Hexies and hidden stars - a baby girl quilt

Some weeks ago, the topic of our monthly sew-in at Modern Quilt Guild Bielefeld was Modern Hexies.

I had a treasured Cotton & Steel charm pack and I wanted to make a baby girl quilt for my sister’s second child – due in April.

I auditioned different layouts and decided on the one that formes little stars on the negative space – which instantly prompted the quilting design.

I applied some marks with chalk to keep those quilting lines straight.

I defined three big and some small stars that I omitted while straight line quilting and quilted them free-hand afterwards. Each with a unique quilting design. I used a variegated Aurifil thread in shades of white, light grey and dark grey.

To show you the free motion quilting, I used directional and natural lighting instead of artificial light. The fabric I used for the Background is "Notes in silver on white" from Zen Chic's Modern Backgrounds.

 

Once the baby was born, I added her name in light pink thread.

And this is the back: I used a dotted flannel and some leftover Cotton & Steel scraps.

 

 

And this is the entire quilt, already puckered and crinkly as I had to wash it 5 times to get rid of ALL quilting marks... BTW: what is your favourite method or tool to mark grids and designs?

 

I had a hard time giving it away as I really enjoyed the free-motion quilting a lot but I am sure it will be put to good use at my sister's home.

Happy Quilting!
Christine

More baby gifts

In addition to the wonky pinwheel quilt we made for my friend, I made her a giant pillow cover (80x80 cm), that can double up as a duvet while the little man lies in his pram.

It all started with this fabric pull from my stash:

After piecing a simple patchwork top, it was time to choose threads.

White Aurifil and a simple dogwood design made the race.

I hid half of the zipper in the binding so that it is hardly visible when closed.

As long as the baby is still young, the pillow cover can be used as a duvet cover in winter. During summer the pillow cover can be used without filling and makes for a light blanket. Once he’s bigger he can use it with his new quilt. And even as a youth he needn’t be ashamed for still using his “baby pillow” (o:

I made a little sleep bag that unzips completely so it can be used as a changing pad, too. But I was in such a rush that I forgot to take proper photos )o:

I used two layers of cotton batting, a heavyweight cotton fabric for the outside and a soft and cosy flannel for the lining. It makes a unique and rather quick baby shower gift so I guess I’ll come back to this concept sooner or later…

And last but not least I made two easy receiving blankets (about 1,10 by 1,10 m) by simply serging jersey fabric (a thicker one for cold days and a light one for summer):

And who could live without dummy clips?! When finishing the ones for Valentin, I made two girl-ish ones for my niece. Because I can.

Somehow sewing for babies is so rewarding. Isn’t it nice to see them in clothes or quilts or blankets that are handmade with love?

Or am I the only one?!

Have a nice new week and month, that is!
Christine

MQG Bee Quilt

At the end of November our Modern Quilt Guild Bielefeld received a new addition: our second Guild Baby!! We knew beforehand that our Guild member and my close friend was expecting a boy. So we considered several blocks and colour schemes that suited our plans for a bee quilt for the little man.

Not too many matching points (for easier assembly – somehow the quarter inch of seam allowance varies with every person?!) and not too difficult so that even the newbies could join in.

We decided on a wonky pinwheel design, using low volume prints for the background and blues, greens and greys for the pinwheels.

I volunteered to make the quilt top, baste, quilt and bind it, so I was in charge of the layout, too. This was the first attempt: All blocks arranged, I tried to spread the colours evenly. (Sorry for the bad shot, the blocks are hanging on my design wall, down in the basement –> bad lighting)

I thought the effect was too chaotic and that the wonky pinwheels were not as clearly visible as I had hoped for. So I made some more blocks and added a border.

I quilted it with semi-leaves (is there an official name for this quilt design?!) and stitched in the ditch to reach the next pinwheel. That way I could quilt coherrently, without breaking threads for every new pinwheel.

Here’s a closeup. I used a white Aurifil so that the thread blends with the background fabrics where I stitched in the ditch while it stands out within the pinwheels.

I machine embroidered the quilt label and one of our bee memberes stitched it down by hand. Who would have thought that Aurifil’s cotton thread doubles up as embroidery thread, too?!

This is the finished label and you can see the flannel backing I chose. Don’t you love it when the stars line up and you find the perfect backing?!

As for the binding… never change a winning team, right? It seems like my triple zig zag stitch and I are BFF.

For the binding fabric I chose a rather subtle one. I tried different colours from the original colour scheme but all blues and greens that I tried were… just… too much.

I rather like the effect of this lower toned binding (if I dare say so myself).

Here’s one last shot of the quilt with part of the backing flipped over.

If you’d like to see my friend unwrapping the quilt during our last MQG Bielefeld sew-in, hop over to our website.

Is anyone interested in a tutorial for the wonky pinwheel blocks? I wrote a quick and easy tutorial for our bee members. It is in german but I could translate it if someone should be interested. Just leave me a comment (o:

Oh and by special request I took photos of the binding process so there’s a tutorial on that triple zig zag binding coming soon!

Thank you very much for stopping by.
Happy Quilting!
Christine

A group quilt

Today I want to share a group quilt we made for our first “Modern Quilt Guild Bielefeld Baby”.

We knew that our guild member and New-Mom-to-be  was expecting a girl but does not like too much pink and rose. So we picked a grey background and decided on wonky star blocks. Each of us made 2 or three blocks and I volunteered to put the quilt top together and baste, quilt and bind the quilt.

Here’s our baby girl quilt for little Leona:

I used a variegated red-pink Aurifil to free motion quilt stars and loops…

…and outlined the stars using a white Aurifil thread.

All stars are scrappy and some are multi-coloured and others are monochromatic.

I found a fabric with little stars in colourful circles for the backing and used a multi-colour-striped fabric for the binding.

Below you can see the baby’s name quilted in the top left corner for some extra little individuality.

During our last sew-in the little baby came along for the first time. Below you can see a snap shot of her on Brigitte’s arm with her new quilt. She was such a cute addition to our party. Napping in her pram or being carried around by other quilt members.

You are most welcome to cheer us up with your little smiles and “uh-ohs” and we hope to see you again soon, little Leona!

So this was a long kept secret (we started sewing in October, I think) and I am glad I was able to finish the quilt just in time for her first visit.

Do you have a go-to baby-quilt pattern? I have to start another baby quilt soon, so if you know a good pattern, I’d love to read your advice!

Happy (secret) sewing!
Christine

Paper Lanterns – a baby girl quilt

The wife of my former workmate gave birth to their first child last week. A sweet little girl.

May there always be lights (and lanterns) to light your way, little Johanna!

Raw edge appliqué and free motion quilted black wires.

Double loops as background quilting…

I quilted the baby’s name in the lower right corner.

I used different designs within the lanterns.

Backing and binding. And my new name tag including washing instructions.

I am rather pleased with the result. A not too girly baby quilt. The process gave me some pains though. I had huge problems with tension and breaking threads. It was the first time I encountered these problems with my sewing machine. After changing needles twice, cleaning my machine, rethreading multiple times the problem was still the same. I was so disappointed and frustrated.

Ironically, my machine worked perfectly when I quilted on a test-sandwich. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I had put the wrong side of the batting up. Trudi explained last year that, when using needle punched batting, the side with the little knots aught to face downwards. Mine faced upwards. I need to remember this when basting my next quilt!

What do you do when you encounter thread breaks?!

Happy Quilting!
Christine

Newborn Kimono Top

A picture post.

My favourite part: the scrappy bias binding - made entirely from bias tape leftovers.

It’s size 0-6 months of this free pattern. Thank you for sharing, Amy!

Happy Sewing!
Christine

Baby Party Traditions

My entry for Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2013 is this Paper Pieced Baby Quilt:

 

I made it for a friend who was expecting her second baby – another girl.

I used these orphan Paper Pieced Blocks (my first ever!) that I made at Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat in London last year…

… and turned them into a simple baby quilt top by sashing the blocks in white.

I basted the quilt sandwich and drew a 2” grid with a watersoluble pen.

Afterwards I used a free motion foot and some white thread to quilt dogwood petals all over the negative space.

In between and around the blocks I quilted some organic (aka: free motion) straight lines and bound it in matching stripes.

If it hadn’t been intended for my friend’s newborn girl, I would have kept if for myself. I love this little quilt best of all quilts that I made – even if it is not flawless.

The baby arrived around mid-April, I gave her the quilt two weeks ago and I am happy to report that she loves it. Why so late? you may ask, my anglophone friends. Well, in Germany we don’t celebrate a “Baby Shower”. Celebrating a Baby before its birth is superstitiously believed to bring bad luck.

Traditionally a german baby-birth-party (aka “Pinkelparty”) was thrown by the Baby’s father (while mother and baby are still at the hospital) for Dad’s (male) friends and (male) neighbours.

Nowadays, these parties are often attended by men and women alike and they are usually postponed until 10-20 days after baby’s birth so that the baby and its mother can attend, too. Nevertheless, these parties are still quite informal and casual. Beyond comparision to all those beautiful “baby showers” that pop up in blogland.

Is there a “baby-party-tradition” in your country/region/family? Please do share, it will be fun to compare superstitions and/or (silly) traditions!

Thank you very much for visiting and reading.
Have a nice festival week!
Christine