Dino's on the loose!

A certain wee tot asked me to make her a new nap blanket for school. She requested dinosaurs, purple, pink, red, blue, and purple. I think this fits the bill.

It presented a bit of a challenge. The fussy cut dinos all started at different sizes, so I needed to get a little creative with the building of the blocks. It worked out nicely I think. I am particularly fond of the pieced sashing. I didn't bind this one, because there is no batting. I backed it in flannel and "pillow-cased" it.

My customer was very happy with the outcome, which is most important. She was also thrilled to be a quilt holder again for the photoshoot.

She's getting better :)

In other news, I have been a busy bee. I have finally made the decision to officially go into business! Wow, it is a lot of work. I hope to be up and running by October 1st. Stay tuned for announcements and changes here.

Have a great weekend,

Katie

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts

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Changing Aspens

This quilt is a special one. Someone very dear to me is sick and the reality is, he will not be with us to see the changing of the aspens again. He loves the mountains and all the flora and fauna that goes along with them. This is my way of bringing a little bit of the mountains to him.

 

When I saw Caroline's, of Trillium Designs, Aspen Grove pattern for the Forest Quilt Along, hosted by Joanna at Shape Moth and Julianna at Sewing Under Rainbow, I knew it would be perfect. Unfortunately, my paper piecing skills are quite lacking and I needed something I could get together very quickly. So, I took the inspiration from the quilt along and created this block design using a "sew and slash" method. I am very happy with the result, and better, was able to finish this in 10 days to give it to the recipient. Time is a precious thing.

 

 

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

 

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Two small finishes

I am currently working on a very important quilt with a very short deadline, so this post will be short and sweet. Come hell of high water, this important quilt will be done by next Friday morning. Be sure to check back next week to see it, I think it is pretty special. I am also contemplating a tutorial for it.

I finished these two little quilts last week, but never had the opportunity to post about it. These are destined to be auctioned off. I really like the finished product, especially the sweet 'girl' quilt. I think that pink binding was the perfect finishing touch.

Linking to Whoop Whoop Friday

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Hello, my name is Katie ......

....and I am a fabriholic. It's an addiction I have no problem feeding (or sharing). I took full advantage of the flash sale that Craftsy had a week or two ago. Look at all the goodies I got!

A Happy Go Lucky Layer cake by Bonnie & Camille for Moda

Magic Garden by Sabine Reinhart for Blend Fabrics fat quarter bundle

 

Spring Promise by Ana Davis for Blend Fabrics fat quarter bundle

Seaside by Timeless Treasures fat quarter bundle (this one was less than $5!)

Medium chevrons by Riley Blake fat quarter bundle. Sorry, I didn't want to unwrap this one just yet.

Menagerie by Pink Light Designs for Robert Kaufman fat quarter bundle

I'm in love with these little hens!

Not a bad haul. What have you purchased lately?

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Stash quilt

For the win! I love when I can complete an entire quilt with supplies I already own. I also love when a design idea turns out better than anticipated. This quilt fits into both of those categories.

It has been gifted to a lovely friend expecting her first, a boy, in August. This little quilt turned out to be an odd size. I was more interested in the design than the dimensions, so, I deemed it a tummy time quilt. The fact that it is so high contrast and has several eye catching prints is really what makes this a great tummy time blanket though.

I stupidly bravely backed it in solid white, so my black and color coordinated quilting really shows up. I love the look.

I quilted the chevrons in black and then matched thread to each of the rows of color. I think it makes the back fun, even if some of my stitching was a bit wonky. The crinkle factor helps hide most of that.

My little helper hard at work. She 'helps' tape the backing down and then takes it off all by herself. I basted this at night and left it for her to pull up. As you can see, she takes her job very seriously, not even changing out of pajamas before completing her task.

It feels good to have a finish this week. Have a great weekend!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

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Works in progress aplenty

You know, I have been a busy little beaver. Mostly mothering, but I have been squeezing in sewing time. What I have been having a really hard time doing is blogging about it.

No more, I am going to try to be better about getting my projects, thoughts, and happenings out here. It really helps me and I also enjoy the link ups because it takes me to blogs I wouldn't normally visit.

So, without further ado, here are some of the projects I have going....

Auction quilts-Every three years, my husband's family has a family reunion. As part of the festivities they have an auction to help offset the cost of the next reunion. These two crib quilts are my contributions to the auction.

"Boy" quilt. This guy is ready to be basted.

"Girl" quilt. I still need to put a border on this one.

 

Pack and play quilt-All it needs is binding. That's all! I guess it really should be finished now shouldn't it?

Rainbow quilt-This one has a bit of work to be done. I plan to slice it up a bit and add some sashing. Should be interesting.

I have a few other things that I can't share here yet and I will be back tomorrow or Friday with a finish!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

 

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Bloglovin' claim

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Because of the imminent demise of google reader, I have been using Bloglovin' recently and really like it. So I am officially claiming my blog there ;)

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Willy Nilly

I won't lie, I have been feeling a bit like a prisoner these days. The tiny tyrant calling the shots around here is light on sleep and heavy on demands. Lately, I have been itching to do just a little something for myself. Anything that doesn't involve feeding, changing, burping, or holding the baby.

So after lulling her to sleep in her swing (Godsend), I rifled through my scraps, pulled out an assortment and started sewing. Just willy nilly. No plan, except that I planned to cut my finished piece into several mug rugs and quilt them. This is what emerged.

This was about 15 minutes of sewing and cutting. I didn't even press the seams! It was so liberating. If that admission didn't make you clutch your pearls, the next surely will...

I quilted every single one without basting! I plan to attach the binding tonight and then have little hand sewing projects to pick up when I have a minute or two.

I also have been working on a baby quilt for an auction. So far, patch work galore. I am still trying to decide what kind of border it needs.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts

 

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I'm still alive

Although I feel a bit zombie like these days.

This little pea is taking up most of my time and energy :)

She was born on April 8th and we are finally starting to get into a bit of a routine around here. Big sister is totally smitten and so are we.

I finally got back to my sewing machine this week. I am working a few things that I hope to blog about next week as finishes!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, even though I don't have a finish :)

 

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March Madness

I am still pregnant and moving at a glacial pace, but I did manage to finish my March goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. Hooray!

Here is my Swoon block in all of its Tula Pink glory. I really like how it came together.

All finished

Dowel and pocket hanger

My favorite detail. See them scurry?

I also whipped out a few self binding receiving blankets. I found the tutorial on YouTube. The lovely Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company provided the tutorial. Good stuff.

For next Friday's finish, I would really like to be posting a picture of a new baby. Fingers crossed.

Linking to A Lovely Year of Finishes March Completions! and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Cheers, Katie

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Dog Days

I special four-legged baby had a birthday this past week and her Mommy is a good friend that just happened to get a new car recently. I thought a back seat cover would be a perfect gift and this is what I came up with...

I used this as an opportunity to try a few things out. I pieced the batting and the backing, both of which I had never done. It was really good practice. I certainly learned a few things. I was also so happy to use up scraps. The batting, binding, and backing are all scraps. That makes me feel so accomplished. I hate wasting even the smallest of leftovers because, as you all know, this addiction hobby can be quite expensive.

I have an exciting evening planned, I am going to try to start quilting my Swoon block wall hanging.

Happy Friday!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.

 

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