Bloggers Quilt Festival- my baby's quilt story

This was not my first quilt, or my first baby quilt, but it is my first quilt I made for my baby. I wanted my son's quilt to be colorful and beautiful. Though it seems counter-intuitive to add a lot of white to a baby quilt, I could not resist the look. And it has stood the test of time, wash after wash. He sleeps with it every night in his bed, and it comes with us on trips, even just for a nap at grandma's house.

 I was experimenting with layout here, trying to make the colors go in order of value. But not too perfect, of course ;)

 The backing I found at my LQS and could not resist the perfect blend of green and yellow.

 Here's a closeup of the fabric, and my mixed yellow binding. That has become an accidental signature- my binding is never long enough in the fabric I pick, so there is almost always a little piece added!

 A full shot of the front. I adore this quilt. But not as much as I adore the little boy I made it for. I think I love it extra because of who it was created for.

The stats:
Finished measurements: 36" x 42"
Pattern: modified (scaled way down) from the Purl Bee- A Wedding Quilt
Fabrics: color blocks made from my stash, which was in large part inherited from someone else (aka no idea), backing and binding was a remnant and the white is Kona snow
Quilting: done by me, very simple stitch in the ditch along the blocks

Thanks for reading through my favorite quilt story!

Sewing and general crafting updates

I am admittedly having a difficult time fitting blogging into my life right now! The first reason is we have no internet in our new place- I just use my husband's phone to get online. So that means I can only be on the net when he is home and we are not busy eating, playing, cooking, cleaning, relaxing together or doing a multitude of other non-internet things. The second is, I have been busy doing crafty things for Halloween! First up, a bluebird costume for my little man (he's almost two!):

(my chair doing my modeling here) 

 (closeup of the wing)
This was really fun, it all came together in a day (luckily a very sleepy day for my son) and he wore it yesterday for a zoo Halloween scavenger hunt. The wings need to be adjusted to stay on better, but he loved to wear the hat. I used this Martha Stewart baby pattern as inspiration, but drew my own wings and followed the instructions very minimally.

The next project was a first trip to the pumpkin patch, and then carving pumpkins. I went for the bird theme whole hog this year and chose to do an owl.

I used a Dremmel tool specifically made for carving pumpkins, which I highly recommend! It was a blast and so easy, but I did get little bits of pumpkin all over my arms. Shower after the carving, not before.

And the third reason for my lack of blogging? I want to use all my free time to see how this Little Apples string block quilt is going to turn out! I get about 2-3 blocks done a day, but I am getting anxious!

I've got a nice pile going, but I have a lot of my jelly roll left! I can't wait to start laying it out.

Best of luck to all for the coming week, getting through a sugar-fueled late-night holiday and getting some sewing/crafting/work/relaxing done!

Been a long time...updates from a rainy city

Hello to my readers! I have moved to my new city of Portland, Oregon and am somewhat settled in, enough to be sewing once again and trying to get back into my groove. Most of my time up to this point has been focused on moving in to our new house and playing with my son. His sleeping times have been occupied by unpacking and organizing, cleaning and relaxing with my husband. And looking for a nice modern not-too-expensive couch (no luck on the last front). 

 This is my color-organized bookshelf- can you tell I missed my sewing/quilting?

 Our new front door

 My new sewing area- smaller, but hoping this smaller footprint will make me more organized!

 My Little Apples jelly roll all cut up and ready to use to make some string blocks (I am using the instructions from The Practical Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartmann, a fellow Portlander)

 These are the selvedges- don't they look interesting in this little bunch?

 This is an Heirloom bundle I won from Angie at Stitching by Starlight, from her 10 for 10 interviews, which if you missed are still on her blog. My first fabric winnings at my new house!

This I received before I left Cali but forgot to mention it here in the madness- this is a Storyboek fat quarter bundle from Birch fabrics, which I received from the Green Bag Lady. These are beautiful and soft- now I just need a plan for them!

More to come soon, but for now, I need to get back to stitching my Little Apples!