Hayden’s Quilt

It’s done!
It’s done!

Behold!

Okay, too dramatic? I’m just very excited to finish up this quilt and share it with you all. Though it figures that the days between finishing the quilt and gifting the quilt were either dreary and rainy or I was too busy, so I didn’t get decent photos. (Though, I did end up getting one of five month old Hayden approving it.)

I started it in the beginning of July—though I didn’t touch it most of October. So it took me about four months, give or take. Machine pieced but hand quilted. I’ve decided four months is a bit too long, so I’ll be attempting machine quilting for the next one.

It’s about 40” x 60” with a patchwork of vintage gingham, Harmony Art Organic cottons and an Erin McMorris print for good measure. Paired with the gray, I think it’s a lovely color combination.

PS: Happy Bench Monday!

For a New Little One to Come in February

My cousin and his wife are expecting their second little boy in February. So I whipped up a couple bibs and a burp cloth. I used up some Harmony Art flannel scraps I had to make one bib and the burp cloth while the other two bibs are cowboy style—done in red and blue paisleys. I know they must have a ton of baby boy things already, but the way I see it, you can’t ever have too many bibs or burp cloths.
It seems everyone around me is announcing a new baby to come, so I’m going to get to work on more bibs and burp cloths once I find out the sexes. I’m thinking some little appliques to snazz them up a bit.

Again, I used the pattern from Chickpea Sewing Studio for the bib and drafted my own for the burp cloth.
Progress on Hayden’s quilt (which I started back in July) is coming along. I had it stashed away for pretty much all of October but dug it out again because I’ll be seeing her at the end of the month. Now that I have a deadline, I should work more quickly and efficiently. I do believe the next baby quilt will be machine quilted.

30 Days of Happiness : Emma’s Dress

It’s been a while since I posted something I created—that wasn’t food. I’ve been working on this little number for my cousin’s daughter quite a while and am so excited to have finished it without any snags. I do believe it’s the cutest thing I’ve made to date.

I used Simplicity 4711. The only adjustments I made were to make it longer. And I went for snaps in the back instead of buttons, because as I’ve mentioned before, I’m scared of buttonholes.

This is the first jumper/dress. I have a cute corduroy to play with once I’m certain the size fits her. I’ll share pictures when that’s done too.

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I’m not one to believe in predestination but sometimes things fall into place so perfectly you just have to raise an eyebrow. See, I was organizing my fabric stash recently and kept going back to this piece of Harmony Art Organic ever-so-soft flannel cotton, itching to make something with it, but stumped as to what. I kept thinking baby-something. But no one was expecting (or so I didn’t think at the time—turns out one of my cousins is expecting her second) and all the little boys aren’t celebrating birthdays anytime soon and are getting too big for little flannel gifts.
Then I found out my Mom needs a present for an upcoming baby shower she is going to. For a baby boy. Perfect! Now I had an excuse to use that fabric. But still, what to make? I saw The Purl Bee had a post on swaddling blankets but the piece I had wasn’t big enough and I didn’t feel like patchworking it. Then when I was ordering a little something on Amazon, I noticed the cover of Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby and it clicked. Bibs! So I made up two from the pattern via Chickpea Sewing Studio found by a simple google search. Since I still had some fabric left, I figured some matching burp cloths were in order. I did a little research on sizes and was able to whip up two from scratch.

They are all backed with a matching brown cotton. I’m the first to admit I don’t know much about baby stuff but the weight seemed too thin for things used for messes so I added a layer of cotton batting.
All of this (and the quilt I’m working on) has spurned an interest in this baby stuff—not having them, just making for them. I am resisting the urge to buy the aforementioned book and this one too.

No Apple Pie or Fireworks for Me.

In typical Liesl fashion, I spent my holiday quilting. I was rushing to get something done by today–and I met my goal.

That something is the previously mentioned baby quilt. All hand quilted for a little girl named Emma Sophia. I used a secondhand pink cheater print and two panels of solid pink for the names, cotton batting and brown patchwork binding.

Now to get to work on the one for little Hayden–which I believe I’ve decided to hand quilt, even if it takes longer.