Filling In Some Gaps

There are some gaps in what I've finished recently, and what I've actually posted about recently. In the last few months, I've finished a couple different quilts and smaller projects and forgot to share any pictures of them. We've been a little busy, soccer season is in full swing, but the end is in sight, so hopefully we'll get a better routine going in the next few weeks. 

I finished my Scrappy Trip to Ethiopia quilt in September. A family friend offered to quilt it for me, so it flew on down to Georgia, and came back looking so good! She chose circles for the quilting, and I love how it turned out!

This quilt was raffled off for a local family to take a mission trip to Ethopia, and surprise, my mother-in-law won it! I'm pretty excited for her to have it -- it's staying in the family! 

Another quilt I've been working on is a small, gray and red one, made of a fat quarter pack I got in a fabric swap a couple years ago. While I was piecing the top of this quilt, a friend's husband was in the hospital recovering for a pretty severe injury. I spent a lot of time praying while I put this one together.

It has such a special meaning to me, because I made it for a friend's little boy, who will be coming to the US very soon from Ethiopia. His adoption is almost finalized, and I am excited for him to use this quilt! Micah and I have prayed for him often, and many many times, so it seems fitting for him to have this one. 

For the back I used a gray flannel with white dots, and a red chevron for the binding. The quilting is a scallop design that I did free motion on my Pfaff, and I think it turned out alright. There are some inconsistencies, but it seemed to blend in alright. I need to get myself a good pair of grippy gloves that are solely for quilting, so I can get a better grip on the fabric! 

I have also finished a few other fun projects - one is a single Swoon block mini-quilt, which I made for my sister for her birthday. She hung it up in her dining room, by her sewing space. :) I really love this pattern, and I think I'll be making more soon! This picture is from when I was basting, of course, and I did straight-line quilting near the horizontal and vertical seams.

I also made this fun fabric banner for the baby shower I hosted last week -- I think it will live in Audrey's room eventually. At least, after her birthday party. I can't even believe that in 12 days, my baby will be a year old! 

Now I need to plan a quilt for her big-girl bed, which she'll move into sometime in the next two years. If I start now, maybe I can get it finished by her 3rd birthday? Maybe.

I've been working on Micah's Halloween costume the last week or so, and I'm excited to share the finished product in a couple of days! 

Orange and Teal Quilt

When I started planning the quilt I'm making for Micah's bed, I bought a bunch of gray, blue, green and orange fabric. Once I had it all together and had finished cutting, I didn't like the orange with the other colors.  So I set it aside and figured someday I'd use it.

In December, I got the sudden inspiration to piece together a quilt top using the orange squares I had already cut, and some extra blues I decided not to use in Micah's quilt. I also had some scraps (dots and a ___) that would coordinate alright, so I threw those in too.

This top has been sitting around in our house, waiting to be finished, as has a teal twin sized sheet that would coordinate perfectly. So, on Monday (I think... the days blur together a little bit), I sandwiched the quilt up, and I've been quilting it all week. 

I didn't have a piece of batting that was big enough for the entire quilt, so I improvised and used two separate pieces... so far I can't tell a difference, and there doesn't seem to be any lumps or anything where the seam is, but time will tell. I figured that since we were just going to use this for going to the park and around the house, I wasn't too worried about it.

I had fun with the quilting, using this as an opportunity to try some new techniques. I tried pebbling, which was pretty fun, but it sure used a lot of thread! And I also tried quilting words - I chose scriptures that are ones I really love and feel like our kids should know, and quilted them over the squares. It turned out alright. You can't read the words very well unless you spend a lot of time looking at it, but I like knowing that they're in there. From the back you can see the words a little better, but backwards.

Edited to add: Audrey started to cry and I forgot to type out the verses I put on the quilt! They are: 

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! - Psalm 34:8

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord  - Joshua 24:15

The Lord is gracious and compassionate.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall have everlasting life.- John 3:16

Audrey made sure to try it out too. She seemed to like it!

We'll put it to use for the first time tonight at our softball game!

Baby Franklin's Gray and Yellow Quilt

Here are a few pictures of the most recent quilt I finished. It is a baby quilt (but kid-sized) for our friends' new baby, due in June. The gender is a surprise, so I wanted to make something gender neutral. Our friends chose gray and yellow for the nursery, so I used that theme and ran with it.

I used a Riley Blake line of fabrics - Maritime Modern by Marin Sutton, which I ordered online from Hawthorne Threads. I really like their website, and the more fabric you buy, the better price you get! I also used a few Free Spirit solids, Arctic White, Jade, and Lemon.

For the pattern, I ordered the 'Bizzy Kid' pattern from Allison Harris of Cluck, Cluck Sew. I frequently read her blog, and I enjoy her take on modern quilting. Her version is very bright and colorful, so this is a different take on the pattern. 

When we went to my dad's house for Easter, I took my mom's sewing machine - which used to be my grandma's machine. It's one of the first computerized sewing machines, from the 90's. It's a Pfaff, and it's amazing! Much better than the Kenmore machine that I bought a few years ago. 

I used my machine to do all the piecing, and my mom's to do the quilting. It was fun to try free motion quilting again - it took a little practice to get the circles to seem somewhat circular!

I had so much fun making this quilt! I loved working on it, knowing that it was going to go to such a special little one. And I can't wait to share more of the projects I've been working on.