Finished Quilts

I finished a bunch of quilts in late fall / early winter. I love designing and picking colors, and even piecing quilt tops. But finishing! Uck! I will wait around forever to finish a quilt. Proud to have these out of the "queue" and in the hands of their new owners!

Remember the very first quilt top I ever made? 6 years ago?   Well I finally got around to binding it.  I used muslin on the back mostly for thrift, but I have to say it is one of my warmest quilts. That is especially needed considering all of the snow we have had this crazy winter.

I made this beauty over the course of the last 2 years. I love love the bright colors and the contrast/negative space of the white. I saved a block for me to make a pillow because I loved it so much. It was finally finished and quilted for a dear friend who had her first baby girl a few months ago.

I chose super warm batting and backing because they also live in a cold area.

This was another of my super quick quilts for a friend's baby. I loved the fabric!  I love giving homemade gifts, I wish I had enough time to make them more often. I make these easy strip quilts often, and love using ric rac to give it a little bit of spunk. This was also my first project where I used free motion quilting and a walking foot. I still have a lot of practice to do, but it was a neat way to quilt on a normal machine.

Recent Projects: As told by my iPhone

Here are some of the projects I have finished lately: 

Cute bows. I churned these guys out while watching Downton Abbey.
Multi-tasking at it's best! A theme of this post might be baby gifts.
 More baby gifts I have made here.

Bows finished with headband stretchy thingys.
Technical terminology for crafting!

Quilt made for a good friend. This was my first time applique'ing (sp?) on the back of a quilt.
We actually made two of these in a weekend. John helped a ton!! 

Polly the Pig. Made to match a cute friend's nursery.
This was a fun and quick project. I am addicted to Softies.

Me cooking freezer meals with some friends. Yes, it is blurry.
Yes that is a garbage bag that I used to mix the entrees -- there wasn't a bowl big enough!!
We used recipes from Fix, Freeze, Feast and have been eating off of them for weeks.

Lately I have been reading a lot. Some non fiction, some fiction.
Some serious. Mostly not.
I keep track of what I am reading here.
This is Myao Ming's successful attempt at distracting me. He is adorable though....

What have you been up to lately??

Recent Projects: Baby Gifts

Some of my absolute favorite craft projects are baby gifts. I love giving homemade baby gifts to friends. Something is just so sweet and innocent about babies, I feel like I get to participate in the wonder, joy and excitement of an expected baby when I make projects for them. So, really they are all made kind of selfishly for the happy feeling/ good baby bliss, but hopefully their momma's like them too :)

Here are some of the baby gifts I have done this past year or so:

Tag Blankets
I have done these for a while... are really fun, quick, and from my understanding babies love playing with and sucking on the tags. A good tutorial is here. Sometimes I quilt these from cute prints, sometimes I use silky fabric, fuzzy fabric... just depends on colors and what sparks my fancy.

Nursing Covers (Sometimes called "Hooter Hiders")

These are for women who are nursing want to make sure they are covered. I found the tutorial to make these from Sew Much Ado.

Softies

I went through a softy phase about a year and a half ago. I did highlight my sock monkeys here, but was pretty despondent about the other projects I did.

Clucky the Hen* from Melly & Me



Elodie the Elephant* from One Yard Wonders



Baby Quilts*
I don't get to make baby quilts as much as I would like to. I did get to do a quick paneled Winnie the Pooh Quilt for a Colleague. Don't be too impressed though, this is just a panel from walmart that you add batting and a back to and then quilt over the lines to make it look legit/took a long time quilt. But! It works for me.


Onesies
I have spruced up a lot of onesis this past year with ties and bowties for boys, cute flowers and birdies for girls, but alas I have not been a good picture taker of most of these. Here is my nephew Vincent in a Cowboy Onesie I made him. (Hat and Baby provided by the sweet Lara)



My mom just made these for her future grandkids. I thought they were adorable. You think she is anxious much? lol



Again, I love baby projects. It will be exciting one day when I am doing these projects for me and a new mcelderry. For now though, it is fun to revel in the happiness of friends and family members and share my happiness for them with a simple gift.

*OK, I am a slacker and couldn't find the pictures of my projects for these. So these are not the EXACT ones I made, but ones I found on the internet that are the same pattern and look pretty much the same.