Owl Applique - WIP

I so often make quilts for other people, very few stay in my own home.  Last fall I made myself a quilt and I decided to make each of my daughters a quilt this year for Valentine's Day.  My maiden name is Valentine, so this holiday is always a big deal in my house!

I have posted about the Hexi-Hearts quilt I've been working on for my younger daughter, Jessica (she's 6).  That one is almost done and I'll be sharing that here on Friday.

I've also started on the quilt for my older daughter, Rachel (she's 9).  My original plan was to use mustache fabric, but I just don't love the idea of my precious baby girl sleep under a mustache.  I ended up going with Plan B, which was owls.  (She loves them.)

My sweet friend Jean (in New Zeland) shared some photos of an owl applique she has made in the past.  I loved the idea and decided to make my own version to match the owl fabric I had purchased.

This was really fun to make.  I started by scanning the fabric, choosing an owl I liked (in the upper left of the photo above) and then printed it out to make a pattern.  I used fabric from my stash, some Heat 'n Bond and some applique stitching to make this little guy (gal?).

Rachel actually did the fabric layout for this quilt, though I don't think she realizes (yet) that it's for her.  She has such an eye for color and knows what she likes, so by letting her do it herself, I know she'll love it.  (That's not at all where I would have put the owl, but it's what she likes, so good enough!)

The back is pieced and the quilt is pin basted, all ready to start some FMQ.  I'm hoping to be brave enough to try some actual FMQ patterns, rather than just the "random, loopy, swirly meander" I usually do.  Not sure I'll get it finished this week, but definitely by Valentine's Day.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Elephant Parade

My little sister, Sarah, is pregnant with her first baby -- a boy -- due in late May.  It did not break my heart when she couldn't find a bedding set she loved and asked me if I'd make a quilt, crib skirt and window valances for his nursery.  I told her to find some fabric she liked and wanted me to use.

She found this crib sheet and said she loved the circles and the colors, but not the elephants.  She wants this, but with monkeys instead:

I bought a few of these sheets --- along with some other lime green, light blue and chocolate colored fabric --- and will start making her items soon.

In the meantime, her BFF (who is like a little sister to me) just had her 3rd baby (a boy) --- almost 5 weeks early.  He's 6+ pounds and healthy but I hadn't started on his quilt yet.  Turns out, he'll have elephants in his nursery.  Well that worked out well, don't you think?

I started by very carefully cutting the elephant part off the sheets I'd bought for my sister:

And came up with this, which went together in no time at all.  I think I'll add a brown border around the outside, then this will be ready to sandwich and quilt. 

The blue, green and brown for this one came from my stash and I found a way to put those cute little elephants to good use.  I love it when that happens!

I've got one other project to finish up before I start quilting this one, and I hope to have the other one ready to share later in the week.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Hexie Heart Quilt Update

First things first.... last week I was able to deliver (in person) the Phoenix Quilt to my friend Phoenix, in the city of Phoenix.  She loved it so much that we got wrapped up in looking at it and talking about it and this is the only photo I took.  Whoops!

While I was in Phoenix, I made my first trip to Hobby Lobby!!  We don't have any near me so this was a special treat.  After spending close to 2 hours in the store (helping my friend pick fabric), I was quite surprised to get out of there without having to refinance my house.  To be fair, I probably could have spent my kids' entire college fund pretty easily (there is SO.  MUCH.  STUFF. in there!) but alas, I had a weight limit to keep in mind for my flight back home 

"Dot" traveled with me and I have photos of her all over Phoenix, on the plane, at the office, etc.  My kids love seeing these photos (I text them to my husband while I'm away) and when I get home, I always write them a story (with photos) about Dot's trip.

When I got back home, I was able to finish assembling my hexagon heart and got it basted together, ready for quilting.  This will be a Valentine's Day gift for my 6-year-old (Jessica).  She has seen me working on it and I know she loves it, but she doesn't know (yet) that it's for her.  I think she will be very happy!

I'll also be making a quilt for my 9-year-old (Rachel).  She is strangely obsessed with mustaches these days. I ordered this fabric to make her a mustache quilt like this one or this one, but I was disappointed that it is actually "natural white" and not "snow white."  (I bought it on eBay and it just said "white."  Apparently, this is as white as it comes.)  It's certainly not the end of the world, but it just wasn't what was in my head so I'm rethinking this being the focus fabric of the quilt.

While I was at Hobby Lobby, I found this cute owl fabric, which may replace the mustaches in my quilt plan for Rachel.  (She loves owls, too.)  I'm still undecided but I think I'll have a lot of great (and fun) color options with these little guys.

I'll leave you with one more photo, this is Phoenix and me (and Dot) after a fun night of bar/restaurant hopping at the hotel where I was staying.  Not well lit, I know.... but still one of my favorite photos from my trip.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Phoenix - Finished

At long last, Phoenix (the quilt) is complete!  On Sunday I will deliver it in person to Phoenix (my friend) in Phoenix (the city).

It's already packed and I didn't measure it first.... whoops!  But it's about 6 feet long, not sure about the width.

I actually had *fun* doing the FMQ on this, which I'm not sure I've ever said before.  A better thread an a 100/80 needle made all the difference.  I can't wait to piece my next top, just so I can try more FMQ.

And now for about a million pictures..... 

The front - she wanted black and white

The back - I thought she needed some color :-)

The borders

The middle

Petals!  (Maybe I'll try to add some flowers next time)

FMQ on the back, in bright sun

The sun was a wee bit bright when I took this photo

No quilt is complete without ladybugs!

She's a helicopter pilot :-)

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by! 

~ Kat ~

OMG, it's FMQ!

I finally finished the back for the Phoenix quilt.  Nothing like a deadline to get a girl moving!

Not only is the back done, but it is basted and almost completely quilted.  This has to be bound, washed and dried before Thursday night (if I plan to deliver it in person) so I was going easy on the FMQ.... until I got to the part where it was time to make the binding.  I so don't like that part.  I decided to get brave and try a little bit of (very) basic "design" in one of the borders.  (My standard "FMQ" -- if you can even call it that -- is a very wide meander that looks pretty much like seaweed.)

Can you see those petal looking things in the wide black border?  I'm so proud!!  LOL

Some days it's the little things!

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Half My Heart

No progress at all this week on the back for my Phoenix quilt, but I did finish making the lazy hexagons and I let my older daughter lay them out for me.  I always second-guess myself when I try to do a "random but not clumped" layout but for some reason when I let her do it, I'm always happy to just use whatever she comes up with.

Here's her layout.  There are 2 of each fabric, so this will be an I Spy quilt and a matching game at the same time.  (These photos don't look so dark on my iPad.... strange....)

I've got a little more than half of them stitched together, just 3 more columns to go.

I bought the fabric this will be appliqued onto.  It will be bigger in width than length if I keep the heart upright like this, so I think I'll add my younger daughter's name underneath it, using the same "ragged edge underneath applique" style (or whatever it's called) from my Angels with Flashlights quilt.

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~

Priceless

Inspiration never really struck for the backing of the black and white quilt for my friend Phoenix, but the clock did.  Looks like I may be traveling to Phoenix (the city) for work in less than 2 weeks, where I'd love to deliver this quilt to Phoenix (my friend) in person.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time doing math and measurements, so I decided I'd just start piecing things together until it finally got big enough.  To see what "big enough" meant, I laid the quilt top on my tile floor and drew around the outline (directly on the tile, but not the grout) with a purple marker.  This way, I can just add a piece, lay it down, check the size, add some more, etc.

Can you see the purple line?

It's most visible across the very bottom of the photo then up the left side.

I did this before my 6 year old woke up this morning.  When she came downstairs and saw it, she looked at me in panic.  

"Mom, someone drew on the floor with a marker!!"

"That was me, Jess."

(15 second pause while she processed this, looking back and forth between me and the floor in disbelief.... Mom?  Drawing on the floor?)

"Oh mom...." she said slowly, "I really, really hope you used a washable marker!"

Priceless!  :-)

~*~ May your day be full of Love and Ladybug Hugs ~*~

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Kat ~