Mothers and Daughters

Today's finish is a somewhat unexpected project. It just happened. This just might be the best kind of starts and finishes.

My niece, owner of the quilt in this post, has a mother that is a baker. (This, by the way, is a dangerous sort of person to have in the family... calories seem to migrate this way much too frequently.) She is a wonderful sister-in-law, and to see her and my brother's family grow has been so precious.

It occurred to me one morning, while snuggling my littlest, that the tiny little fingers belonging to my niece will soon be wanting to help her mama in the kitchen. And that means she needs an apron. And ...  I just happened to have some leftover fabric from her quilt.

 

I didn't want to go out and buy a pattern. It seemed like it would be a simple enough thing to draft my own and create it. Completely unexpected was just how much I loved this process. Within an hour or two, her apron was made with just a couple finishing touches left to do, the little bits that make it special.

It is made in a toddler size, that could go up to about 5 or so. I took a couple shots of my daughter modeling the apron (as I don't have an extra toddler about), to give you an idea of size.

This post is about family and growth and traditions passed on, memories made. We are so blessed to have the newest little hands in our family.

 

 

Linking up to CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it Up Friday.

Hexagons

After my last finish, I was seriously missing hand quilting. Within a day, I dragged out an old work-in-progress, my Chinese Lantern Hexagon quilt. I love this quilt. Really I do. But I hadn't quilted on it in months - mostly due to hand quilting fear. Happily, I'm much more comfortable with it now.

 

This is a quilt I started a couple years ago. It didn't have a pattern. I just drew a large sized hexagon template, cut them out, and y-pieced the rows together. At about the same time, I went back to work after a five year baby-making/home-making mama leave. Hence, the drag in it's completion. I'm back on maternity leave and am really enjoying getting to craft when I can. (Not to mention, being able to be a stay-at-home mama for a year!)

 

 

Can't wait till this one is done!

I've also been fitting in some time for knitting while watching the occasional show with my husband and waiting in the pick-up line at school. I'm working on a little romper from Bergere de France for my little niece. Hopefully she'll be able to wear it next summer. I'm just about half way through and loving it.

The vintage feel to this pattern really appeals.

Hope you've had a crafty week too! :)

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and WIPW with Tami's Amis.

Labour of Love

My finish for this week is something I started back in late June. My niece was due in August and I wanted to make a baby quilt for her – something special that she can use for years. It took me a while to figure out the perfect pattern for the fabrics I chose for her as the fabric line had some pieces that I wanted to showcase. The fabric is Owls by Adornit. It is absolutely lovely and has just the right colors. 

 

 

I ended up fussy cutting three large owls and raw-edge appliqueing them to plain white squares. The other center blocks are simple squares with white borders, all divided by a sort of dots and dashes sashing, mixing in a bunch of the fabrics. It’s a simple and clean look.

 

 

 

This is the first quilt I’ve ever completed using hand-quilting the entire way. For the thread I used a DMC red perle cotton. I experimented with different shapes and quilting in each block and did a simple outline quilting on the edges of the larger block. I love the look of the quilting.

 



 

 

 
The block above might be my favorite bit of quilting. I'm pretty sure this design is going to be reappearing in future quilts.

 

The stitches aren’t perfect but they got better as I went along. I started out using a large hoop, but by the end, I was quilting without it. It seemed easier and I don’t feel the fabrics shifted too much as I both spray basted and pinned the layers.

The backing was pieced using a few different fabrics, and on a whim, I added a fussy cut tree branch and appliqued it to the edge.

 

It was shockingly difficult to let this quilt go ... it had become a sort of friend of mine. I was sad that it was finished, it was such an enjoyable quilt to make. But it makes me happy to know my niece will love it through the years. And she will know that each stitch was stitched with love. 

 

I've linked up to Finish it Up Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.