Sew Spasms

I feel like I'm sewing in spasms these days. And unfortunately, I'm having trouble making myself stick to the projects I really should be working on.

Fortunately, progress in general has been moving a little quicker these days. I've been working quite consistently on a 5 1/2" HST project.

I'm using Kona Orange in combination with the black, purple, and orange fabrics from the Trick or Treat line by Doodlebug Design for Riley Blake.

Our three year old has switched his color allegiance to orange lately, and I really want to get a Halloween/Autumn quilt made for every bed in the house, so this one will be his.

I was getting close to having all the squares sewn, cut, ironed, and trimmed (my husband even helped one night while we watched tv!). But I realized one night (while awake nursing the baby - does anyone else wake up to their brain cranking through quilt math?!) that I had miscalculated and needed to make almost as many more HSTs as I had already made.

Sigh.

So, I'm pushing myself even harder to finish up the squares I have. I want to do a rough lay out to help decide what additional fabric (if any) I will need to purchase.

I also want to make a matching pillowcase, and I had been trying to convince myself that a solid case with scraps decorating the side would be great. But if I'm going to have to order more fabric anyway...an extra yard of the black with the large print on it may end up in my online cart. :)

Baby Boy's Crib Quilt Part 2

Back in March I started a crib-sized quilt for the baby. I really thought it was going to be a quick and easy project, but somehow, that's not how it turned out.

In July, the boys and I spent time at our family's cabin on Lake Superior, and I took my sewing machine and some projects with me. All I had left with this quilt was to finish the binding. And I was able to complete it! Hooray!

But since I was already so close to the baby's birthday, I saved it a couple of weeks and gave it to him on his birthday. The boy's room is always stuffy and overly warm, despite two air conditioners running upstairs, so the quilt spends most of its time jammed in the end of the crib. Soon enough, it will be getting plenty of use!

Here's a pic of my big boy trying to help out by holding the quilt up (he took the job very seriously):

And he had to stand on the couch and stretch way up high for most of the quilt to be visible. Such a great little helper!

And just for fun, a pic of the baby (I suppose I should start calling him something else, now that he's one!) enjoying his birthday cake:

Baby Boy's Crib Quilt Part 1

First, a post I wrote back at the beginning of March, but somehow failed to actually post:

I love the idea of pre-cuts, and I love buying them, but I feel like I don't always use them as well as I could.

I finally purchased my first layer cake about a month ago, Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda. I haven't been able to find any of the fabric in nearby quilt shops (no LQS here), but I love the way it looks in the projects I see popping up online.

I was hoping to make a quick and easy, but cute and fun, baby quilt with it.  But what was in my head didn't jive with the fabric once it arrived.

Cue late-night pondering. I don't remember when this one came to me, but I decided to use some of it to make a crib quilt for my baby boy.

He's eight months old now, and has grown at a ridiculous rate. I made several small quilts for him before he was born, but nothing crib sized. Since he takes his naps in his crib, I think he deserves a special "made just for him" quilt. He's also starting to sleep in his crib for the first bit of the night. One night he slept in his crib for a whole night. I woke up to the boys giggling and laughing at each other. They were so excited to wake up in the same room together!

I didn't put a lot of thought in to this quilt ahead of time. I flew by the seat of my pants and had a lot of fun. Looking back, I think I was heavily influenced by some quilts Rita at Red Pepper Quilts was working on at the time.

Here are the fabrics I started out with:

(I eventually added two or three more)

I cut each 10 inch square in to 2-10 x 2.5 in strips, 5 x 2.5 in strips, and 1-5 x 5 square. I combined them with four Kona solids: bahama blue, school bus, white, and a very pale grey (not sure of the proper name, maybe ash?), one solid and one print in each square.

When it came time to lay out the quilt, three squares by five squares looked oddly narrow. I ordered a Central Park charm pack and added another eight blocks.

I really like how all the squares look, but I'm having some trouble getting a layout I like. I really want to get this done for my baby boy soon. Hopefully I will get some time to arrange and rearrange in the next few days.