Pretty Bird Quilt

My latest finish is a quilt & pillow set commissioned by a relative for her little girl. She chose the fabric collection 'Pretty Bird' by Pillow & Maxfield & I added in some Kona Ocean, Grass & Robin's Egg Blue to round things out.
It is approx 45x60" and I quilted it with straight lines.

Pretty Bird Quilt a photo by twelfthzodiac on Flickr.

Side B


I am proud of this project! The pillows all have invisible zippers - it was my first time using these & they turned out so good, it's hard to find the zips even when you're looking for them... lol...that could be just me though :P

Mira

Mira a photo by twelfthzodiac on Flickr.

This kitten just loves to fur up quilts that aren't hers!
This was right before it went into the laundry though, so it was okay.
The little stinker.

Summer Sampler Series - The First Three

Has anyone else been following this quilt along? I first read about it on Faith's blog,  fresh lemons (although there are three blog hosts contributing) & I think the striking solid colour mock-ups are what convinced me to give it a try! I mean, just look at that awesome badge over there -->  I can't wait to see Faith's quilt all finished up in those colours.

Having finished the first 3 blocks & spending some time looking through the flickr group, I have to say that the solid fabric blocks are my favourite! If I had them on me, I'd use them too. Which is actually shocking to me as I am using one of my all time favourite collections, Modern Meadow. It just looks so good in solids!

This will be a quilt for myself  :)
Here are my first 3 blocks.

North Star, Greek Cross & Mosaic

These blocks are growing on me... I think my issue is that I am not used to this type of piecing so I'm not able to visualize what the block will end up looking like, which makes fabric selection more like guesswork. If I were making more than one block with the same design, I could play around with the fabrics a little more, mix & match to see what I like best.

 I'm not even sure you could call what I have done in my quilting career up to this point 'piecing'. My strip quilts & 'make it up as I go' patterns are so much easier than this! These are the first triangles I've ever done. I was laughing through the first 2 blocks, but 'mosiac', with all those HST (half square triangles)?! omg. That was so not fun! I am finding my 1/4" seam is not very accurate & that threw off everything. I only let myself rip out one line of stitching that desperately needed it. For everything else I am reminding myself that this quilt is for me & it doesn't have to be perfect.

I hope to tackle the next two tonight. After all the HST's of block #4, I will be so grateful to try paper piecing! So many firsts here for me. It may not feel comfortable yet, but I'm happy to be learning a few things & challenging myself to the point where I *feel* the challenge, but I don't want to throw my sewing machine out the window. Yet.

Summertime

In the last couple weeks, I have started & finished a baby quilt for *someone*. Since it is a surprise gift, I'm not sure I should share it on here...but I'm fairly sure I can't wait until the end of the summer to show it off - I am in LOVE with the fabrics*!
*which, of course, means they are Dewberry

While I have a little inner debate about it ...I give you this nice photo of my nieces with their toes in the water, just because I love it  :)

Toes in the pond = equals = fish nibbles!



Getting back into the s[e]wing of things

I can't say if it has been the warm weather finally arriving or what, but I have not been able to sew much lately. Sewing is always on my mind & I frequently go look at my fabrics/ideas, jot down notes & to do lists, organize bits of my 'studio'...but I haven't been all that productive. And there are things that need to be done around here!
This top is waiting for a back....



Pretty Bird quilt

It must wait for coordinating pillows to be finished up first, but things are moving along now.  :)

On the to do list:

• Baby boy quilt
• Baby girl quilt
• Helping my young neighbour make a baby girl quilt
• Mom's quilt

Here's hoping for a few productive days coming up!
Happy Saturday!





EV afternoon

EV afternoon a photo by twelfthzodiac on Flickr.

...have a few hours off this afternoon...this is my view. It's a good one!

ukulele songs on amazon.com

Modern Meadow Goodness!

At the beginning of the new year, my aunt gave me a call & asked if I could make her a table runner to be used as part of a wedding gift. The wedding is in Holland! (so cool)

Since I don't know much anything about the couple, I tried to make something I thought most people would like. Which meant using one of my favourite lines, Modern Meadow. Who couldn't like that, right?
I added in some Kona solids (artichoke, taupe & navy to be exact) & this is what I came up with!

  




The 'back', although it's really reversible.

 

I just LOVE binding!

I have been hoarding these fabrics for a quilt to live with me and this project helped me make the first cuts into my stash. Now when I have the time to work on it, I know it won't be as scary! I will add the solids into mine too as I think they worked beautifully with modern meadow. (Thank you Kona card!)


          
 I am linking up to Lily's Quilts for May's fresh sewing day.  :)