Off-centre: A modern baby girl quilt

Maybe even too modern?

What do you think? It is off-centre, has lots of negative space, wonky squares and linear and free-motion quilting.

I regret using a contrasting white Aurifil for the quilting. It works well within the white frames but I think I should have chosen a blending thread for quilting the negative space.

The back is more little-girl-ish: Anne Kelle’s Kites on flannel surprisingly matched well with most of the scraps I used within the wonky squares.

Of course it showcases the baby’s name.

I chose raw-edge appliqué again but changed the width often to match the width of the letters/strokes (does that make sense? You can see the width difference in the photo above).

So, all in all, what do you think? Too modern for a new born? Too much grey?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy quilting everyone!
Christine

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

Railfence – a scrappy baby boy quilt

A sweet baby boy was born in late june. My friend Verena and I, we made him a gift inspired by this pillow.

We chose lots of black & white prints (many from ZenChic’s new line Modern Backgrounds “Paper”) and some blue, turquoise, green and yellow scraps.

We used raw-edge-appliqué to “write” his name on the back:

Here are some of my favourite blocks: some crowns…

… newspaper advertising…

…crossword puzzles…

…and some funky glasses…

I only stitched in the ditch of those inner seams, which makes a nice pattern on that flannel star-y backing:

We used left overs from the top for a scrappy binding. My favourite is this leaf-y print from Lotta Jansdotter:

As always, I used a triple zig-zag-stitch to sew the binding down with my sewing machine:

Here is another shot, all rolled up and ready to be gifted:

So easy and so much fun to make. Now to perpare another baby quilt for my cousin that is due with her second baby in December…

Happy Quilting!
Christine

(Back) to school!

Last year I told you about the german tradition of giving “sugar cones” to first graders’ for their very first day of school.

Well, we have another first grader this year. So I made another sugar cone from fabric. He asked for a “soccer” version, which was rather difficult to make.

I really dislike most of the soccer themed fabric out there. So I made a border from this knit fabric:

I added some black and white “ball” fabric and machine stitched his class, his name and the date of his first day of school. Here’s a closeup:

And this is the cone and his school bag:

An early morning shot before we left for school:

All kids have their own school agenda that is spiral bound. By the end of the year those spirals are rather oval or bend but no longer round. So I made some quilted covers for my boys’ agendas. Soccer themed for little boy…

…and ninja themed for our new second grader…

That little ninja is completely appliquéd and one of my favourite makes ever. The design is from breezylaneembroiderydesigns.com. I just turned the embroidery  design into a raw-edge-application.

Both boys were also invited to a sleep over party, so we needed a second bag for toothbrush, etc. for the boys. (Unless I’d send them out with my pink one. Hihi.)

It is lined with coated cotton so throwing in an open tooth paste tube will not ruin it entirely (ask me how I know).

Well now, the first weeks of school are already over. We are heading into our fall break. Little boy is not very excited about school and tends to do his homework with the least effort possible but he seems to get along well enough. I’ll keep my fingers crossed (for the next couple of years, I guess…). Sigh.

Are there any “first day of school traditions” in your whereabouts?!

Happy sewing everyone!
Christine

Comfy clothes

Am I the only one feeling the need of making clothes in summer? Is there perhaps a pre-historic code that tells us to prepare clothes for winter? It seems like each summer I feel the urge to sew clothes for my kids (2013 and 2014). My quilting mojo has completely vanished 8 weeks ago.

It all started with these supercool ninja fabrics that I found in our local fabric shop. The darker one is jersey and the light one is a thick and super soft and cuddly sweater fabric.

 

I decided to make two hoodies and two t-shirts for my boys (german pattern by pattydoo found here – including how-to videos):

I would have added the front pocket to both hoodies but I am forgetful sometimes…

Here is little boy, trying some ninja moves in his new sweater:

…and big boy wearing his new tee:

When big boy fell ill some weeks ago, we discovered that he had outgrown his comfy pants (how can his legs be so long while is waist is still so small?! He needs extra long skinny jeans now). So we went to the local fabric shop and I let him choose the fabric.

I ended up making several pairs of comfy pants for him and little bro. Some with  waistbands made from knits and others with elastics in “fold-over tunnels”. Some with pockets, most without. Some with hems and others with cuffs.

And this one is my favourite:

It’s a pair of shorts I made from the left-overs. I added eyelets to the waistband and the pattern called for an imitation of a zipper-facing. It took me ages to figure out how to make it but I am happy I did it.

Here are some “in action” shots:

 

 

Now we are ready for cold but cosy and snuggly winter months (o:

Do your kids like to wear handmade clothes?

Happy sewing!
Christine