Fire Fighter Baby Quilt

Last week I was asked to make a fire fighter themed baby quilt. Um, yes of course I would love to. Chandon sent me a picture of a valance that was already hanging in the babies room to use for inspiration. It had a lot of black, orange, and yellow colors in it. I already had some Dalmatian fabric and spotted fabric in my stash. I have been hanging on to it for just the right quilt. I used EQ7 to come up with this baby quilt pattern.

Drum roll please……Here is the finished quilt.

The picture is a little crooked. I am not the best at taking photos. Some times I forget all together to take one because I am too excited to give the person their quilt. Here it is with out a flash.(No photo editing Tim.)

I took the finished quilt to Chandon this morning and she loved it. Yay! I am always afraid that they aren’t going to like it. This has happened to me once that I know of. I am going to create a pdf file with the instructions for this quilt some time soon. Until my next post. God bless and happy sewing.

 

Breast Cancer Awareness Quilt

Last year I donated a gift certificate for a handmade quilt to a silent auction. They were raising money for the Shoals Gospel Choir. I was contacted by the winner in September. She requested that I make her a quilt that had a breast cancer theme. She is currently under going treatment for the awful disease.

I wasn’t quite sure what quilt pattern to use but knew I wanted pink as the main color. I looked through a few books for inspiration and came across the friendship star block. I knew that was the one.

I made eight of the friendship star quilt blocks. The white background has a vine with pink hearts. For the center block I wanted something inspirational. I embroidered Philippians 4:13 in black and two pink ribbons on either side for the center block.

Here is the finished quilt. I free motion quilted around the two pink ribbons and stars. I machine stitched the binding on the front and hand stitched the binding on the back.

Nautical Themed Baby Quilt

I used the Moda Nautical and Nice charm pack to make the above quilt. I didn’t use many of the light colored charms. I like how the squares float off of the blue fabric. To me it resembles square life preservers.

I free motion quilted the baby quilt with a wave pattern using a cream colored thread from Ken’s Sewing Center. The fabric on the back is a Noah’s Ark print that I got a ton of years ago at a thrift store. I think I may have enough left for one more baby quilt back.

Baby Faires Modern Baby Quilt

I bought the dinosaur fabric on sale. A steal really and the Eric Carle fabric was for a swap. Um…not on sale. 🙁 I bought extra to keep some for this quilt. It looks great with the bright colors in the dinosaur fabric. The orange fabric is almost like a batik. The green polka dot fabric is batik fabric that I got for a steal also. I wanted to make a modern baby quilt. I had all the fabrics laid out on the table trying to figure out  a pattern that I hadn’t tried yet. I also wanted something that would be easy to make but not too simple. I cut the fabric into 3 1/2 inch strips, then into 6 1/2 inch rectangles. Then the rest is pretty simple, well if you know how to make quilts anyway.

I decided to use the left over pieces of fabric for the back of the quilt. This isn’t the usual for me. I generally don’t piece the back of quilts. I think of Crazy Mom Quilts when I think of quilts with the backs pieced. I have been admiring her quilts for years. I love the simplicity of them. I love the fronts too! I keep telling myself that I need to try it. So now I have. It was fun and a great way to use up the leftovers. I quilted horizontal lines in the ditch of the front. The back turned out great with that. The quilting on the back looks abstract compared to the front. Very cool!.

I took a break from making anything bigger than a fabric postcard since before Christmas of 2010. I think after 6 years of constantly working on a project or projects I was burnt out and just had to stop. I was making fabric postcards and got burnt out on that too. For the last three months I haven’t sewn anything. Well I did mend a few clothes. This baby quilt is for a dear friend from church who is just salt of the earth. One of the most humble and honest people I know. (Love you Sandy.)

I started a part time job in July for Ken’s Sewing Center in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. I absolutely love it. The people who work there are amazing to be around, laugh with, and of course work with.

Thirty One Gifts kind of fell in my lap in late July. Some people ask what Thirty One is. I asked the same thing the first time I heard of it. It is a faith based company founded by Cindy Monroe. She started the company at home and now it is a huge company that celebrates and encourages women all while living with God in our hearts. When I got a catalog from a friend who is a consultant I browsed through it and found a couple things I wanted for myself. It was a few months later that I decided to have a party. When I got my products I just fell in love with them. They are well made, affordable, and look really good. I get told all the time that my purse is cute. Sometimes I get asked where I got it. That is when I hand out a business card and a catalog. So not only am I 24/7  day a week mom of three boys I have 2 part time jobs.

Joshua and Timmy Tyler are playing football. Every night of the week we have a football practice or a game and homework. I long for football season to be over. I say that with a twinge of sorrow. It is fun and well worth it but I am one tired Momma. On my Facebook update the other day I put, “I’m so tired that my tired is tired.” So this is where I have been. No time for Holly the artist the Elam family needs mom.

I’m trying not to be selfish and enjoy the boys while they are young. Timmy will be 17 in January. Where has the time gone? Pretty soon he will be off at college. I will be at home CRYING  because I  miss him and will feel to old to have a child in college. When I tell people that Timmy will be 30 when Andrew will be graduating from high school they usually chuckle and say, “What where you thinking?”  What was I thinking? God has truly blessed me with three healthy babies and a wonderful husband to be their father.

What more could I ask for? I have a great life. Thank You God.

 

Another one down….

I finished this baby quilt today for a lady at church. She is due next month with her second girl. I knew I wanted to make something modern this time. Something similar to a coin quilt. With this one I added an inch to the sashing fabric each time I added a strip so that it gradually gets wider. I think next time I will add a little more. It is hard to tell to me. I used some fabric squares from the Hello Betty line made by Moda. I bought the charm pack a while back and have been waiting for the right time to use it. The back of the quilt is some Noah’s Ark material that I have a few yards of. I have used it a few times for the back of baby quilts. I hope she likes it.

With a Flash

With Out the Flash

Just thought I would add a picture of my boy from his football game the other night. He sacked the quarterback. Way to go Tyler!!!

My Quilting Buddies Mystery Quilt Final Clue

Here is the final step for the mystery quilt that I designed and hosted on My Quilting Buddies. It was a lot of fun. If you make one please email me with a picture. I would love to see it.

The flash washed out the color in this picture. I will take a better picture later and share it. In this picture you can’t tell that there are pinks in the quilt.

DOWN LOADABLE: Mystery Quilt Final Step

If you would like to down load  all of the instructions at once here is the link:

DOWN LOADABLE: My Quilting Buddies Mystery Quilt #1

My Quilting Buddies Mystery Quilt Week 4 Clue

DOWN LOADABLE: My Quilting Buddies Mystery Quilt Clue 4

My Quilting Buddies Mystery Quilt Clue #3

Here are the instructions for printing this step.

DOWN LOADABLE: Mystery Quilt Clue 3