Tuesday, June 25, 2013

"Summer Fun" - A Finished Baby Quilt

It feels so good to have a finish this week. SO good. The last couple weeks of school completely tired me out (after the last day yesterday, I napped for most of the afternoon, even though I really just wanted to sew!). Anyway, I made this baby quilt quickly within the last week as a gift to a co-worker, who is having her baby very soon!  

Fun fact: This quilt was named by one of my 6th grade (now 7th grade... tear) students who is really into quilting (she's always asking me to teach her! <3).


 I wanted to thank my friend for all of her kindness and help this year, it being my first working in the school. She's also totally crafty, so I knew making her a quilt was the way to go. She seemed very touched when she opened it (isn't it the best feeling when you know someone appreciates all the hard work you put into a quilt?). The second best part: I included the cute Riley Blake bike fabric without knowing that she loves biking and that her fiance is actually bike mechanic. Was that meant to be or what? I can't make this stuff up, people!


"Summer Fun"

I had originally gathered that she liked neutrals, but she also liked orange and blue. She doesn't know the baby's gender yet and wants to be surprised (in addition, she shares my sentiment about not throwing blue at boys/pink at girls). In came the fun combo of orange, blue, green, and lots of white to balance it out. I used Color Scheme Designer 3 to come up with this triadic color combo (go spin the color wheel over there, you won't be sorry!).

"Summer Fun"

Quilting this one was an absolute joy. I tried my hand (machine?) once more at repeating and overlapping circles (I also posted a tutorial here if you are interested). To vary things up a bit from Fruit Punch, I also quilted "organic" (aka not exactly straight or measured out at all) vertical lines over the circles and all the way across the whole quilt. I felt like this gave the quilt the texture it needed, and the extra visual interest. Also, still in love with effect of circle quilting on squares!

"Summer Fun"

The pattern is the Stacked Squares by Erica of Kitchen Table Quilting, which was recently posted on Moda Bake Shop. I just couldn't get it out of my head! The backing is a pretty Jennifer Paganelli fabric, which I thought was a perfect match to the front (though a bit more traditional), and the binding is a light blue solid from my stash. I thought the quilt was busy enough to justify a completely solid binding. Also, this was an ENTIRELY stash-made quilt! (I expect applause!!).

"Summer Fun"
Ris said she couldn't believe I actually made a backing with just one piece of fabric! She says she doesn't like pieced backs. Noted. :) (though, I love them, I'll keep it in mind for her!)

"Summer Fun"

Can you tell that Ris (my sis) and I had fun with our photoshoot? These was taken on the fly because I had to get it wrapped and ready - otherwise we might have gone to a more glamorous location than the front porch. However, I love my mom's hydrangeas, so it actually worked out quite well :) Plus, I got to show off my cute new flip flops :) (that are unfortunately now returned because they hurt my feet so much! :( ). Why can't shoes be cute and functional, like quilts?

A few more outtakes... lol. A flickr mosaic always works best here. Just keepin' it real.


Linking up to: Fabric Tuesday, Sew Cute Tuesday, Needle and Thread Thursday (a new link up at My Quilt Infatuation!), TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday

P.S. Thanks for all of your comments on my last post. I really, really enjoyed reading them!


14 comments:

  1. It looks great!

    My younger sister and I are just like that too :)

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  2. It turned out great! What a bright and fun quilt for a baby. Love the color scheme designer! Thanks for sharing that.

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  3. This turned out great, I love the colors!!

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  4. Fun fun quilt. Isn't it wonderful when serendipity puts its hand in and bikes appear in a bike lovers quilt...I just love that. Yes, school winds up near the end doesn't it? I almost growl when someone says to me "things must be winding down now" grrrrr. Have a terrific summer...no back to school, I forgot to plan my lesson, I'm not wearing pants and there's a big zit on my nose dreams until the end of August...got it? I always get a charge out of reading your blog. Another quilty teacher in the universe is good omen, right?

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  5. what a cute baby quilt! lots of fun, happy colors! You should hop over and link up with Needle and Thread Thursday! it's awesome! by the way- I'm a new follower on Bloglovin'

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  6. That is sew adorable! I love that bicycle fabric and the bright pops of color! I am a new follower on bloglovin
    jan@http://sewandsowfarm.blogspot.com/

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  7. I like that fun quilting and your fun pics :-)

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  8. Aww, that's so sweet that you got the fabric/colours spot on for her!! My sister didn't find out the gender of her first, and she got a teal and red polar bear quilt (her favourite animal). The next one will get a red and grey (and probably some blue) ninja quilt (for my BIL)! Pink-schmink if it's a girl ;)

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  9. Looks great. I just love those pearl bracelets in there. The quilting is nice too. Do you do anything special to quilt those circles to keep them looking nice.

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  10. What a great quilt! And yes, so fantastic when the recipient loves a handmade gift :) well done!

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  11. That's a great design and I love the fabrics you've used. So great they were from your stash

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  12. innovative and very pleasing color and design. Love it!

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Let's start a conversation! I love comments and I'd be happy to reply to all who have an email address accessible. Thanks for commenting!

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