Project: B's baby boy quilt

So many of my friends were having baby boys, while I was pregnant with a girl.
So here goes another boy quilt. 

The approx. finished dims were given as 38.5" x 42.5".

Here are the fabrics we decided on:

And off I went (after using graph paper to figure out the size of each of the blocks).

If you look closely, it basically turns into 4 rows with sashing strips between each row:

So, then I sewed the top row with the color blocks and the white strips in between. 

After that, I did made the wider row into two steps: add the sashing strips between the color blocks and then sew the vertical sashing strips in, completing the row.

Then I sewed a row together with the sashing strip to 3 of the 4 rows. Next, I put rows 1 and 2 together and then 3 and 4 together.

Once that was done, I needed to add the border by doing the vertical ones on the ends and then the top and bottom border.

The finished quilt top:

After that process was done (to make the quilt top),
the real fun began to figure out how I was going to quilt this.
I decided to take a look at the original posted quilt and took inspiration from that:
boats, stars, and waves.

So I started by drawing stars on the yellow and green areas:

And then boats on the whale fabric:

Basted it pretty quickly:

And traced on an infinity stencil on the white borders and sashings:

I quilted the stars by adding a ripple effect:

I did a swirly wave for the blues:

A better view of it on the backing:

All the quilting done (back view):

A close up:

Quilted front view:

Close up:

All trimmed up:

I did a lot of auditioning for which fabric would be the binding 

and I finally decided on this solid blue:

I did a zig-zag stitch for the binding:

And then it went into the washer and drier to get the marking off:

I'm so happy with how this turned out. 

There are no limits when you use some math in your life :)

Project: Triangle Baby Girl Quilt

So, I've been trying to find my groove again- the way in which my life seems "normal". A friend of mine is pregnant with baby girl number 2 and I couldn't help myself to ease myself back into sewing but by doing a simple triangle quilt for her. I gave her a plethora of fabric choices (because I have a ton to choose from still). This was our final decision (but as you can see from the second picture we needed just 1 more color to shake things up). The cream with birds and blue is a flannel backing we chose:

I used my handy dandy triangle ruler to cut them out (it's a 30 degree triangle ruler). I had already decided that the pattern would be 9 rows with 14 triangles across the top (two of which are halves).

First row up on the design wall:

All the triangles up on the wall, held up by pins:

First row sewn together:

Second row sewn and then sewn together to the top row:

(*I pressed the triangles in opposite directions so that they would 

nest/line up better when sewing the two rows together)

A close up shot of how well I was able to line up those triangle points 

(because I had to brag and was excited that it worked):

Then, the next wet of two rows sewn together:

And the two sets of two sewn together:

Rows 5 and 6 sewn together:

And then rows 7 and 8 sewn together and then sewn to rows 5 and 6:

Finally all the rows sewn together, for the final quilt top:

Basted the batting with the backing and quilt top:

We had decided to do simple, clean lines for the quilting, using the presser foot edge as the spacer:

All the quilting done:

We were torn for which color to use as the binding. Eventually, we chose the purple to give the quilt more of a pop:

Quilting all done - front (pre-wash):

Back (pre-wash):

Close up of the quilting (pre-wash):

All washed (with a shout color catcher which caught some purple)

Front:

Back:

Quilting up close on the back:

Folded over for a cool shot:

This quilt is going to be so well loved, I know it! The finished size ended up being 33.5" X 36".

Project: Baby Girl Quilt (a few months too late)

I feel terrible that this quilt is finally being worked on- It was supposed to be fast and before my friend's baby arrived... BUT, so much changed from when I was going to get it done until now (a BIG move, a crazy pregnancy, and some pressing jobs). Now I get to work on it. These colors are what I planned on working with as soon as she picked out this quilt. I bought the "skinny strips"* from Missouri Star Quilt Company (*"skinny strips" are just 1 1/2" strips). I love the colors and the design isn't that difficult. The pattern is free as well:(http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/kite_flight/)

The one pictured above was sold as a kit (that I didn't buy) and they used 2 1/2" strips instead of 1 1/2" strips but the pattern with the link used the 1 1/2" strips and I thought that would be a better fit for the baby quilt. I laid out all of the colors and started to group them together:

All bagged in their groups of threes:

I looked at the picture above and started sewing the strips into sets of 5 colors

(white at the beginning and end and then the three colors in the middle):

All pressed and ready to be cut:

Cut into triangles 

and hung on the design wall (different stages):

Identical to the original picture but not big enough:

Used all my pins and this is how much I could hang:

I had to start sewing blocks together so I could use more pins to finish up the design:

Design all finished up with some blocks made- 

I had to extend it out and down even more to make it a better crib sized quilt:

Quilt top finished:

Now, she wanted me to keep the quilting very clean lined and modern. 

The backing was requested to be white to keep with the simplicity of it as well.

Here it is all quilted and trimmed:

And then I used white binding to finish it off:

All laid out front and back before the wash:

And here it is all washed and dried and ready for delivery:

Close up:

What a fun quilt to make and I'm glad to send this off to it's rightful owner!

P.S. I did still use a color catcher on this quilt because I did not pre-wash the fabric. It did end up picking up some of the colors that would have bled.