My Baby Girl is a TODDLER!

At the beginning of each month, I stick my child in this white wicker chair, in her bedroom, and take her picture.   Each month is a color of the rainbow (ROYGBP.)  I purchased the cotton onesies at various places, and hand-dyed them each month before the photo shoot.  I tried to keep her in matching white socks, and a matching bow (however bows,. .and ESPECIALLY socks, are very hard to keep up with)

Im' so excited I was able to keep doing this each month! I love the way they turned out!

 I have been super busy this past month, getting ready for her birthday party, and we just got back from the BEACH.  Here are a couple of her professional photos that were done by the AMAZING Sarah Dunlap

Here's my baby at her 1st birthday party, which was held at a local park.  

Her favorite gift was given to her by her Ant and Uncle - a baby grand piano (and I mean an ACTUAL "baby" grand piano.)   It's like a keyboard with various sounds and comes with a metronome and recording option.   Did Mommy and Daddy play with it more that her??  maybeeeeee

 Of course she enjoyed her obligatory chocolate cake!!!   ;c)

And along with the smiling monthly photos shown earlier, here are some of my favorites-  which I have deemed "DUDS,"   but show some of Mira's true personality ;c)

And finally, a few photos from our recent beach trip!  

Sorry for clogging up your feed with boring photos of my life - I will be back to quilting first thing in the morning!!!  ;c) 

Lavender, Pale Yellow, and Grey

My friend Trenta, a lady and fellow mom who graduated with my sister, requested this quilt for a baby shower gift.  The baby's name - Emma.  

The piecing for this quilt is rather simple, but we most certainly "fancied" it up!  She had very specific colors in mind for this quilt.  And these colors must be very popular, because there were so many combinations of these colors together at the fabric shop, it was not difficult at all for me to blend them.  They even had a chevron with all the colors in it!  

Lavender, Pale yellow, Grey, and White for the pieced background.  For the appliqued name and binding, we used a teal.  I secured the "Emma" with a straight stitch using raw-edge fusible applique.  Then for the background I wanted a very feminine, flow-y motif.  I really love this floral paisley design and it worked well for this quilt I believe.  I did a few small pebbles around the applique which made it stand out a bit more.  

The icing on the cake is the backing, which is that chevron with the perfect blend of all the colors!

I've never had so many random people stop me at the fabric store to "ooh" and "ahh" over my pile of fabrics ;c)

A WHALE of a baby quilt!

See what I did there?  
Tee Hee.
My moms friend and co-worker Shelly is having a baby boy!  She decided a week before her baby shower that she liked the theme of green and navy . . and whales.  I love it too, and [by the way] ever since I completed this quilt, I now see whales on baby clothes everywhere I go!  ;c)
Shelly still has not decided on a name, but that's okay we will add that to the quilt later, no problem.  But thankfully, I was able to at least make a quilt within her range of colors just in time for her baby shower.

I made this quilt similar to the applique baby quilts I have made previously.  I made a Monkey, an Owl, 2 Owls, and one with a puppy.  It's easy because you can take several colors or prints from the nursery, and use those throughout the quilt.  

I drew the image on fusible stabilizer, and then once the appliques were fused to the background, I used a raw-edge machine buttonhole stitch to secure.  

 I did a version of McTing for the large open background area and feathers in the two pieces areas.

 I used rick rack in two different shades of blue to give more of a "water" effect.   Also I hand sewed buttons for the whales eyes, and I used small glass beads for the birds eyes.  (I told her that she could easily remove them with a seam ripper if she feels they are too much of a hazard.)

What? Another Crown Royal Quilt Finished?

This pattern can be downloaded HERE

Why yes!!  Yes TIS true!  And this one is just as good if not better than the rest, if I do say so myself.

 I love taking a photo of all of my pieces after they are freshly pressed and cut!  To me, it's very much like a puzzle.  Soon they will all fit together precisely to make a beautiful quilt!

 anddd we have a completed TOP!   One lone black bag for this quilt - it is the shining star in the middle!

 Quilt top being basted and ready to quilt!

 And here we have our finished quilt.  The one big difference on this particular crown royal quilt, is that I stitched a name on the bottom right-hand corner in matching thick gold thread.   I used a wide zig-zag stitch and my darning foot for  hand-guided machine embroidery.  My lovely customer chose the font and size.  If she is reading this - THANK YOU for your patience with me, and helping me decide on the size and font ;c)  I am verrryyyy indecisive!

Again, I have this pattern for sale as a downloadable PDF on etsy https://www.etsy.com/listing/168133712/pdf-royal-star-quilt-pattern-booklet?

2 Quilts finished for Baby Holden and Baby Corey

So many babies being born!!   So many of my friends are having babies right now - what a blessing. .  and what a joy to get to make so many fun baby quilts!  I love the look of this style of baby quilt.   Simple patchwork border, and solid center with the appliqued name.   Perfect for "tummy time" and . . PHOTOS!

Baby Holden, will be born to my friends the Roopers, Missy and Jason.   Their baby's room is very MODERN and colorful, full of bright orange, turquoise, grey and chevrons.

Baby Corey will be born to my friends Beth and Matt.  They have a more traditional style with boyish greens, browns, and dusty blues.

Each style equally beautiful, and equally unique.  So I had lots of fun making these together.

 A closeup of the quilting.  I went with a "modern" style of quilting for the modern quilt, and a more "traditional" motif for the traditional one.

 Here I am assembling a monkey ;c)

Quilt TOPS finished, complete with applique, before quilting.

Beth's Quilt for Baby Emma

 A beautiful baby quilt with patchwork greys in subtle prints, with pretty pink applique, border, and binding.

 Here's the top finished, and basted before adding applique.

 I do a technique called raw-edge fusible applique, and I go through all layers of the quilt.    So here I start with the background quilting first.  I'm using a paisley flower motif.

 Love the quilting ;c)

Mark's Alzheimer's Awareness T-shirt Quilt

My friends Mark and Kristen had me make a quilt out of all of Mark's Alzheimer's T-shirts.
Since most of the shirts were of similar color and shade, I cut strips of all of my purple PRINT fabrics, and used those to break up the monotony of the purple.  I think it turned out so good!