Go Vintage

I became an Auntie again back in February and needed to step up and make Baby A a new quilt.  I loved the idea of using striped reclaimed vintage sheets from several awesome Etsy vendors.

• Shabby Sheets purchased here.
• So So Vintage purchased here.
• Whimsie Dots purchased here. 

I used my newly minted design board to test out an alternating 5" pattern with blocks of Kona solids

I did an all-around stitch in the ditch using Superior Thread's MonoPoly Polyester and then used a ruler (first time doing ruler work) to quilt an offset diamond pattern onto the quilt.

 

I then used a navy binding, buried the threads that I could and called it "done". I'll post a finished picture when it is delivered to baby today. ~ksp

There's Something Sweet in Denmark

My best friend (also known as my surrogate sister) and her husband (last name: Denmark) are expecting and I am so happy for them.  As soon to be auntie, I find it necessary to pull out all of the craft stops to shower my new niece with gift.  Afterall, I will be the Spinster* Aunt so I MUST be the favorite auntie.

While on a recent trip to the City Quilter to cash in a gift certificate that was burning a whole in my pocket, I picked up a small fat quarter bundle of Moda's Breakfast at Tiffany's line. The colors are somewhat muted and classic.  Because I love all things scrappy, I added a few other fabrics to break up the similarities and beef up the yardage.  I usually don't like as many florals as this colorway offers, but by combining the damasks and the polka dots, I love it.

After mulling over several patterns, I dusted off the Irish Chain Quilt pattern I used last winter and committed to the triple.

2.5" strips hanging on the rack awaiting their turn.

The triple lay out produces 14"finished blocks so twelve few blocks go a long way, especially since I am making a slightly larger crib size.

Six out of twelve blocks completed.

I'll need to figure out how I will frame the squares.  I like the idea of using browns.  The nursery is sage green so I thinking (hope) these colors will "pop" in the room and wear well through the abuse. 

I love stripes and polka dots together.

I love this green tonal stripe that I picked up. I am not yet sure if I will use it for the borders or the binding.  I tend to inadvertently twist binding which may make a horizontal stripe a bad idea....any suggestions?

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There are several other projects in the works for Baby Denmark including a Christening blanket and a series of bonnets/hats.  I bought these books to further inspire me.

itty-bitty hats

Baby Bloom

I do not have ANY baby friendly and machine washable yarns* in the stash...so I must go shopping.
While I do not personally care for acrylic blends and superwash yarns, I refuse to saddle a new mom that also works outside of the home with a bunch on hand wash/soak only items.  The baby hats in this book are so cute that the stylish spinster aunt will not settle for anything else/less.  ~ksp

Back in the Saddle

...meanwhile, back at the ranch....It's been a crazy and trying season round these parts and I am glad to be back to some semblance of new normal.  Thanks to all that expressed concern.  I am well....

....and in craft news....readers may remember in June 2010, I was in Florida visiting family and nearly lost my mind due to boredom.  After all, there is but so much sitting around in the air conditining that I can take. I went to the local Super Jo-Ann's and bought some charm squares. Out of delirum, I ended up purchasing way more than what was needed.

Since one of my dearest friends had his first baby (Baby S), I wanted to honor the event (in my usual fashion) by gifting a quilt.  I took the rest of the charm squares and converted them (with some other scraps) into a flying geese quilt.

I used this tutorial but also sewed an additional seam 1/4" from the first.  This way, after cutting I ended up with what Bonnie Hunter call bonus 1/2 triangle squares.

I have previously completed a flying geese pinwheel quilt and knew that I wanted to do a different layout this time.  After a couple of hours of square placement I came up with a pattern that I liked.  I wanted there to be a color gradation element to the design, as well as be linear.

All laid out on the couch and ready for the machine.

After laying it out, I strip pieced it into vertical strips and then into a larger center medallion.  As part of my ongoing efforts to not buy fabric, I used an orange and white in the stash.  for flavor, I added strips of some of the bonus squares that were left over from flying geese production.

Can you find the odd-ball square?

So far I love it. I still need to create a few more borders. I am trying to use up more of the bonus squares (of which there are too many), but I'd also like to give Baby S his quilt before his first birthday.

I will soon schedule time to rent the long-arm machine and finish this gift.

Any additional border ideas?~ksp

Baby Selven

As a college student at TU I made lots of life-long friends including Selven.  In the mid-nineties he was a business major and was number 27 on the football team.  He and I are fierce friends and in the 10 plus years since we've graduated, we still speak several times a week.  I call him my "brother from another mother"...he calls me "grasshopper*".

He and his girlfriend have a baby due in a couple of weeks and I am SO excited.  He's wanted to be a daddy for some time and his baby boy is almost here.  To celebrate this momentous birth I, grasshopper, am preparing a mostly green flying geese crib quilt for him.

Strips salvaged from layer cakes purchased in Fl, June 2010

Squares all lined up.

Squares sewn together.

I am a Quiltville fan and follow Bonnie's instructions on creating bonus 1/2 square triangles on what would otherwise be discarded fabric.

Highly irregular 1/2 triangle squares.

I'll probably use these to make a lavender filled pillow for use in the baby's nursery.

I"ll keep you posted on progress. Baby Selven is due September 10, 2010...must hurry. ~ksp

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* That's a longer story.

A Blankie for (Another) Baby

For several years I lived just outside Boston as I worked on my doctorate in social policy (no, I don't talk about it). During part of that time, I lived with Lea. While we began simply as roommates, we quickly became friends. Our mutual dislike of most things Boston strengthened the bond between us. I don't get to see her often so we keep up through email and occasional phone calls.

I was pleased to pieces to find out that she was expecting her first child at the end of summer 2009. As is often the case when my friend's become preggers, I searched my knitting books to find the "perfect" pattern. Lea's full name is often mispronounced as "uh-zeyl-yuh" (like the flower) so when I saw this pattern I knew it would be perfect. Lea also likes bright (often mis-matched) colors so I had to pick something bold.

Lastly, most of Lea's work is international, splitting her time between, Haiti, Rwanda and South Africa so I wanted something durable and something that could withstand multiple laundering applications.

I recently met up with her whilst in Boston on a business trip to give it to her...she loved it!

At the Boston Sheraton


Stitch definition close up.

Crochet bound off edging.

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Project Specs

Pattern: Azalea by Marianne Kinzel in the First Book of Modern Lace Knitting

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Golden Experience purchased here.

Time on the Needles: March 5th - May 25th.

Comments: There were several fits and starts because I had a hard time understanding the vague pattern instructions of yesteryear. While I loved knitting this doily on worsted weight yarn and I love semi-solid yarns, I wish I had played closer attention to the variation in the veiled dyed yarn. In some parts it makes what looks like rings that I think are distractions to the pattern.

And Then There Were None

This is Kimberly and Robert. I met them a little more than five years ago when I spent the summer between living in Atlanta and Boston with my family in NJ. Since I've had ADHD before science knew there was such a thing, I spent that summer volunteering as a grant-writer for the non-profit that Robert heads up.

Last fall, the couple announced that they were expecting. I knew that the nursery colors were burgundy and teal, but I didn't know much else about the decor. So the pondering began...

I scoured the internet looking for ideas. I wanted something classic and fresh with a vintage/scrappy feel. I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and bought short yardages of different fabrics in the same color family. I bought Fig Tree Quilt's Argyle pattern on clearance at Purl Soho (what a great find).

This was my second quilt (although the last to be posted here) and my first foray into commercial patterns. I had so many questions: was the seam allowance included in the template or not, how do I size-down this queen size pattern to accommodate a baby crib, how many of these #@%& triangles do I have to cut out?

Whew! Breathe...

Here is the finished product...roughly 60" x 60". I quilted a stipple stitch inside of the green "stars" and in one square I hid the baby's name.


Up close you can see the different reds, greens and creams.


Here's mom-to-be with me at the baby shower...


And here is babyC all cuddled up with his quilt.


I made so many baby blankets this season that I am drinking bottled water for fear that there's something in the tap water. ~ksp

It's a Girl

My former co-worker, Darrell and his wife Dayana had a baby girl (LittleA) in May of this year. Here are the father-daughter pair.

Sleepy Time!

Darrell, a male of the stereotypical sort, told me of the baby shower the Monday before, which left me no time to complete the quilt (insert rolling eyes here). I did not attend.

Around this time, I was bored to tears at a meeting (Well Known Kelli Fact: I bore very easily) so I sketched out a quilt square design that I liked very much. I later found out the square is called the Dutchman's puzzle.

I next, grabbed a stashed Moda jelly roll in the Flirtation line purchased on clearance at one of my favorite online quilt shops. I love jelly rolls. They are a nice way to sample a line without making a huge financial investment or large stash enhancement. Dayana is a "girly girl" and likes lots of pink...me? not so much...so I quilted a compromise. Lot's of pinks and reds with brown to bring it back to Earth.

Here it is...

Whole lotta pink...

Each square is 8" finished. I added sashing and borders in the pinwheel pink, pink backing and a brown binding. Into each square I long-arm quilted baby words in both English and Spanish.

Since BabyA is being educated biligually, I figure this quilt, in addition to catching drool and the like, can reinforce learning. Here is a close-up...

As an added treat, I got to hang out with 2 year old Big Brother A.

Big BrotherA

During my visit, he was munching on a Golden Arches "Happy Meal". Damn those fries never looked so good. Is he not the cutest little boy you have ever laid eyes on? ~ksp

Red and Yellow and Pink and Green...

I am not sure exactly when I became a bona fide adult...or more importantly, when I started to have friends with middle-school aged kids...at any event, when I wasn't looking it happened. Life would have it that I am blogging remotely from Columbus, OH where one of my dearest college girlfriends in expecting her fist child.

Here is a picture of us together a few years ago at another girlfriend's bridal shower...

Blogger community...meet BabyS...he is not due until the middle of August, but technology allows us to see him today...AMAZING!

For this beautiful baby I made my third quilt of the season. I try to make gifts personal and on this quilt I was stumped. What pattern to use? What colors? The nursery has not been set-up yet so all I had to go on was my relationship with Tiffany.

When we were in college, Tiff used to sing songs in the most annoying of voices. Often in a pitch not usually achieved by humans. One of her standards was "The Rainbow Song". The lyrics are "red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too."

I saw the whirlygiggles quilt on the Sew Mama Sew blog. I sized-up the pattern taking inspiration for colors from song. Lastly, I quilted the names of each color into each square in English, Spanish, French and Kiswahili.

She loved it! Here she is last night with her god-daughter Little T. covered in babyS's quilt!

A good trip!

Season of Firsts

I am known for being a bit of a retro woman...I grow vegetables in a very small plot of land, sew clothing and can fruits and vegetables seasonally. This trend also means I prefer, whenever possible, to give handmade gifts. I am almost always planning a project for someone's wedding, new baby, new home, etc.

This spring, I was invited to four baby showers (actually only three as one invitation got "lost in the mail"). In the last few years, I have given hand knit baby shower gifts, but alas, I do not knit that quickly. I decided instead to make baby quilts...no bigger than 60'x 48'. I thought, "surely I can sew more quickly than I could knit."

Never to wince at a challenge, my first quilt of the season was also my first quilt EVER. I have been sewing since my tweens so the idea of a 1/4" instead of a 5/8" seam seemed simple enough. For my first project, I grabbed Moda Jelly Roll Zaza and began cutting the jewel-toned strips into 2.5" squares.

After what seemed like weeks of machine piecing, I had 4x4 multi-colored squares. I attached cream-colored sashing and a mitered border...voila...

I then went to my LQS and (using a long arm machine) stipple stitched words into each square including the baby's name. It was a cool project. The squares got a little wonky in spots but I think that adds to the charm. It's a good thing it was a good experience because I needed three more before the end on June.

The best part was the picture of babyZ wrapped up for a nap.