Flowering Snowball Finish

If you follow me on Instagram (@myfabricobsession) you've seen pictures of this quilt. This is my absolute favorite quilt and now hangs in my office so I can look at it all day!

 The pattern is called flowering snowball and I was hooked once I saw this quilt. I still want to do a version like that, but it takes much more thought than this one!

Then Mary at Molly Flanders hosted a quilt along and I had to join in! I wound up not being able to keep up with her schedule due to other commitments. But she had some great information there. She goes over different ways to create this quilt, provides templates and resources for buying templates. And, she shows how different colors can affect the secondary patterns.

I wound up buying templates for my version here at Baycreek Quilting. Mine are the 8" finished block. I'm kind of regretting it now because since then I've acquired a Go! cutter and they have a die for this pattern! Ah, c'est la vie. I will say, the ruler templates were nice to have because the pieces are so small. I could still use my rotary cutter. I would imagine without them you would have to scissor cut.

And the fabrics are all Joel Dewberry Birch Farm. Except for the "background" which is Kona Raffia.

I used one of my favorite prints with hydrangea on the back.

And pieced in my label per usual!

The binding is the same print I used in the center stones of the block. Those center stones are so small, you can't see it much so I thought I'd use it for the binding as well.

Quilt stats:

Size: 39"x39"

Pattern: Flowering Snowball

Fabrics: Joel Dewberry Birch Farm and Kona raffia

Quilted by: Myself

Finished: 4/1/15

bride and bridesmaid dress quilts

You may remember the tree quilts that I made last year. This was a project where a client had asked me to incorporate a bridesmaid dress into the quilt. The same client came back this year with another friend having twins. This time a boy and a girl AND she had the wedding dress in addition to the bridesmaid dress.

Challenge accepted!

You'll have to excuse the photos. We had a stretch of yucky weather and since I had to give these to the client before the baby shower, I had to make due.

First there is the baby girl quilt. She requested purple and grey. The binding and purple flower are from the bridesmaid dress. The white flower is the wedding dress.  And let me tell you - my palms were sweaty when I cut up the wedding dress!!

The purple was hard to photograph because it was so dark. Here's the best shot I got of it!

What I did was make a long tube of fabric and then used Vanessa Christenson's technique for a twisty flower. The tube of fabric was to eliminate raw edges. The client requested that the quilt be washable.

The pattern is Tres Flores by Quiltstory.

Here are the adorable fabrics on the back.

That little polka dot??  It's actually hearts!

And so on to the boy quilt. The client suggested a football quilt with the laces being the wedding dress. Once I figured out how to make that happen (interfacing and zigzagged edges on my seams) here is the final result.

I got the pattern here at Connecting Threads.

I went to my LQS (Byrne Sewing) in search of an interesting brown for this quilt and found what I think is the coolest fabric ever.  It's a Robert Kaufmann Fabric called Kona Dimensions.  The ovals on this fabric have a slight metallic to them and are amazing in person.  It's called a jacquard? I was not familiar with it but wound up buying more here in different colors.

I think the fabric really made this quilt interesting. It had the potential to be very boring flat brown. but this brought another dimension.

All the quilting was done my me on my domestic machine. Free motion stippling. I'm feeling much more comfortable with my free motion skills and I'm proud of how this turned out.

The client was really happy with these and I hope the mom was as well!!

Quilt stats:

Quilt name: Football quilt and Tres Flores

Pattern: Football quilt and Tres Flores

Fabrics: bridesmaid dress, wedding dress, kona dimensions, various purple and gray from LQS

Finished: 3/20/15

Burp cloths and aprons

Even though I haven't been blogging a lot, there's been a lot of sewing happening.  My sister was going to a baby shower and requested a pack of neutral burp cloths since the mom wasn't finding out the gender.

 Aren't these fabrics the cutest. I got these at one of my LQS. I recently learned it is closing (Sew Smart in Doylestown for any locals) and I'm so sad. They always had the best selection of everything, but in particular, adorable baby and kid fabrics.

Some closeups.

My sister also requested a set of matching aprons for her and her son. At first I thought no problem! But then I realized how tough it was to find appropriate fabrics for mom and son to wear (son being 7). Sew Smart came through for me with this fun mushroom print.

For the pattern, I used a combination of this free Michael Miller reversible apron pattern and a favorite apron of mine for sizing.

Here are the two aprons together. They both seem happy with the results!

Cuddle Monsters

A while back I bought this adorable pattern from my LQS intending to make one for my son. It's called Cuddle Monsters and is by WhistlePig Creek.

I made it for him for Christmas and never posted any photos of it. Mostly because he was unimpressed and won't wear it. He opened the box and said, "There's nothing in here"!! Ah - way to break a momma's heart. I get it though, he's 3, he wanted toys....

However.... My daughters eyes got wide with longing!  She requested a pink and green monster.

I actually already had these flannels on hand and had planned to make pajamas. But since I don't really like garmet sewing, this was the perfect excuse NOT to make them!

She loves her monster, I let her pick the scales, ears and eyes so it really is her monster. The flannel makes them nice and snuggly too.

My sister saw them and put in a request for a friend of hers. She requested her's be blue and red. (and my daughter generously modeled for me)

 

This one I only used flannel on the inside for the snuggle factor.

This one is now living with it's new owner who seemed a bit more excited than my son did when he received his.

If I can ever get a picture of him in his, I'll be sure to post it. I used minky for the inside of his and I think I'm still cleaning the fuzz off my sewing room floor!