Fabric Photo Book #2

We took a family trip to Florida when my oldest niece turned one, so of course we did the same thing when her sister turned one. Naturally, I had to make a fabric photo book for Lucy too. It's pretty much just like the one I made for Claire. I had hoped to make it purple, but I could only find a Minnie patch with a red bow, so I bought red polka dot fabric instead. 

Finished size: 9" x 9"

Log Cabin Santa Ornament

I really wanted this air mail fabric, but it was expensive. Finally it went on steep enough clearance so I could justify buying a half yard to make something for Amanda. Then I needed an ornament that would show it off. Hence, this very large log cabin Santa. You make a log cabin block and cut it in half, which will yield two ornaments. My block was 8". It's one of the larger ornaments I've made, but it does flatten, despite being very long. My ornaments are usually much smaller, but it's cute and it does show off the fabric nicely!

Selvedge Tree Ornament

In 2015, I made a selvedge tree mini quilt. On the day we left for vacation in November, I woke up at 5:30am with the idea to make a mini one as an ornament for Amanda. Since I was already packed and we didn't need to leave for the airport until 10am, I was able to complete it before we left.

Finished size: 4.5" x 5"

Folded Fabric Hexagon Ornaments

While working on the second Triangle quilt, I decided to make my nieces ornaments to match their quilts, using heart buttons leftover from my batik bags. The left ornament matches the Airplane quilt and the right matches the Triangle quilt. They are the same size as Amanda's hexagon postage ornament.

Folded Fabric Hexagon Ornament

I made this ornament in February. The only other time I've made an ornament for the exchange that early in the year was the little red suitcase. I was looking for ideas on how to quilt my Dresden plate quilt when I came across this ornament, so of course I had to take a detour from quilting to make one. I saw the idea at A Spoonful of Sugar, but the instructions are at Sewing and Beyond. Once I figured out the process, I adapted it a bit and ironed everything into shape before stitching it down. I started with a hexagon with the edges measuring 4" and this resulted in an ornament measuring 4" across with 2" edges. The button is 3/4". I had plenty of Christmas fabric, but I decided that this postage stamp print would show the best once folded, and I prefer to have postage-themed ornaments for Amanda over Christmas-themed ornaments. I made a folded postage fabric ornament in 2014, but this one is a little more intricate.

Churn Dash Quilt

I bought two remnants of this pink and blue fabric that were only a half yard each. With the large pattern, I didn't want to cut them up too small, and I was able to get ten 8" squares out of each. I decided on a churn dash block to highlight them. Fortunately it wasn't too hard to find coordinating fabrics. I really like the contrasting white, but that limited my choices for quilting as I didn't want to quilt with colored thread on the white fabric or with white thread on the pink and blue fabrics, so I ended up outlining each block.

Scrappy Granny Square Quilt

I started this quilt last year. Then we moved, and all the little squares got packed up. (Sound familiar? In two years, it's my second scrap quilt that's been interrupted by a move.) It completes my second 2018 goal. Even after two scrap quilts, I still had a shoe box full of 2.5" squares of fabric, but I was left with a lot more of some fabrics and colors than others, so I needed a quilt design that worked with those imbalances. Enter the granny square.

This quilt was pieced in diagonal rows to avoid sashing or seams between blocks. With 13 colored squares per "block" and 80 "blocks," this quilt involves 1,040 2.5" colored squares, plus 455 white pieces - 108 rectangles for the border and 347 interior squares - for a total of 1,495 pieces.

My previous granny square quilt had a big granny square block on the back, a design I wanted to repeat. I didn't have enough of one fabric to just do one block, so I extended the design. Unfortunately, it didn't quite align properly on the bottom and left sides. I quilted it in a grid pattern. The front uses white fabric, but the back uses a grey and white print since I didn't want that much white on the back, and I bound it in a grey and white polka dot fabric. 

Finished size: 66" x 85"

Want to make one? Check out the tutorial on how I pieced the top. 

Blue and Beige Triangles

Another triangle quilt, though a slightly different design than the last two. This blue and beige print has been on my list of goals since 2016, so I've probably had it quite a bit longer than that. The blue arrow print was purchased right before our most recent move, but the other two blue prints have been in my stash awhile, as was the lightest of the beige prints. I finally made the decision to finish it up and purchased two beige prints, as well as solid beige and blue fabric, since my previous triangle quilts included solids. Originally, I planned a diagonal design, but, because the arrow print was a remnant, I didn't have enough fabric to do that and the solid beige fabric got eliminated in the redesign.

Baby Triangles, Version 2

I try to avoid making the same quilt twice, but I had a lot of fabric left over from last year's triangle baby quilt. Having bought it leading up to moving, I erred on the side of caution and bought more than I thought I'd need. Conveniently, my sister's friend was expecting a girl and using the same colors for her nursery, and the triangle design just comes together so quickly, plus I had leftover triangles already cut. I used up most of the peach fabrics, so I had to sub in a few fabrics Julie eliminated from her palette. I was worried it wouldn't look as good, but I like the darker pink.

Barbie Dress

A lot of Claire's Barbie clothes are made of shiny material that frays easily, and there is usually a bit of mending for me to do when I visit. I wasn't looking forward to making an entire outfit, but one purple dress was coming apart so badly that I couldn't fix it. I brought it home and took it completely apart to use as a pattern. I wasn't sure how well it would fit, but it ended up fitting well enough. It's not particularly snug, but it's not too loose either, and a bit too big is better than a bit too small.

Barbie is also sporting a pink tulle veil Claire requested.

Dresden Plates Quilt

I made these three Dresden plates before we moved last year, so I was motivated to make this quilt my first project of the year. I only had enough scraps for three Dresden plates, so my first task was figuring out what to do to fill in the rest of the quilt top. Though the design is simple, it still took a bit of calculating to figure out appropriately scaled dimensions for everything, but it came together quickly after that. I have never appliqued a quilt top, so I got some Heat'n'Bond to adhere the Dresden plates to the quilt top before sewing them down. I was very glad I did this before quilting.

Barbie Suitcases

My sister told me that Claire has been sending Barbie on vacation to Disney World, so she needed a suitcase. I told her I could totally make one, as I have experience making tiny suitcases. I just needed some Altoids tins and duct tape sheets. As it turned out, duct tape sheets were on clearance for $0.25 so I stocked up because that is quite a deal and a sign that I soon won't be able to find them. I got pink and rainbow. I couldn't decide on the size so I made two. The big tin is 3.75 x 2.5 x 0.75 inches and the small tin is 2.5 x 1.5 x 0.5 inches. The small tin is more Barbie sized, but the larger tin can actually hold Barbie clothes more easily. I got a 3 pack of the small tins in case multiple Barbies need suitcases; and it turns out she does, because Barbie has 3 sisters, so they are getting rainbow suitcases.