Baby boy - There's a Square in There

Here's a boy version of the baby "There's a Square in There" quilt (you can find the baby girl version here). I made this quilt using the demo blocks that I put together for the pattern. I didn't put any extra strips of solid colour in this one, just kept it simple. I used 2 fat quarters of patterned fabric and left over scraps.

I tried a different type of free motion quilting this time. Just lots of loops (not sure what the technical name is). It was really easy, probably easier than stippling, and I like the way it goes with the swirly blue/green fabric.

These pictures are a bit dark as I had to take them in the evening.

I gave this quilt to a new baby at church - Thomas. A beautiful little boy who has an extra special spirit. He has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome, so will have his own unique challenges, but he's one of 5 children, so there will be plenty of love and support for him.

Fairy Hearts

Well here it is - "Fairy Hearts" - with a name and a pattern to go with it. A big thankyou to those who tested the pattern for me.

Thanks to Saffron Craig for the gorgeous fabric, her fabrics not only look fantastic but feel so good too.

This "Fairy Hearts" pattern uses quick and easy strip piecing to create the Nine Patch blocks; and machine raw edge appliqué for the hearts. It includes 10 pages of full colour photos and diagrams.

Two sizes are given, 50" x 62" and baby sized 38" x 50", as well as instructions for a simple pieced back.

Fairy Hearts Quilt Pattern (pdf) - available for immediate download

AU$11.00 (approx US$10)

You can buy the kits from Saffron Craig here. They ship internationally.

not bad for a 3 year old

You know the blocks I showed you about a week ago, the ones my little Sarah cut and designed and I ironed on - well I framed each "picture", added white sashing and borders and bound it in red.

I'm so happy with how it turned out and so is Sarah.

Now she'll be able to give this quilt to her Aunty Leia for a baby present. I think its nice that the new baby girl will have a quilt from her cousin.

I stippled it pretty closely to try to keep all the bits and pieces in place. Not sure how it will hold up in the wash, but I suppose we'll see soon.

Sarah picked all the fabric that went into this quilt, including the backing and binding. I was planning on using a spotty fabric for the binding but Sarah insisted on the solid red. And now that its on, I know she made the right choice ... that's my girl :)

I asked Sarah to sew a few stitches on with red cotton (she does lovely neat stitches) but she told me that the quilt was already sewn and finished ... and that was the end of that.

Fairy winners

Thanks to everyone for the great name suggestions - you are a creative bunch! I love it that Ally was thinking about my quilt at 4:55 in the morning!!! It was a hard choice, but after much deliberation I have decided to name the pattern "Fairy Hearts". It is simple and sweet and even if you don't use fairy fabric, the hearts could still be fairy hearts. Anyway, without further ado ... the winners are number 8 and 1. I used http://www.random.org/ to generate these numbers (I suppose you'll just have to trust me on that one). So congratulations Kristie and Kaye. Your patterns will be emailed to you right away.

The final pattern will be released in the next couple of days. It will include instructions for a pieced back, as well as dimensions for a baby sized quilt. So watch this space...

Fairy Giveaway

This is what I've been furiously working on for the last couple of weeks. This gorgeous fabric is from Saffron Craig's Fantastic Fairies Range, with a couple of fabrics from her Fields and Owls range thrown in. Its the ultimate girly fabric, so I had to make a pattern that was equally sweet and girly.

I just love those fairies against the white. I took a couple of photos of it last night, but it was getting a bit dark, so I'll post more when I take some 'proper' photos.

The hearts were sewn on using raw edge applique and then I hand quilted around each one. I also hand quilted in white around through the Nine Patch blocks and on the border (although you can't see it in these photos).

I made a pieced back (ofcourse) using little square scraps against white and I love how the red quilted hearts came out on the back. I've decided to include instructions for the pieced back in this pattern.

I bound it in Saffron's brown fairy circles. I like dark binding on quilts, frames it well I think.

Now I need some help naming the pattern. At present I have 3 ideas. "I Heart Nine Patch" "Fairy Hearts", "I Heart Fairies" or something else. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know what you think the name should be. Also let me know if you would be interested in proof reading the pattern for me. I will randomly select a couple of comments and email them the draft pdf pattern (they will also be sent the final pattern when it is completed). I will pick 2 winners in 2 days (Wednesday). Yay, my first giveaway. I feel like a real blogger now.

Its Here!

My husband and mother in Law ordered this for me for Christmas - EQ6 - a quilt designing program. I was so excited to get my hands on it but Christmas came and went and it never arrived. So I had to continue with my graph paper book to make my patterns. Apparently it had been sent and someone signed for it, but I have no idea who, it wasn't us. So the company kindly sent another one and it arrived yesterday!! I'm about to install it and I'm so excited about the possiblities with this program. I'm sure I'll still use my graph paper, but it will be nice see how my patterns will look before I sew them up. I've already started studying the manual.

Free download - Pieced Back

A number of people have asked about the pieced back I made for "There's a Square in There" pattern. So I've put a pattern together for the back and you can get it here for free! Just scroll down and click on the "free download" button and you will get it instantly. 6 pages of step by step full colour photos and diagrams. Enjoy - and make sure you send pictures. I love to see what you do with my patterns.

Sorry the photos aren't the best. I wasn't planning on making a pattern for the back and now my quilt is hanging in my local quilting store - Blueberries.

Pieced Back for "There's a Square in There" quilt - Pattern

FREE DOWNLOAD

If you would like to purchase "There's a Square in There" quilt pattern see my stockists list on the side bar. Alternatively you can download it instantly here.

Rebecca's Pinwheel Quilt

I made this quilt for my sister Rebecca. She has a large colonial style house on an acerage and I felt that this pinwheel design would suit her place well.

I was given the fabric from my sister in law, Sierra, and it just so happened that the colours went perfectly with Rebecca's house! I really enjoyed making these pinwheels using 'chain piecing' (when you feed little bits of material through your machine one after the other and then cut the threads at the end).

And here's fizzy the donkey again. Doesn't he make my quilt look good?! I put a scrappy binding on this quilt. I alternated scraps from the patterned fabric and from the backing fabric. Have I told you I like using left overs?

I hand quilted each pinwheel with cream perle cotton No. 8 (the only type of cotton I ever quilt with). I also hand quilted parallel lines around the border a few times.

Three year olds can make quilts too

My three year old daughter knows all about quilting and she often likes to help me by handing me peices of thread or scissors or by trying to climb on my lap while I quilt. She enjoys sewing little things with my help and wants to make a quilt for her Aunty Leia who is having a baby. I've tried helping her to make a little quilt, but I end up doing all the sewing, and she gets bored.

Today I stuck fusible webbing on the backs of 10, 5" squares of patterned fabric, took the paper off the back and let her cut them up. Then she positioned them on 6.5" squares of solid cream fabric. She loved it, and she did it all herself which made it even better (when I did try to make a suggestion it was shot down!). As she declared that she had finished each square I ironed it to keep it all in place. She completed 6 today. I like what she's done. I think my favourite is the red square.

I think I'll get her to make 3 more, add borders and sashing and then stipple it closely to keep all the little bits in place. Voila, a quilt designed by a 3 year old!

P.S. All 65 patterns have been sent out. If you didn't receive yours check your paypal email and/or spam folder, and then let me know if you didn't get it. Huge thankyou to everyone who purchased my pattern. I'm just blown away with the response. It feels good to help in some small way. Extra big thankyou to Sarah Jackson from Craft Hope who patiently sorted through everything and has worked sooo hard over the last week. AMAZING people over there. Although they are not taking any new listings, the shop is still open and there are still plenty of wonderful things being listed, so go take a look.

Baby girl "There's a Square in There"

Initially I made 20 blocks for "There's a Square in there" quilt (4 across and 5 down), but when I lay out all the blocks to sew them together I felt there was too much pink. So I took out the pink ones to make this baby quilt. I had lots of left over scraps from the big quilt, so I sewed the patterned and white scraps together to make a strip at the top and bottom of the quilt.

This is my 3rd attempt at stippling and I was happy with the overall effect.

I love using up scraps and I think the blues, greens and browns go really nicely with the pink.

I made a peiced back (instructions not included in the pattern) with more of the left overs. If I was doing it again I would put extra rectangles of patterned fabric where there's chunks of white at the side. You can see a couple of puckers from the stippling on the back (you can also see the pins at the top - had just finished photographing the front for the pattern). But I do like a peiced back.

Finished quilt size: 84cm x 107cm (33” x 42”)

The pattern for this quilt is included in "There's a Square in There" pattern and can be purchased from the stockists list on the right or as a download here.