Two Bindings for Baby

My Moda Love baby quilts have been sitting ready so ship for a couple of weeks now but it's been so busy with work that I'm only sharing them now.

Given that they are for twins I wanted them to be the same, but different, if you know what I mean. So the colours in the stars lean more to blue in one quilt and aqua in the other, and I followed through with that theme with the backings. At one point the bindings were going to be a different colour than the backings, just to keep things scrappy, but when Roberta managed to squeeze enough leftovers out of the backings when she set them up on the longarm I decided to stay with matching backings and bindings.

I'm glad that I did. Because they are for twins they will be seen together a lot I expect, and the quilts look good together without getting too busy.

So it's time to find that 'perfect box' and get them wrapped and shipped. The Official Cookie Tester went on a box recycling binge after Christmas, so my work might be cut out for me....M

Coming In From The Cold

Just as our world was beginning to social distance I picked up my baby quilts from Roberta. She had distancing protocols in place to protect both her and her clients so it was more like a drug deal than a quilt pickup in that my bag was waiting at the front door and there was no one to see or chat with.

The quilts had been in quarantine in her garage for a day or two already, just to be on the safe side, and when I got them home I decided that leaving them in our garage for a few more days was probably not a bad idea idea. So there they stayed. For a week. Then for two, because my memory had turned to mush.

Eventually I remembered to bring them inside and was delighted to find that she had once again exceeded my expectations. I had had a tough time narrowing down the pantograph that I wanted because I am in such a rut with using her feathered scroll pattern, but she had pulled three or four excellent suggestions.

The star and moon pattern that we landed on still has lots of scroll to it and it looks as though they are tumbling through the Milky Way. It is perfect and the quilts are adorable.

They just look so incredibly cozy and my little mice seem to be enjoying the new look as well.

Besides being a talented longarmer she is also a bit of a miracle worker. Neither of the pieces that I had for backings were overly large and my fingers were crossed that she would be able to make them work. Well, not only did she make them work, I had leftovers enough to bind them both. I could have kissed her!

So now I enjoy the lovely task of hand sewing the bindings down and saying goodbye to these little beauties. I have it on good authority that the mother-to-be was to have had a baby shower this weekend but that's not happening, for obvious reasons, so guests will drop their gifts at the end of the drive while she waves at them from the window. Interesting times....M

The Plan

Things continue to fall into place with Anne's Carpenter's Star/Moda Love lap quilt, thanks to a little klepto quilting (AKA digging through someone else's stash to find what you need, something our gang does regularly). She stopped by the other day to see if there was anything in my stash that might help round out the blocks that she's sewn and we had great luck finding just what she needed.

We found a great little blue and cream pin dot to use between the randomly placed star blocks - it's just enough to tie in to her fabrics without making a big scene. She's got a few scraps of her prints left so there may yet be the odd tiny Ohio Star added to the mix.

The backing is a piece of white and turquoise  (the fabric on the right - it's really not grey but a nice soft turquoise) and she will bind it with that too. And, just to make things a little more interesting, we found a soft mauve that she will incorporate into a faux flange binding. I think that tiny strip of mauve will be the perfect finishing touch.

And what's this? Christmas in March???

We had ordered a lap hoop for Anne as a Christmas gift but its delivery was somewhat delayed because they are handmade and quite in demand. It didn't seem to matter much that she was only receiving it now - when she saw the box she tore into it like a little girl.

It's beautifully hand crafted and quite ingenious, and I'm thinking well worth the wait. Those six small discs on the centre round are magnets - very strong magnets.

And they connect to this piece...

which then attach to this piece that you use to adjust the angle of the hoop and sit on for stability as you quilt. Quite brilliant. They are made by Barnett's Laptop Hoops and there are any number of configurations to choose from. If you are in the market for a hoop it would be worth a look.

We were so eager to get into the box that I didn't get a pic of the complete setup but will get Anne to send me one that I can share with you. I'm thinking that it is already in use as she virtually skipped to the car with her box 😉....M

A Star is Born

At long last I made a return to my sewing room and got the Moda Love/Carpenter's Star topper put together. It was such a treat to just sit down and sew without having to fret about other things that I needed to do - I think it's been over a month since I spent any time in my sewing room.

I like the silver and gold combination, it is soft and Christmassy all at the same time and quite sophisticated.

And there's just enough sparkle in a few of the fabrics to kick things up a notch.

This is a project that didn't get finished in time for the Holly Bazaar because I was too busy trying to figure out how to mess it up so I guess it's on track to be the first project finished for the 2019 bazaar - woo hoo!

There were enough HSTs so that I was able to lay out a second one - just need to cut a dozen white blocks and I'll be able to start putting it together as well.....M

Getting In My Own Way

Sometimes I can be my own worst enemy, thinking that I am on a roll but really just tripping myself up and making more work for myself.

I liked the red and green Carpenter's Star table toppers (also known as Moda Love) that I made for the Holly Bazaar. So much so that a silver and gold version seemed like a good idea, so I cut my 6.5" squares and proceeded to sew them together to make my pile of HSTs.











Only one problem - I sewed them all around the outside edge instead of on the diagonals like I was supposed to, so I had the makings for four larger HSTs from each block rather than the 8 small HSTs that I was wanting. Sheesh.

What to do? Cut another pile of squares or rip everything out? I opted for ripping and giving myself a good talking to about patience while I did it. It didn't really take that long once I got onto it.

So, now there's a topper on the design wall waiting to be assembled. But there's also Christmas on the horizon. I'm hoping to get a few more things off my TO DO list before I sit down to sew - we'll see if that happens before or after Santa drops by....M

If I Were a Carpenter...

I've been humming 'If I Were a Carpenter' lately and thinking of my dad, who was a very talented carpenter. It was time to branch out from my tried and true scrappy star table toppers and try something new for the Holly Bazaar craft table (sometimes I think that I've made so many star toppers that everyone in town has one!), so I landed on the Carpenter's Star pattern.

This pattern can be done in a variety of colour ways but this scrappy version was the inspiration that got me going. As I sewed I had this feeling that I'd seen this pattern before. Initially I thought that it was Swoon but eventually I figured it out - this is also known as the Moda Love pattern which Betty used to make Julia' beautiful duvet cover.

I found a pile of 6.5" squares of Christmas prints that I had cut last year from the same fabrics that I made the star table toppers from so I used them to make eight HSTs at at time. Soon it was time to start laying things out...

...and slowly it grew.

I'm liking how it is coming together and already jumping ahead to thinking about how it might get quilted. The inspiration piece has a beautiful pebbled free motion pattern all around the star which looks gorgeous, but we all know that I'm not doing that (maybe some day, but not this close to the bazaar) so I will need to find some straight line quilting inspiration soon....M

Winter White

My niece Julia recently moved into her first home (such a sweet place!) so mom Betty has been busy helping make it a cozy little nest. Years ago I had made a duvet cover for Julia that looked like a quilt so the hunt was on for a pattern that could be used for a new duvet cover.

Julia liked the feel of a quilt but wanted something quite simple and sophisticated. She also wanted a very subtle colour palette and nothing that was too 'girly'.

They pulled together a collection of subtle greys and creams, including grey linen. Keeping the need for clean and simple lines in mind, Betty used the Moda Love pattern - a great, oversized quilt block that nicely shows off the fabrics. Love the scale. This pattern has lots and lots of possibilities.

It won't be quilted - it will stay as it was finished. I'm thinking of making a duvet cover for our bed but I think I'd quilt it - not sure. It looks great as it is.

It was backed with this pretty blue/grey floral that I've had on the shelf for a while - absolutely love it. The huge floral is a beautiful complement to the subtle prints without making it too feminine or frilly.

Such a beautiful housewarming gift and something that they will treasure for many years, I'm sure.....M