Two for Twins

So one of my dear sweet friends is expecting twin girls. I was so excited to create up a little project of matching but different quilts for her. So I did a spin on the disappearing 9 patch, in that I spun all 4 blocks and not just 2. Here is the result. I think they are so cute together and I love the muted tones in the fabrics.

So here is the first one. I think it came out pretty darn cute.

I wanted to try something new in the quilting and actually do more of a design than just random stitching. This is always scary as trying something new means breaking out of the comfort zone and you are just never know what the results are going to be. I did flowers in the centers and then a "vine" with small flowers in the corners. I did each of the 9 blocks this way. They aren't perfect, but I think it is pretty cute. I was happy with the results of this new experiment in quilting.

Here is the next one. This one I am not near as happy about.

To be honest, I quilted this one first and about 1/2 way through the quilt I realized I choose the wrong color thread to quilt this with. Also, My butterflies are not near as good as my flowers, they are going to need some work. There were several times I thought about scrapping the whole thing. But I pushed on, hoping it would get better. The binding helped a bit. (I really hesitate to post this next picture, know that I am not to proud of this, but I can't only post my successes right? You would all get the crazy idea that I never make mistakes.)

So here they are together. I think seeming them as a matching pair really helps to tone down the poor quilting choices. After being reassured by another friend that it is still cute and looks homemade in a cute way and that the pair are adorable together I gave myself leave to write it off and learn from it and decided it is still cute. (just not as cute as the first one :).

Oh, and here is the back that I promised in the previous post to show. No puckers!!! That I am totally excited about!

And here they are all wrapped up and ready to be delivered. I just love finished quilts all tied up in a bow.

Basting Solutions

So I can't sleep and I am lying in bed thinking I should write this post in the morning. After thinking that for about 15 minutes I just decided to get up and write it and then maybe I can get to sleep.

I have been free motion quilting for just over a year now. I love it. I feel that my skills are growing with each quilt I sew up. I find free motion quilting extremely fun and really love the way it finishes my quilts. With that said, I have recently been more and more bugged by the pucker issues I always seem to have on the back of my quilts. You see, I was self taught to free motion quilt and have never really learned a technique to basting other than laying it all out on my floor and pinning it a bit.

So recently I decided it was time to figure it out. Hence the hours reading quilting blogs. (okay, most of that time was spent getting more quilting ideas, but some of it was actual basting research) After reading several posts on the best way to baste I figured I would try the most popular solution. Start by ironing everything super crisp, then tape the back of the quilt to the wood floor, then lay down your batting and quilt top, and then pin like crazy! At first I was a little reluctant as I figured it would take more time and I would have to kneel on the wood floor to pin but I figured it was research and so I gave it 100% and pinned every 5 inches. No cheating!

The result . . . One perfect quilted back with not one single pucker. I am so excited. I guess this means I will be pulling Jacob's big old construction knee pads out of the garage whenever I need to baste a quilt. It is worth it though to be able to say goodbye to puckers.

I will post pictures of the perfect back tomorrow. I want to put the binding on the quilt before I show it as I tried something new with the quilting. I'm not as excited about the quilting as the no puckering, but I did branch out and try something new, and that's something. Can't stay in the little stippling comfort zone forever :)

Quilt-Along Quilt Top

So the blocks for the quilt-a-long are finished and this week our assignment was to sash the blocks and finish piecing the top. As I said before, my scraps were starting to run low. Especially my red and green scraps and I really wanted to do red and green sashing. So I turned to my regular stash. To say I am happy with the results is a gross understatement. I think having sashing in prints that hadn't already been used in the quilt really made each individual block pop! I love it and can't wait to get it all quilted up. Here it is. Isn't it just the perfect size to snuggle up in front of a fire with on Christmas morning! How many more days until Christmas???

The Final 2 Blocks!

So last week I finished my blocks on Monday night but didn't get around to posting them until Friday as our life went upside down on Tuesday (see previous post). So this week I was determined to get them finished and posted today. These last two blocks were a blast!

Here is my Block #15. I am so happy with it. I just love all the crisp points. I have always loved this block and I really like the fabric with the words. It is just so fun!

And here is the last block, #16. It is actually a little different than Amy's. I followed as I should all the way to the last seam and then somehow I sewed the wrong sides together. When I opened it up to iron it I was totally surprised to find I had messed up somehow, but then after looking at it I decided that I really liked it and that I would just keep it that way. (I really didn't want to unpick either :)

And here they are all together. I rotated these around for about a half an hour trying to find just the right layout that had balance and yet creativity. I am pretty happy with the outcome. I can't wait to start sashing it. This is so much fun! Thanks again, Amy!!

Sewing for Solace

So do you remember when I posted here about how I was making one pink and one blue "coin collecting" quilts in a secret hope to have twins that were a boy and a girl. Well on Tuesday morning I had my doctor's appointment and found out that things weren't going as I had hoped. In fact, they were pretty horrible. An ultrasound confirmed that the one child in me no longer had a heart beat. It had stopped beating about 2 weeks earlier. This was my first miscarriage and it pretty much crushed me.

I spent the next few days wandering around the house not really being able to do much. (Thanks again to all the family and friends that were there to support me through those days.) I wandered into my sewing room several times thinking that quilting always makes me happy. But each time that I picked up my little coin collecting quilt to start working I would get weepy thinking about that little wee one we lost. So then I would walk back out again.

Then on Friday, a good friend brought me a care package that had an adorable charm pack in it to lift my spirits. I love fabric and decided that I would give it another shot! So on Saturday morning I got up and grabbed that charm pack and then I cut it up, pieced it together, and quilted it. At that point I was feeling really good and was in a groove so I kept going. I was in my element and sewing was brining me solace.

I finished piecing the blue coin collecting quilt. And then I quilted both the pink and blue quilt. I tried a new quilt pattern on each. The blue one is done in stars and loops and the pink one is done in flowers and vines. I am super happy with how they turned out.

This afternoon I binded the three quilts and decided that since I no longer currently had a need for them to list them in my etsy shop. I am hoping that they will be perfect for someone whose dream is coming true :)

So with all that said, I am doing okay. I will always love that little one we lost and I am still sad and weepy from time to time, but I have peace through it all. I know that my Father in Heaven is watching over me and that he loves me. I am so grateful for my many friends and family who continue to care for me and give me hugs when I am sad. Things aren't going to happen as we hoped but that doesn't mean that things won't still happen. The dream has just changed.

So without further ado, here are some pictures of my quilt marathon weekend. Happy Quilting!