Baby Boy Porter - Monkeys

It seems that every other week a baby shower is being thrown and it is absolutely the most fun to go to a shower with good friends, yummy goodies, and a reason to celebrate. I had spoken to this mom to be and she was very excited about monkey's. Luckily, while in Madison Wisconsin on business I found some wonderful fabric at Stitcher's Crossing for this baby quilt. Although the pattern and quilting was simple the vibrant fabrics make this ~36x36 inch blanket very special. I was worried about doing too complex of a pattern with the monkey fabric since it wouldn't be able to be seen if the pieces were small.

Baby Girl Eastie

Today I attended a beautiful Baby Shower for the upcoming arrival of Baby Eastham! There were about 4 of us attending that were pregnant and of us their are 2 girls 1 boy, 1 unknown. I've got a few more quilts to get cracking on! I loved this quilt for Baby Eastham because the colors were so fun. I've found that like in this case a particular fabric or two (usually a fat quarter) started it all and then I built off of it. This pattern came from the book Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts by Mary Hickey with the exception of the 9 patch block which is my substitution for the block in her pattern.

Little Boys and Sail Boats

Here's a baby quilt I made for a little one named Jack! A friend of mine, Colleen, and I picked out the fabric on New Years Eve and created the pattern and put most of it together before midnight. I decided to try quilting a pattern that I traced instead of my usual stitch in the ditch. It's not perfect but for his dad a former Naval Officer and his mom a sweet friend the boats were also a theme for his nursery and it fit perfectly with his new environment. I just heard today that his quilt is used a lot! It makes me happy to know it's used, and well loved. Welcome to the world Jack!

Wedding Quilt

This quilt was made for a close friend and her husband for their wedding in October 2010. I enjoyed the process of putting the Yellow Brick Road pattern together for the front and then creating my own pattern for the back. The fabric line reminded me of Allison's halloween costume and the colors reminded me of a couch that Ben and Allison were looking at on line the last time I visited them. (I know weird inspiration). They had a beautiful wedding but I was unable to attend; but I'm glad that I was able to create a Michelle original that they will have for a lifetime. Last but not least I hired a friend to embroider their Monogram and Wedding date on a patch on the back.

Family Projects and Heirlooms

Tonight's binding project was the finishing touches on a quilt that has made its way through the family. This isn't the first nor will it be the last project that is completed this way.

My mom, sisters and I live across the country from one another. Mom and my youngest sister live in Southern California, the middle sister lives in Houston, Texas and then there's me up here in Massachusetts. Since I started quilting they have showed some interest in but have never taken a class. I bought projects for them early on choosing easy quilt projects and usually walking them through some of the steps to the project on the phone or via Skype.

This latest quilt was bought for my sister, Cherie, for Mothers Day. I bought a My Sister and Me Design pattern called "Cherry Turnover" that used Oh Cherry Oh Moda pre-cuts. The project should have been pretty simple because no cutting was required. Cherie was early on in her pregnancy and I thought she'd like a project to do. I should have known my sister, somewhat of a workaholic, wasn't going to work on her project whatsoever before the baby was born. In fact she

Eventually the quilt got sent to my youngest sister and Mom who put the top together. After trying to explain how to miter the borders to no avail it got sent to me and I finished the top, selected and prepared the back and put it together. I quilted it a few weeks ago and completed it this evening while watching some TV. Two weeks from now it will finally make it to my sister in Texas.

This is just how our projects sometimes get finished and it really is nice to know that each of us have created these projects and they will forever remain in the family.May I be lucky enough to see these passed down to my sister's children.

Create quilts, make memories and enjoy!!

Finished!

Some projects take longer than others. This one has taken me over a year to complete and its been a great project to continue over the year. The bright colors in this quilt lightened my mood in the winter and cheered me up during Yinon's finals and the long months of recruiting. This quilt is the first I will attempt to sell. http://www.etsy.com/shop/shellieme I'm not trying to make a profit, just cover some of the expenses for my hobby, which will allow me to start another quilt.

This quilt was the first which contained a star like shape and it was the first in which I didn't follow the pattern precisely. I used the pattern Lucky Stars by Atkinson Designs, to include some of the fabric from the Tulip panel using fussy cutting. (See the bottom right corner with a butterfly the bottom left with a hummingbird and the center panel). I've titled this quilt, very originally I might add, "Tulips and Butterflies".

The short history of this quilt was that I was looking for a new project and had never made a quilt with star block so I picked up Lucky Stars. About the same time I purchased a few pieces of fabric from the Moda line with these beautiful tulips and butterflies. In less than a weekend I cut it all out. Then I started piecing the blocks together and again it took a few hours the following weekend. Putting the top or blocks together took a few months and was interrupted by our move to Cambridge, MA. I finally got the batting, top, and backing finished and I quilted Tulips and Butterflies over the winter. In the past month I found binding, trimmed the quilt up and today I finished hand sewing the binding. DONE!

This afternoon I put it up on sale at http://www.etsy.com/shop/shellieme and we'll see if I make any money to put towards my next quilt project. Cross your fingers, I'm ready for another project to challenge me - I think I'll try a bargello.

Happy quilting!

Most crafters, seamstresses, quilters, and scrapbookers have lots of projects going simultaneously. Since Yinon's out of the house for a few weeks this summer I've been pulling out my machine and have been working on all of these projects. Currently I have 8 UFO's in the binding stage.
This photo shows left to right starting on the top:
-My sister and Me: Cherry Turnover in Moda Oh Cherry Oh
-Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts by Mary Hickey: Playmates with focus fabric Michael Miller's Flower Fairies
-A Michelle Original baby play pad with Batik's
-_______ - Moda Tulips
Bottom Left
-A Michelle and Heather original Playpen pad with Surfin Monkeys by Benartex Fabric
-Two changing pad sized quilts fabrics unknown
-A quilt kit from Joanne's Fabric
-Another quilt top Made from Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts by Mary Hickey: Playmates with focus fabric Michael Miller's Flower Fairies
It's been fun putting these together but now I need to get them off the couch by finishing the binding.
I'm looking forward to my next project.