Happy 6th Birthday Ada (Plus Quilt)

I've had two big finishes recently.  Mackenzie's D-Love Quilt, and Ada's Plus Quilt. Ada's birthday was on the 11th, and let me tell you, I cut it close.  Truthfully, Willa is still waiting on her birthday quilt.  The top is done and is being quilted by Angela ( <3 ). In order to get this one done on time, I carried the quilt with me and stitched on the binding whenever I had a free minute.   I decided to bind it in RK's Quilter's Linen.  I love it!  I got warnings that the red, and perhaps the pink would bleed, so I doubled up on the color catchers.  As promised, when I took the quilt out of the washer, the color catcher was bled upon.  I pulled it out of the dryer on the eve of her birthday.    

In addition to the SJ fabrics there are some Moda Crossweaves and Pezzy prints.  I'm still heart broken that the crossweaves are being phased out of production.  They are great solids!  I love texture and rich vibrant colors, and the crossweaves have both.  I used some of the Jewel prints from Lizzy House.  They make great "almost solids" and are perfect for a color quilt like this.  There is a LouLou Thi in there.  The hugs and kisses are very much like the Jewel prints.  All the dots are Michael Miller.  

I have no idea how big it is, but here is the front. I cut the charms into 4 inch squares instead of 4.5 inch squares most plus quilts utilize.  So mine is a bit smaller than most. I used smaller cuts in order to have some left over from the FQs I used to be used for the pieced strip down the back.  And as someone who has OCD (and not just the kind that people claim to have when they are picky clean about their house) using whole numbered cuts makes me feel better. 

On second thought, using the balloon print on the back was a little busy, but I love that little red-headed girl. Ada sends balloons to her twin in heaven pretty often, so I had to use it!  I love this print so much I've often thought about getting a tat of it.

I also scoured etsy to find a seller who had the fabric in order to make Ada her birthday shirt.  Each of my children have gotten a customized shirt for each of his or her birthday.  One day I'll make a t-shirt quilt out of all of them.  This is the 1st time I've customized the shirt to their birthday quilt.  Of course, this is only the 2nd year they've gotten birthday quilts. Willa has a love affair with poodles at the moment, so I could only have gotten her a poodle shirt.

 I have no idea how big the quilt is.  But some other details are as follows:  I quilted it with Auriful white 2024 I think.  You can't really tell from the finished picture, but the quilting is 1/4 inch from each vertical and horizontal seam.  I do have an Instagram of the in progress quilting.

Ada is my last quilt in Sarah Jane's Children at play quilt.  Her new fabric collection is just as cute.  I can already see that I'll have to force myself to work on my sewing skills to make some dresses from the new fabrics, but as someone who isn't a huge nautical fan, I don't see any quilts coming from it.

Mackenzie Love (Quilted in Memory of Aleah)

Thanks to the gang-buster lightening quick humming of sewing machines across America, Mackenzie's D-Love quilt will go out in tomorrow's mail.

There is a special little girl in Valdosta, GA that is very near and dear to the heart of my mother.  She is her best friend's granddaughter.  Her best friend became a grandmother to triplets 6 months old before my mother became the grandmother to twins.  While I've never met Mackenzie, the love that my mother and her best friend have for her is contagious.  Also, as someone who was the mother to a child with special needs, I can empathize with what her mother is experiencing.  I was dejected when I learned that Mackenzie had entered hospice.  I knew then that it wasn't a coincidence that I'd been placed in the heal circle at do.good stitches- a group making quilts specifically for people in hospice. Nicke does an excellent job of explaining our mission on her blog:

the HEAL circle will make quilts that will be donated to hospice patients and their families.
now, i understand that the role of hospice is comfort care and not healing but i hope the quilts we donate will help heal the hearts of the families.

When I started quilting, I had it in my mind to participate in such charity bees.  My Ada and Aleah had both been given quilts while in the NICU, from local groups, and from groups like Project Linus.  5 years after her death, I still appreciate the quilts that Aleah received in the NICU and PICU, so I know from personal experience that they can help heal, if only to prove that the journey isn't a lonely one.  After all the meals have been delivered, after all the cards have been received, after all the flowers have died, a quilt can serve as a lasting reminder that the life and death of someone important to you was important to someone else- even if that person is a complete stranger.

These "strangers" involved in the making of this quilt are:

Nicke
Melissa
Vickey
Rachael
Emily
Kelleigh
Ella
Suzy
Marta
Kelsey

I put out the call on the do good stitches, and also asked if the ladies of my Ba{m}S group if they'd like to be involved.  The response was overwhelming, especially since I asked for the blocks to be made in the week.  I added a few extra days for mailing.  It took me about two weeks to get the top put together and backing made, and to quilt it.  I'll admit that I did attach the binding by machine, partly for expediency, partly for ease. For shame!    The quilt top is made of thirty 12" blocks.



The top ended up being so big that I struggled with the back.  I'd planned to use 2 pieces of fabric that I had in my stash, but oops, it was a bit short, so I made 5 more 10" blocks to be placed in a strip down the back.    Some of the blocks had linen in them ( <3 ) so I used the opportunity to put some more linen in it!  Even with that additional piece, the fabric on the back was pretty close, but I got it quilted.

I love me some straight line quilting. My eyes just light up when I see quilts that have been straight line quilted, not in the ditch, but in some fashion that compliments the quilt.  The quilting for this quilt were inspired by some of the blocks.  The ones made by Kelligh have a lot of geometric overtones in them, particularly a rhombus- or maybe more trapezoidial.  Either way, I wanted to work that shape into the quilting, so I did a diagonal double through the quilt, and then quilted either side of the middle seams.  I'm pleased with the overall look of the quilt, and I am more than happy to send this off in the mail.  I do wish just a little bit that I had quilted the diagonal lines from bottom to top instead of top to bottom.  Does that make sense?  I like the look of the quilting on the back, and wish it were on the front.  Minor thing- but there ya go.

I'm so proud of the ladies in my bee, and seriously, did I mention this was the quickest turn around on bee blocks, (?) that I've decided to enter this quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival  to hopefully be considered for the category of bee quilts.

As I mentioned, this quilt was made specifically for Mackenzie, but also for me.  I'm able to pay forward some of the kindness I received during the life and death of my Aleah.  For that reason, it is also special to me.  I hope to one day see a picture of Mackenzie with it.  I learned that women all over the world are more than happy to share parts of themselves with people whom they've never met before.  If you aren't a member of do.good.stitches- go- and get on that list to be placed into a group.  There is a link to the form on the linky in the sentence before this one. 

Getting Mackenzie this quilt before she leaves this earth to go and play with my Aleah was a top priority in my life, and I am so happy to have gotten it done.  Perhaps it is with more pride than I should have.  I'll confess, I don't cry much since Aleah died.  Not a lot of things compare to the ache in your heart once you've said goodbye to a part of you that you wanted so badly to keep.  The parents of children with special needs are often short-changed, because society can't imagine raising a child with special needs.  Death almost seems like a relief to them, whether people mean to imply it or not.  Now, I believe that my Aleah is in heaven right this very minute, and while that gives me hope, her death has never given me any sort of relief, and I would pluck her out of the sky right now if I had the opportunity.  I wouldn't make her "normal", but would love her with the unconditional love a mother shows a child- exactly how she was.  

Making this quilt has allowed me to heal a little, because I've cried a few tears in the process. I'm so sad that another mother with a child with special needs will go through this journey, and that people, will probably say things to her that should be left unsaid.   I hope this quilt comforts her, and that she knows that she isn't alone.  My heart aches for LaShaun like it hasn't for anyone in awhile.  I've avoided that ache simply by putting up a wall and just not looking over it. These things have just all worked together.  Mackenzie is so important to my mother that I just can't choose to not see it.  Having had been placed in the heal circle at do.good, I had, at my fingertips, a group of women who could help me get it done.  It was making the choice to get it done that was the hard part.  A simple email to Nicke solved that problem for me.  It was put into motion.  I learned while making this quilt that it is never too late to move forward.  If you are anything like me, quilting is a very personal time in which you get to do a lot of thinking, not about dinner tomorrow, or what a pig says, how a silent e works, who poked who first, or where someones night night might be, but that "selfish" sort of thinking you can't drown out with a boob tube or a book.  I knew that while making this quilt, I'd be doing that sort of thinking that I've avoided before. I got mad at people all over again.  I got over some things, just because it's time to let it go.  I shed some tears y'all.  It was very liberating.  That's why this quilt is special to me.  To all the ladies who've shed some tears with me, thank you so much for being a part of this process with me. Thank you. It has truly been an honor. 

Micah's Tumbler Quilt

If I were a regular blogger, I'd like to think I'd have regular readers- if of course they had something to read- regularly. I'm funny, witty, smart, and quite humble, and not the least bit vain. (; But, I'm not (a regular blogger that is), so I'll have to live with my delusions.  I have so many works in progress, that I really should post more often.

I shared a photo through instagram a few weeks ago of how I organize my WIPs:

They're in those drawers to the right of my desk.  I don't have a better name for it than that.  To steal a homeschooling term, I call them workboxes.   I have, I think, 10 WIPs.  Realizing of course, there are people with more WIPs than I do.  I'd like to get to the point where I have more completed quilts than planned quilts.

One of those WIPs is this:

It's part of a top I've been working on for some time.  You can't tell it from my crappy photo (my lack of time to take and edit photos is #1 on my list of reasons I don't blog more often).  It's hot hot pink, not red.  I'm making it for a friend who lost a child in a car accident last year.  Her name will be the top half.  Dividing the top from the bottom will be a row of hearts.  I have to get busy making those hearts. I'll also overcome my fear of paper piecing and do a moon, or do a wonky one for the top half.  I really am pleased with how it's turning out.  This is a collaborative quilt, and much love to my ladies at the Word Play Bee.

You can see the other half of my soon-to-be completed top on my work table here:

There are too many WIPs to list here, but as I get them out and play with them, I HOPE to write about them a little more.  Willa's doll quilt is now a quilt top.  It's even got 3 more blocks than I showed several months ago.  I'm having it professionally quilted by Angela. I've got my appointment in May!  That means I'll have to get the back made quick like. Remember these blocks?

I'm very excited to report a big finish this week.  I started this quilt right after Thanksgiving.  It was to be completed by my son's second birthday, but that was over 2 months ago.  I have a love affair with Sarah Jane Studios fabric.  I got enough of it to make all three children a quilt.   Willa's doll quilt is Sarah Jane's Children at Play, and I have recently started cutting squares in order to make Ada a Plus Quilt for her birthday (in May).   Sarah Jane has a new line coming out soon.  Hopefully, I don't love it as much as this line, because I have plans to hopefully find yardage of this line on sale in order to make some floor pillows and curtains.

Micah's quilt is a tumbler quilt.  I decided to make one after watching the video at Missouri Quilt company.  I have Accuquilt Go envy, and since I won't be buying one anytime soon, I decided I could do a quilt just as easily without the handy dandy cutter.  The truth is, it probably would've gone much faster with the machine.  I made my own template out of template plastic and used the little neon tape you put on quilting rulers to outline it.  I cut dozens of tumblers.  It was quite time consuming.  My hubby spent a few days laying out the arrangement.  I looked critically at it a few times, but in the end, we settled on a layout we really both liked.  I put it in a drawer and neglected it- until last week.  I got it done pretty quickly, and I <3 it.

Not so close-up of the quilting.  I quilted it 1/2 inch from all the seams.  I sorta wished I'd done 1/4 inch seams, but I really do like it.  

I backed this quilt with a racing stripe flannel from this same fabric line.  it is soooo soft.  Here's a picture of my kitty helping me baste it (yup, still cheating) to give you an idea of the backing.  It was nothing special, and you can't really see the quilting in a photo.

I did finish a LOT of blocks for a scrapbuster swap.  I didn't realize that I'd made so many until I counted them out to mail.  I should be able to make a twin sized quilt once I get the swap back.  I was a modified- modified bento block box.  Realistically, we made log cabin blocks, and quartered them.

I worked also on my blocks for the 4x5 modern quilt bee.  I have two more to make before I'm done.  I may be late in getting my own stuff done, but I like to be early when working on a project from someone else.

Several months ago I submitted my application to join the do.Good.stitches bee.  It's a group that makes blocks and donates the finished quilts to a charity.  I was even asked to be a quilter. Not sure how I got into the classification as a quilter, but I'll do my best.  I'm a quilter in the Heal circle. I'm excited to participate in this bee, and I got my pinwheels made quickly!

I've got plenty to keep me busy in the quilting world, and here is to hoping I have something to report on again!

Quilt for Margaret Rose

I can't even excuse my iPhone for the poor pictures. This is my good camera, but at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  These charms you see in this quilt were collected from the Japanese Charm Swap over at GenX Quilters.  The pattern is from Made by Rae.  I have a confession to make, but more on that later.

I used Mettler Silk Finish thread for the quilting and can I say Yum-my. I'm an Auriful die hard, but this thread is wonderful.    This is not my 1st try at straight line quilting.    I also straight line quilted Ada's I Spy Quilt, but that was a bit different. Since it was diagonal lines, I could start and finish the lines easily off the edges of this quilt.  In quilting this,  I was lost when it came to changing the bobbin, or starting and stopping a new line.  Do you "lock down" your stitch?  I did, although not consistently, and it shows.  The quilting isn't perfect, but I'm pleased.  Many thanks to my Mr. for drawing all those lines for me.  Turns out, the rows weren't all that even.  I never would've finished it.  If I were better at math, I'm sure quilting would be more enjoyable, but don't tell Miss and Mrs. Wilbourne I said so.  ( I was educated by a daughter for two years in middle and then her mother for two years of high school.)

I had originally planned to bind this with a flange binding, and it was going to be so cool, but I transposed the measurements and cut the strip widths wrong and ended up wasting a good bit of my Kaffe Fassett Stripe. (much gnashing of teeth).  In the end, I just decided to do a plain old binding, but a bit skinny.  I cut my binding to 2.25.  

My girls wanted to pose with the quilt.  Ain't they some cuteness?

I put my spoonflower label right smack dab in the middle of the back, well, because that was the only place to put it without covering the quilting.  I started to make a pieced back for this one, but I decided to keep it simple.  I made the label according to this tutorial.

I know you didn't forget about my confession.  Basting purist should stop here.  

I spray basted this quilt, and I LOVE IT.  It was the 1st quilt where I didn't have some sort of issue with slippage.  This sucker was secure.  Originally I decided to use the adhesive because it's all linen, and I expected it my be a bit slippy as my 3 year old would say.  After my experience, I don't think I could go back to pin basting again.  I know that it is significantly more expensive than one batch of basting pins, but my goodness, the $13 I paid for the can of 505 was well worth it.

So, there you go, my first quilt finish in months, and this was a quick one!  It's washed and dried, and ready to be packaged to ship to a waiting Maggie.

Stats:

Name: Japanese Charm

Pattern: Storytimes Quilt- Made by Rae

Quilting: Straight-line channel quilting on my Janome 8050
Thread: Mettler silk finish (in natural I think)
Backing and sashing: Essex Linen- Putty
Fabric:  Japanese Fabric Charms
Binding: Kaffe Fassett  Serape in Green

I Spy With My Little Eye

To commemorate starting Kindergarten, Ada and I made this quilt.  First thing, I have an I Spy addiction.  My collection has grown to over a thousand squares- thanks to charm swaps.  Swaps are a lot of fun, and you get more cute squares than you do what I call "dog butt" squares.  (In one of my swaps I swear, I got a square that featured a dog butt.) Ada picked out the squares from my collection for this quilt and decided on the layout of the squares.  Of course she picked out the pink fabric. It took me a long time to find a solid to match the setting squares for the backing, and when I did, the fabric was flawed. I think maybe from being left out in the sun at the quilt shop.   Let me tell you, I am relieved to have this quilt done.

I looked at this quilt for weeks before deciding how to quilt it.  I decided on the lattice in order to complement the backing.  Initially, I had thought to quilt horizontal and vertical straight lines along both sides of the seams, but the horizontal strips on the back weren't in line with the strips on the front. In the end, I am pleased with the lattice quilting.  I did it on my Janome 8050 using a walking foot.

I  pieced the letters below by using techniques in Tonya Ricucci's book Word Play Quilts: Easy Techniques from the UnRuly Quilter.  I have to confess that I am disappointed with how the back turned out (to no fault of the piecing technique).  At first glance, it is cute, especially with two little girls peeking over the top of it (they were making hearts with their arms).

That "W" is flawed.  I prewashed the eye fabric and the Kona.  The seams were pressed to set as I went along.  I was heartbroken when I pulled the quilt out of the dryer and the "W" had raveled.  It's probably more to do with my lack of sewing skills, and less to do with the fact I prewashed, but this will be the last time I prewash anything.

I quilted that one square a little more in hopes that it will not ravel any further. It does draw even more attention to the flaw, but my other option was to rip out all of the quilting.  Yeah, right.  Flaws add to those character, right?  This was the first quilt I quilted using straight lines.  My previous quilts have been free motion, and such, the quilting kept problems like this happening.  But, I have to tell you, I prefer the look of straight line quilting. 

I created the label in PSE and uploaded it to Spoonflower in order to have a FQ made.  Next time I'll spend some more time working the colors out. The red is a little orangey, and the black is too brown (PSE's issue, not Spoonflower's).   A custom FQ will give you a handful of labels.  Isn't it cute?  The binding is my favorite part of this quilt.  I think I'll bind all quilts in a stripey fabric!

We had to have our 13.5 year old American Curl Cat put to sleep last month.  I miss her bunches, and I used this quilt as an opportunity to memorialize her. I apologize for the picture- it was taken with my iphone before the quilt was done, and I did want to share it with you here.

Stats: 

Pattern: This is a variation of the Disappearing Nine Patch (DNP); tutorial at Obsessively Stitching.
Quilting: Straight-line lattice on my Janome 8050
Thread: Used Auriful 40 wt white for piecing and quilting
Setting Squares: Moda Chutes and Ladders Confetti Pink
Backing: Bella Solid (color unknown)
Sashing: Kona white
Binding: Sandi Henderson, Farmer's Market Summer Stripe
Resource: Word Play Quilts