Four Bears

I enjoy using scraps, making smallish quilts and particularly making quilts for new babies. So my latest finish ticks all my boxes. I have made one of these before and since its made from 2 and half inch strips, it goes together quite quickly. The fun comes in the quilting.

I managed to get a photo just as the sunlight was beginning to fade so there is a little shadowing but it also shows up the quilting quite well - just a fun loopy feather type shape that adds texture but leaves the quilt feeling nice and cuddly soft.

The gender of the baby was not known when I made the quilt, I thought it was quite nice that the first time parents wanted a surprise, so didn't find out what they were having (since knowing seems to be the norm). I found out last night that they've had a little girl, so these reddish/pink bears will be just fine - not that it would have mattered for a boy either since the bears are mostly brownish and really do we care about colours for babies?

The quilt finishes around 46" square and I had a lovely buttermilk yellow for the backing which was the right size - another win. So here it is:

Kind of looks more beige here, but trust me it's a lovely creamy yellow. I had enough of the brown from the top right bear for the binding, so this was all from my stash. 

All I need to do now is add the label and it will be on its way to the family by the end of the week. 

Now, back to all these 2 and half inch squares:

Keeps me busy and out of trouble!

Until next time,

Lynn

Baby Blue

Sometimes I wonder how it is that I imagine I will achieve/cram a great deal into a short time. I planned to spend five days at our holiday place just on my own (plus my faithful dog companion). I thought I'd manage to do quite a bit of quilting, as well as walking along the beach. But what was I thinking when I packed 3 books, and at least 5 projects? At least this time I thought I'd brought my box of small bits of fabric, plus a basket and another couple of bags of scraps.

So I began one small project, but realised, no, I hadn't brought the piece of navy that I now needed to try as a border. So that one would have to wait - but that's why I brought all the other pieces of fabric, to either finish one of the projects (one that only needs to have its borders added, its a quit as you go; or the other that needs to be pinned up and quilted). But no, I felt like beginning another one. So fortunately, since its a baby quilt, I managed to get this one together - but really what was I thinking with the other projects and books - was I thinking I'd complete one each day?

This simple squares with the white sashing in between came together very quickly. I had bought a pack of scraps - they are so well co-ordinated by my local fabric shop, they are irresistible.  I added a couple of other fabrics I had - thanks to the box! Since its a baby quilt I thought a simple cross hatching and then some loops in the sashing would work well.

I'm happy with how it came together. The backing is a quieter pastel shade and I had just enough of the fabric I wanted to use, along with a co-ordinating green, to do the binding.

So I may not have achieved as much as I might have hoped, but it has been both relaxing and satisfying and the rest will just have to wait in line ......till next time.

Baby quilt size 41" square
Blocks 5" raw; sashing 2 3/4" raw

Lynn

Elephants and Rails

It's hard to believe it's almost winter 'down under'. I spent last weekend about a 4 and a half hour drive away at our recently acquired holiday place. It's so exciting after 10 years of dreaming. Why would I drive so far for 2 nights? Well it is SO peaceful and serene. And it has a beach that is a 5 minute walk from our place. Here's a shot around 7:30am and remember this is the end of Autumn (Fall) here.

It was so warm by the afternoon that I thought I'd wander down and see if a swim was a real possibility. When I got there seems I wasn't the only one with the same idea. Two other women were already in! It was beautiful and amazing. I wouldn't have expected to swim in late May.

I was also able to do some patchwork - pure pleasure. So I now have my Elephants and Rails sandwiched and ready to quilt. It's only a small cot sized quilt for a young couple who are sadly leaving Australia to return to Europe. I thought the 'elephant never forgets' idea would be a reminder to them of the community they connected with here, in the fabric. 

Here's the 'before quilting'

 And then the 'after' with some cross hatching on the turquoise frame and some squiggle free-motion on the lime frame. The elephant blocks I did some 'Baptist fan' pattern, which both tends to outline the elephants and is a shape like an elephants ear so that's fun.

Here's a close up of the fan pattern: 

And then on the back, I found this cute all over elephant fabric which just seems to go: 

So a fun baby quilt for a lovely couple. Hope they like it. 

Until next time,

Lynn

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation and Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Arkansas Crossing

I've finished my Arkansas Crossing quilt! Having been working on low volume, it was quite a shift to go back to the bright squares and to further complicate things, the walking foot on my machine that has more throat space (1600P QC) broke recently. I've ordered a replacement but it hasn't arrived yet and I really wanted to get on and quilt those squares. So my domestic Janome Excel 5024 had a work out today. And it's a faithful little machine.

Straight lines are what I chose to emphasize the 'crossings' but having looked at some others on Pinterest (should have looked before I began!) I think if I did this again I may do something more free-motion. But this is for a child's quilt, so plain is probably best. There are some fun prints in there that I hope siblings will have fun pointing out or maybe playing games with.

There are some fruits, animals and so on, and the backing is a quite cute one with 5 different children playing games. 

So having completed that one, it's back to the low-volume piecing and maybe some other bits and pieces I should finish up - but at least that's the norm for quilters, a number of works in progress.

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Until next time,
Lynn

Works in Progress

Mid week and the temperature is warming up here in Perth – that’s anything beyond 30 degrees celsius in my book and by the weekend it’s forecast to be around 30! Thank goodness for air conditioning. Staying home (or heading to the movies) is a good plan. So I hope to work on some works in progress, 2 that are cot sized quilts and the third another bag.
The first that will begin to get its quilting on is most likely this ‘Arkansas crossing’ pattern that is a great one for using up more of the ever present scraps. I have quite a few child friendly ones and I just keep plodding at using them up. I like the calm, rest your eye paths the pale green makes as well.

Arkansaw crossing pattern - WIP

The second is still using up some scraps, but alternated with some cute Winnie the Pooh fabric. I don’t often subscribe to the ‘pink for girls, blue for boys’ idea, but I began it without knowing who it was destined for but am very pleased to find out that one of my friends who is pregnant has found out it is a boy (after 2 girls she’s not sure what she’s in for but I’m sure she and her husband are delighted).

Winnie the Pooh - for a boy!

And then there’s another bag – still in one large rectangle at this stage. It’s planned for a ‘musical’ friend, so it was fun to make the musical fabric squares the feature. I can see myself making other bags with various patterns within the large rectangle that is quilted to make the bag. There is something very satisfying in the time it takes to make them as well as their usefulness and delight friends seem to have on receiving them – wins all round I say.

Soon to be bag

All the best with whatever you are up to this week. I’m linking up to Freshly Pieced Modern Quilts

Until next time,
Lynn