ruffled edge 'quilt'

I had to put the word quit in quotations in the title, because this isn't a 'true' quilt to me, with batting and lots of quilted stitches! But no matter what we call it, it's pretty cute and sassy if you ask me!
My friend bought this material months ago, when she was just a wee bit pregnant with her third child. Back in the fall I even helped her cut out the squares and gave her a sewing lesson. Fast forward a few months. She approached me the last week in December and asked if I could just sew it for her. She ran out of time and energy. With very little guidance from her, other than she wanted a 'random' pattern and the ruffley satin edge, I came up with the quilt above.
She also didn't want batting in between the top and back minky-dot material, so really this is just a larger, glorified receiving blanket. I kept the 'quilting' very minimal and only stitched in the ditch along a few of the seams (to keep the top and back from shifting.)
I'm not going to lie. This quilt was a little bit of a challenge for me. It combined two of my least favorite types of material to sew with...Satin and Minky Dot. I'm not saying I don't LOVE both of them for their luxurious textures, they are just a pain to work with. I think I conquered them both this time though and produced a dang cute quilt.

It was a different experience sewing a quilt with material that I didn't personally choose. I probably wouldn't have put the color combination together that Jen did, but it looks great. Props to her for 'seeing' what she wanted. - I have one more quilt to do just like it. She is going to use them for her daughter's beds as soon as the 4 year old and the new baby start to share a room. I learned a few things from working with the satin and minky dot material on the first quilt, so the second should be a little easier.

Thank you cards

It's shocking, I know! While it seems that my only love is sewing, I actually really enjoy paper crafting as well. It has taken a back seat for quite a few months because I have been busy with sewing projects. This morning I busted out a few stamps, fired up my Cricut, and got to work!
Okay, so there is nothing grand about the cards. (I made 6) I really just needed something to send to Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles thanking them for Christmas gifts, these are sufficient. I had a glorified idea in my head as to what they were going to look like, and this wasn't exactly it... But oh well! It was fun to use a few of my paper crafting skilz. Maybe I'll actually get the bug to do a little scrapbooking this year!

Oh, and you can't tell in the photo, but the word 'snow' is cut out of glitter paper. It's probably my favorite part of the card!

First finished quilt of 2011!

Okay, so I confess that I started the quilt the last week of December, but I can still call it the first quilt of 2011, right? Afterall, it wasn't completed until just last night.

I'm not sure what to call this quilt. I was thinking 'Spots & Dots' or maybe 'Spottydots'! What ever the name, It ranks up in the top three quilts I have ever made. I think it is something about the combination of colors and the simplicity of the pattern that draw me in.
When trying to decide how to quilt this, I played with a couple different ideas from just stitching in the ditch to stippling the white space or possibly quilting in circles. Then, for some reason I decided to do something that I've never tried and straight line quilted the whole thing. I am really loving the outcome. This is one of those cases that the quilting adds a TON of personality to the quilt.

The quilt measures about 38"x38". The perfect little size for a baby. I can't wait to deliver it to it's new home!

*The fabric used is Make Life... by Moda.