Baby Quilts

I made these quilts for some very special little boys across the big pond ~ Russia specifically. Their daddy was one of our young interpreter's and a dear friend during the 6 years that we lived there in the 90's, and we continue to be close.

Since little Vanya and baby Stepan have received them, I wanted to present them here for your viewing pleasure.  Knowing that the daddy is fond of pirates, I cut this fabric for a rag quilt.  (Didn't have a 4" square template, so I used my bench marver ~ a glass torching tool):

And used soft blue flannels in between

and for the back.  Woops, notice anything?

   

There it is:   A "front" square snuck in on the back.

 

Ask me if I ripped it out.

 I kept with the pirate theme and made a fun pillow case for the toddler.

Since I couldn't decide which blue to use for the top, I made a wave with the two.  

My first time improvising a cut, and I was thrilled that it worked!

 I posted progress of this Frog quilt, but wanted to show it with the pillowcase sent.

 

And a pillowcase for the mommy, who likes koshka... I mean kitties.

The daddy is a professional illustrator of children's books, and a big fan of Monstas, so he's sleeping sweetly on this:

 

I used the Hot Dog method to make the cases:

The outer fabric is the bun/border

while the inside is the hotdog/pillowcase.

 I like the way these turn out, and have plans for more!

LQS

In this case, it stands for Local Quilt Show.  The Quilters by the Sea Guild has an annual show in Wilmington,  the 30th of which took place last weekend and I had opportunity to see some amazing work.  

Here's a small sampling:

 

  This one fascinates me, an all inclusive take on an old standard, this is called "International Sunbonnet Sue".

Last year was my first time at a quilt show, and this year it was fun to go through and be able to identify blocks by name.  Above is a String Quilt...I have one in progress!

Upon closer inspection, I recognized the border fabric on this one:  'Millefiore' by Kaffe Fassett.  I'm using the same fabric pattern of a different color on my newest WIP ~ shown in photo below, 'Cobalt'.

I hope to make one similar to this one someday...really pretty.

I studied this one for awhile, and learnt how it was arranged. 

This would be a fun one to make! 

I think it's Log Cabin trickery :-)

 Stunning!  Made with 1 inch squares, placed just so to create a human face....like pixels ;-)

I want to make one of these also ~ a pretty pastel log cabin.  I turned the camera for the perspective in the photo at right.

Jelly rolls?  Another fun one to make!

 Lovely!

And, I hit their Resale Shop for deep discount bargains on guild members' stashes!  The ladies at the check out said, "Wow, you're GOOD!"  Funny...I thought I was being BAD!

Update: Reflecting Pool Quilt

After finishing all the 12-patch blocks, it was time for the fun part:  

Fussy cutting large florals,

then framing each with a different color of strips.

I began arranging blocks on the design wall playing around with them until the color balance was pleasing.  This photo isn't the final option.

Blocks sewn together...

then inner and outer borders added.  I changed the color of the inner border from the pattern which showed using the bright green....we love purple instead.

The flimsy, all pressed and ready for sandwiching. 

This has been an enjoyable quilt top.

Reflecting Pool

is the name of the Kaffe Fassett quilt I'm making for a friend.  I finally began cutting and must admit, it was somewhat intimidating to get started...a bit leery of making cutting mistakes on such fine fabric!

But thanks to my quilting guru for support and advice, I can move forward with confidence and even enjoy the ride!

Last night after our guests left, I had some time to sew up the first 12-patch blocks.

 

And recently cutting my piece-work baby teeth on leetle bitty 4-patches, these 4-1/2" by 3-1/2" rectangles are a cinch.

And the colors are brilliant!

A Friday Night Sew In

Another good time at FNSI.  Thanks to Heidi and her cousin Bobbi for hosting the monthly event.

It was time to resupply mug rugs for the market, so I had fun playing with some more frog fabric last night.

 

Just love to pair them up with the glass bead frogs that I made for the little spoons.

I cut several more to sew up later,

 and sewed together batting scraps for more mug rugs.

Then I added a few more blocks to my WIP String Quilt.

 I'm not sure that I like the dark fabric, even if it does have some cute lil pink roses.

Mail Call

My good buddy looked briefly through this book, 

and said:  "I want you to make

 for me".

Last week I located the fabrics, and yesterday 

evening came home to a big plump envelope! 

Have a look inside:

Delicious colors and designs are drool-worthy.

 These are called Shot Cottons and will outline 

the flower blocks in a log cabin frame :

I can't wait to get started!