Welcome Baby G!

When our friends D and L announced they were expecting a baby I set straight to work on their baby present. This little bean has been long anticipated and although we weren't going to know the sex, the quilt had to be perfect. I chose the Zig Zag Quilt pattern from the Purl Bee and used a mix of orange and turquoise prints that I hoped would be gender neutral. Little baby G (a girl) made her appearance on November 5 (an excellent birthday, if I do say so myself, and I should know) and she is just beautiful!

Even more so than her blanket, if I'm being honest.

A detail of the edging and the quilting:The back, packed with Heather Ross' Mendocino:
Little did I know, but L's family has a special thing with seahorses, so the fabric choice was perfect!

All fabrics from Fabric Worm, Purl Patchwork and my stash (source sadly long forgotten).

Super Pink

It's been a long time coming but I have a few new things to show which have been held up by poor lighting and the necessity of secrecy.

The lighting situation hasn't improved (grim weather here in NYC) but the time had come to give this little guy away so I just had to deal. This is my long-ago started Hop Skip Jump Quilt. I actually finished all but a foot of the binding over a year ago, but since it had no recipient, I wasn't motivated to wrap it up. Enter a new baby girl for my good friend V, and I sprung into action.



This is actually the first real quilt I ever started, and it took me over 2 years to finish! Of course, I would do a million things differently if I were to restart it now (the quilting for one - I stitched in the ditch around each of the color blocks), but I do love it and hope it will keep the new babe warm and snuggly. Word is it's going to be hanging above her crib, which I take as a huge compliment.

And speaking of which, City Blocks got installed above the crib of its recipient and I think it looks great!


I'm going to wait for some good natural light to photograph the other two things I have to share (and another baby to be born), but stay tuned.

Lincoln's Baby Quilt

My best and oldest friend, A, gave birth to a beautiful (and enormous) baby boy at the end of April. I have been beavering away on his baby quilt and am going to give it to him when I visit them in Portland next weekend. I know the colors aren't exactly babyish but neither is she, so it should be a good fit. These are some of my favorite stash fabrics and I'm glad they are going to a good home!

The pattern is from a quilt class I took at Brooklyn Mercantile with Michael Michalski back in the fall, and I supplemented my stash fabrics with some from the shop.

Quilt front:

Quilt back:

Embroidered name tag on twill tape:

Heather Ross Sundresses

Two sweet little dresses for two sweet little girls.


All fabrics from Pink Chalk Fabrics.

All over but the quiltin'

City Blocks, waiting to be quilted.

City Blocks for Baby C

My friend, M, had her second baby a few weeks ago. Many months before, she put in an order for a baby quilt and even bought a pile of fabrics at Purl Patchwork. I spent a long time hemming and hawing over the right pattern, since M is super crafty and creative herself. I settled on City Blocks because it is simple and modern, would showcase the fabrics she picked, and didn't require me to supplement with too many additional ones. I have 12 blocks done but need more. Here are the three colorways, though:




The blocks will all be oriented in different directions and I plan to free-motion quilt it - my first major free-motion project! Before then, more sewing and more practice...

Free Wheelin'

I finally took my free motion quilting class this weekend at The City Quilter! I have been counting down for months. I even toted along my trusty little Janome Gem so I could practice on that, seeing as the Bernina 440s they have for classes bear nearly no relationship to its elementary ways. (They both had needles, thread and a foot peddle, but after that the comparison ends.)

We started with "wind":

And moved on to "water":

But I am truly a squiggle girl at heart - it felt totally natural to me, probably because it's always been my boredom doodle of choice:

There were attempts at stippling in there too, but I need, oh, a few hundred hours practice before that technique will be ready for prime time.

Now I just need practice materials - after a little more muslin, I'm thinking a big expanse of some pretty fabric so I can practice maneuvering something large through my machine's short little neck. If it turns out decent, perhaps it will become a gift for a [very forgiving] recipient!