granddaughter, Matilda. Kate Spain's Serenade line seemed to fit the bill quite well, so I paired it with one of the gray Konas and went to town! I had a good time with this one - small and quick but very satisfying!

Before I get to photos - Fresh Squeezed Fabrics is having a contest where, if you get enough people to repin your favorite fabric bundle on Pinterest, you can WIN the bundle! I aimed low and went with a $15 bundle of Bella, so I need 15 repins - help! :) Check out my pin here, and repin to help me win! Check out the details to win your own bundle here.

On to photos!

There's my attempts at artsy quilt photography. Except that last one, where my leg got in the way. Whoops.

The pattern for the quilt is from the Moda Bake Shop - very fun/easy way to use charm packs, particularly ones with prints that you'd really like to feature. I think I might use this for a couple more charm packs I have, especially those where I have some yardage from the line too (like Little Apples or Guising, where I got matching solids).

Sold!

I'm a very happy gal right now. I just sold another one of my quilts to a coworker. Now, I'm no fabulous Etsy salesperson, making a ton of money on each quilt or anything like that, but I figure as long as I cover the cost of materials, I'd probably make the quilts anyway for fun, so my time doesn't really need to be paid for at this time.

Anyway, the latest finish that I've sold is this one, which I last blogged about on my big fat WIP post.

Here it is, all finished and on our bed for scale (it's a futon, which is roughly full-size - and sorry they're Instagram photos, it's the only way I can make myself take any these days!):

I called this one my cross-hatch quilt. I started it similar to a jelly-roll-race quilt, but cut it into pieces and used those as "blocks," which I sashed together in alternating directions.

This also marked my first attempt at free-motion quilting! The results weren't fantastic, but the whole thing definitely seems more feasible now, and with practice, I'm sure I could become okay at it. I mostly did straight-line, stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, but used these little swirlies across the big berry-colored, otherwise-plain section in the middle. 

And a close-up of the fabrics. They were mostly Joann red tag or remnant choices. The back is flannel, mostly teal with a stripe of barely-polka-dotted-pink across the center.

Overall I'm really pleased with the result, happy to have another quilt finished and out into the world, and excited to have a little more fabric money in my pocket!

Final FInish for Q1

I don't want to say too much about this one right now, other than it was for the Q1 Finish-a-Long at Quilter in The Gap, I said that I wanted to finish it, I've finished it, and here are photos to show you that I have. ;)

What I can say is that it makes a great lap quilt (as that's what I've been using it for!), the quilting is stitch-in-the-ditch, and it is backed with a very snuggly light blue flannel that matches the medallions in the fabric that runs across the middle of the last photograph.

Hooray for finishes! ;)

Finish - Sara's Wedding Quilt

If you haven't entered my giveaway, please click here - win some Pezzy charms for yourself (ends 3/23). 

Alrightyroo, I finished another quilt! Hooray!? Isn't it a great feeling?

It's a big giant star, with some red borders added on either end to make it a bit less square. Sara, its recipient, got married at the beginning of February and said that she and her hubs like dark colors. I'm terrible with surprises, so she's already seen it on Facebook and likes it. Yay!

 I quilted it on diagonal lines and really like the way it turned out. I look forward to doing pretty much the exact same thing with the other quilt top that came out of the project, except maybe with yellow instead of red. Any thoughts?

 Clearly I'm not the best quilt model...

As my arms get tired quickly. Thanks to hubby, though, for being my photographer!

Finish-a-long progress

I've made a bunch of progress and finished up three of the items on my Q1 finish-a-long list! I posted one f hte finishes the other day - it was the first quilt I sold. :)

Here is another of the ones I've finished for the finish-a-long. I started it sometime last fall and it was supposed to be done for Christmas.

Christmas, February 10th, they're pretty close. Who's counting?

It's a child sized ticker tape quilt - full of boy things like dinosaurs, puppies, elephants, lions, and a few trucks thrown in for good measure. For information on how to make a ticker tape quilt, check out Rachel's Bottled Rainbows project at Stitched in Color. (Check out her blog anyway, since it's pretty awesome).

Detail of the front and back. The back is all dinosaurs and snakes and turtles - icky boy things. ;)

A close up of some of the bits I used. I bought a box of scraps off Etsy that really helped with this. I probably have enough to make another one like this.

I think that every quilt comes with a lesson. The lesson from this one? When making a ticker tape quilt like this (one that doesn't really require too much precision), use safety pins instead of straight pins to keep the "ticker tapes" on while you're sewing them on! I was stuck with a LOT of pins while working on this one!

We delivered this to our friend Kerra and her youngest boy yesterday. I gave her another quilt for Christmas, for her youngest daughter. She has two more little ones to go (the next one's already on my UFO/WIP list for the finish-a-long, too - whoops!), plus one for her of course (which is already done!).

I hope everyone is having a productive weekend, too! :)

Edited 3/29/12: This is my first of three finishes for the Finish-A-Long hosted by Quilter in the Gap! :D First quarter to-do list can be viewed here.