Baby Quilts!!!

We've been making baby quilts again!  Most of them are being donated to Soldier Babies, for young or lower enlisted families and single soldiers just to show them our support.  Often these families are far away from home and family and we just want to help welcome their little ones into the world!

Margie

Margie made this quilt, a sweet little scrappy, random charm quilt.  She also quilted it with criss-crossing diagonals on her sewing machine.

Kathy

Kathy made this quilt that will be perfect for a little boy or girl (though it will probably go to a boy since we are always in need of boy quilts).  She began with the circus panel and added the blue border and then the charm pieced outer border.  Kathy passed it on to me to quilt with just some wandering loops and bind with that red polka dot!

2 baby boy quilts

I made these last two after my daughter asked me to make a baby quilt for a friend of a friend who has invited her to stay with them while she is apartment hunting in D.C.  I just love a churn dash and once I finished the first one, I whipped up the second one out of the leftover fabrics that I already had out in my studio...why put it away...use it up!  The quilt on the left with the white background is headed to D.C. for the friend's baby and the one on the right will be donated for a Soldier Baby!

I used this striped backing for both quilts and at the bottom is the label for my daughter's friend's baby quilt.  At the top right, written on the stripe fabric is our typical labeling for baby donation quilts..."Welcome to the World, Little One!"


For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

Baby Quilts

These are the quilts that The Pedal Pushers (of the STL Metro Area) and I donated this month....

This cutie was made by Bernice.  She did all of the piecing and quilting.  It's perfect for a little baby boy (and we are always in need of boy quilts...we just don't get as many as girls').

Baby Quilt #1 (Bernice)

Next up is a beautiful girlie quilt pieced by Susan.  What a fun pattern to use up those jelly roll strips! The design was so cute, it needed simple quilting, so I just quilted a meandering loop all over.

Baby Quilt #2 (Susan)

This last one was our Pedal Pushers group project headed up by Janet.  We each made snowball and 4-patch blocks and Janet pieced them up and quilted it into this cute design!  She sees it as a road for playing cars (I see a curling caterpillar)...I wonder what the lucky little boy who gets this cuddly quilt will see!

Baby Quilt #3 (Janet)

This month, all 3 quilts were donated to the Soldier Babies for Newborns at Ft. Leonard Wood GLWACH.

For fun stuff happening today in the blog-o-sphere, check out the link-ups on my sidebar!

 

Grow Your Blog 2015 & Giveaway!

~A blog post especially for Grow Your Blog 2015~

Hello, and welcome to my blog!  My name is Heather, and I live in the St. Louis Metro area of Illinois, USA!  I've been happily married, a proud (recently retired) Army wife for 21 years and the mother of 2 wonderful college students!  I spend the majority of my days piecing, longarm quilting, and chasing after our 2 dogs, Suki (a 7 year old hound mix) and Baylee (1 year old Beagle).  I also scrapbook, cross-stitch, embroider (sometimes) and have begun to dabble in crochet (but I'm not so sure I'm hooked, haha)!

Grand Illusion (Quiltville Mystery)

If you check out my archives (left sidebar), you can see that I've been blogging since 2008, though I've stepped up posting in the last few years to several times/week.  Why do I blog?  Well, originally, it was to keep in contact with friends and family (as we made our military moves around the world), sharing our travels and my quilting & scrapbooking projects.  Now, I blog more for me, to keep a record of my quilting, and also as a way to continue to share my projects with friends and fellow bloggers.

Women of the Bible (Hoppin' Bobbin Quilt Along)

I've become a more active blogger, due in part, to the various online Quilt Alongs, Linky Parties, and other Just For Fun things going on in the blog-o-sphere.  Check out my right sidebar to see what I'll be participating in for 2015.  Maybe there's something there that will catch your eye and you can jump in, too!  I've often found new groups by doing the very same thing...linking from another blogger's page!  Oh, and many of the fun things I've joined in the past are also shown at the bottom of my page.

Spools (RSC 2015)

Often, I use my quilty powers for good and donate several patriotic quilts a year to a wounded warrior unit in Missouri.  I also donate baby quilts to an Army hospital neonatal center and pillowcases and quilts to a shelter for abused women & children.  I've recently gotten a few ladies, locally, interested in helping me in this endeavor by making blocks for the quilts and it's so nice to have a group joining together in the name of helping others!

Wounded Warrior Quilt (group project, donated)

Well, I guess that's enough about me for now, so now... onto the "quilty" giveaway (hint, hint)!  One winner will be drawn via random number generator on February 15th and here's how it works:
(1)  This giveaway is open to all (international friends are very welcome)!  Just leave me a comment below and you're automatically entered!  Don't forget to leave your email address if you are indeed a "no-reply blogger" so that I can contact you if you win.  Need a prompt?  I'd love to hear about some of the bloggy groups you participate in (Quilt Alongs, Linky Parties, etc.)!
(2)  If you decide to follow me, or if you are already a follower, you may have another entry by leaving a second comment telling me what method you use to follow my blog!

Good luck, everyone!  

Baby Quilt (donated to GLWACH Army Hospital)

I know all of you are busy visiting as many new blogs as possible, but I'd love to invite you to come back and visit me here again soon!  Thanks you for stopping by!  Happy blog hoppin'!

2014 Quilting Summary

So just for fun, I decided to go back and see what progress I had made in 2014 and create a summary for the year.  I am quite happy with the number of my actual project completions!  Please take a look and tell me what you think!

11 Charity Quilts...

8 Army Baby & 3 Wounded Warrior Quilts

12 Quilty Gifts...

3 Play Pillows, 2 Wedding Quilts, 4 Mug Rugs & 3 Army Decor

 17 UFO Quilts (for me :)...

If you would like to see the goals I set for myself in 2014 (aside from January...let's just say I guess I got a late start?!?), please check my left sidebar.  Most are linked back from my finishes posts, but if not, there will generally be a goal post at the beginning each month (ex. December UFO Goals).  And here are all of my finishes posts:
January UFO Finish
February UFO Finish
March UFO Finish
April UFO Finish
May UFO Finish
June UFO Finish
July UFO Finish
August UFO Finish
September UFO Finish
October UFO Finish
November UFO Finish
December UFO Finish

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes!

Friday UFO Finishes!!!

Woohoo!  I've got several finishes to report today...and my November UFOs are done.  Just in time, too, because I'm headed to MO tomorrow to drop them off when I go to help out with the Gone to Pieces Quilt Guild Quilt Show in St. Robert!!!  Can't wait!

 Three finishes, and all three will be donated...

The baby quilt began with just 5 blocks.  I split one of the blocks and used two parts to create another block with 4-patches and a final block with 9-patches, thus making a lovely 6 block baby quilt.  This one is backed with the same pink polka dot fabric as in the borders and sashing.  It will go to welcome a brand new baby of a soldier at Ft. Leonard Wood!

I loved these blocks as soon as I saw them!  They are 14" and made up a beautiful quilt!  I didn't even think it needed a border being that each block was already bordered itself.  I just set them all together and backed it with an adorable neutral toile print and bound it in gold.  This quilt will go to a wounded warrior (or family of a fallen soldier) around Ft. Leonard Wood.

Last, but not least, is this cute Christmas sampler.  The blocks were rather "old fashioned" looking, but I really think this brighter green jazzed them up a bit.  I only had 8 block to begin with, so I dug out some "deep stash" Christmas fabrics and whipped up the card trick block in the upper left then sashed, bordered, backed and bound everything in the cheery green print.  This quilt will probably be gifted as a wheelchair quilt for a veteran just in time for the holidays!

Linking up to Let's Make Baby Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Link-A-Finish Friday, & Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, A Lovely Year of Finishes, & 52 Quilts!

November UFO Goals

Here's what's on my design wall right now.  I pulled out all of these donated block sets to see if I could finish them up this month for charity.  So, that's my November goal...3 quilts for charity!

First, is this set of OLD Christmas sampler blocks.  I haven't seen fabrics like these for a long time!  I'm sure I have some scraps in the deep stash that can work with them to whip up just one more block and then I'll probably just add some very simple sashing.  I may add a border, too, to hold it all in and make a nice size lap quilt.

Next up is this set of cuties...I think with a bit of added rosey pink, they might make a sweet baby quilt, so my plan is to split up the 4-patch snail trail block on the bottom and make two blocks out of it, pairing the snail trails with alternate rose-colored blocks.  Six blocks will make a good baby quilt with sashing and a small border.

 My last UFO will be this beauty...I can't imagine why someone wanted to donate these blocks because they are just gorgeous!!!  It looks like this on may have been a civil war repro block of the month.  There are 12 blocks and each is already framed, so I'll probably set them right next to each other as is and add a border.  This one will make a really nice quilt for a fallen soldier's family!

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes!

HUGE Pillows for the Triplets

I know I haven't been posting a whole lot lately, but in my defense....I've been busy, busy, busy!  Ya know, the usual...shop hops (yes, more than one...and there's another one coming up next month!), planning projects, reading, traveling (we just got back from Memphis - more on that later this week), and trying to figure out how to make these HUGE pillows for my triplet nephews!

I've never made a pillow before, but after seeing so many cute tutorials online, I finally decided to jump in...BIG time!  Basically, they are baby-sized quilts with flaps attached for slipping in a pillow!  First I had to figure out what size to make the quilty top for a 26" pillow.  What did I decide?  Around 31-32" gave me enough border to stitch to make a bit of a flange all the way around.

Pittsburgh Steelers Football

The first one I tackled (hehe) was the Steelers pillow.  I decided to just strip piece this one (reminiscent of the diamonds in the logo shape).  DH said it looked to bright as the Steelers colors are more of the black and gold, so I added the black border and quilted it up with a spiral in heavy black cotton thread.  After all of the pillows were done, I added the appliqued football - boy, was that fun!

Minecraft Characters

Next, I made the Minecraft top, constantly texting back and forth with my nephew and sister-in-law to check color placement, etc. (I know nothing about Minecraft)!  This was a fun scrappy top to piece together taking inspiration (and making changes that my nephew suggested) from a quilt being sold by "alicecordell" on ebay (giving credit where credit is due).  This top was so graphic that I just decided to quilt it up with a close meander in a neutral Glide thread.

Miami Heat Basketball

Last up was the Heat Pillow.  This one I thought about for a long time.  I really wanted to try making these stack and slash blocks set back together with the thin strips between.  I thought it was a bit reminiscent of the basketball basket.  I am happy with that experiment!  I quilted this with the same thick black cotton thread as the football quilt, but this time with a flame pantograph...ya know, for Heat!  Then, I went back and created the basketball applique using a zigzag stitch for the lines (same for the football). 

These were such fun projects to work on that I really hope the boys love them!  I'm hoping they'll feel free to throw them around on the floor, lay on them to play video/board games, pillow fight and just really USE them!  I knew I wouldn't get them done in time for Christmas, but promised them early this year.  Yikes!  A little late, but the love is there!!!

Linking up to Sew Darn Crafty, BOMs Away, Scrap Basket Sunday, Let's Make Baby Quilts, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? 

February UFOs are DONE!

This month's UFO project began with these heart blocks (I tell you all about them in this post at the beginning of the month):

Those blocks became these four tops by mid-month (and I tell you more about that process here):

And now, finally, all of those individual heart blocks have found their homes in these 4 baby quilts that are set to be donated to 4 little newborns at Ft. Leonard Wood hospital!  Here they are...all finished:

Pink & yellow hearts is backed and bound with the same floral as in the sashings.  I quilted it with a simple freehand meander.

Blue hearts have a large gingham backing in blue and the same floral binding as the quilt above (which is repeated from the border cornerstones).  It is also quilted with a freehand meander.

Green & purple hearts also have a large gingham backing and binding (this time in purple).  I played around with freehand quilting a bit on this one by echoing the heart shapes inside of them and puddling in the neutral backgrounds.  I added a little curly doodled line in the sashings.  This was my first attempt at all three techniques and I'm pretty happy with the results, though far from perfect.  Then I wussed out and meandered the borders...((insert embarrassed grin here)).

Finally, the leftover hearts got pieced together with these patterned blocks to create a vintagey feeling quilt.  I am really happy with the color result after adding a backing and binding in the same fabric as is in the borders.  I wanted to practice a few more quilting techniques on these blocks, too, but in the interest of time, I resorted back to that same freehand meander.  I don't think the babies (or their parents) are gonna mind too much, but these donation quilts are a great place to practice new techniques!

Okay, so that's that...February UFO, check!  They are ready to go to MO with me in March!

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes, Let's Make Baby Quilts, Sew Darn Crafty, and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  Wheeeew...FUN!!!!

Mid-Month UFO Check In

This month, I chose to work on those "vintage" hearts that have been sitting around in a baggie in my cabinet for YEARS.  I wrote about them in this post a couple of weeks ago.  I'm no longer really attached to these blocks (thank goodness), so I've decided that they were going to get worked up into a couple of charity quilts...or three...or FOUR!

I started by sorting the block colors and designs.  These pink and yellow hearts seemed to just want to play together, so they went together with a small floral lattice with purple cornerstones.  The backing and probably the binding will be the same floral as the lattice.

Next came the sagey seafoam green family of blocks.  The pink sashing fabric has tiny little purple flowers and seafoamy leaves, so it seemed to work.  This one will be backed and bound (probably) with that purple check.

The blue hearts seemed like a no brainer.  I love a gingham and this tiny blue one was just too cute with the blocks...then I ran out...so I added in a bit of that small floral from the first quilt in the four corners.  This one will be backed with the larger blue check, but I haven't decided on a binding...blue, perhaps?

And then there were the leftover blocks...that just got sewn together with three different patterned blocks and bordered in a purple/green/gold diamond print.  The cornerstones are from the same line of fabric in more of a fleur de lis print.  The backing will be the fleur de lis stripe and this one doesn't have a designated binding yet either.  If there's still enough of the backing to cut off, I'll probably make the binding from that.

So...a pile of blocks, four baby/crib sized quilts to donate to the newborns of soldiers at Ft. Leonard Wood.  It's so nice for the new parents, especially for those that are stationed so far from home when their babies are born.

Now, off to get them quilted so that I can take them to MO with me in March!
Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes and Let's Make Baby Quilts, and Sew Darn Crafty.

Baby Quilts for March

This is the current pile of quilts ready to go to Missouri with me in March.  So far, I've finished 1 Veteran (widow) quilt and 3 baby quilts to give to the guild to donate in support of our charities.  I may be able to squeak a couple more out before I go.

I already posted about the larger HST/4-patch (widow) quilt on the bottom when I finished it.  Now I'll tell you a bit about the other 3 baby quilts, but there's not really much to tell...

Paper Pinwheel baby quilt (front & back)

I've been really enjoying blowing up traditional quilt blocks into "big block" quilts.  It's too much fun tripling a 12" block into a 36" block and that's exactly what I did here with a paper pinwheel block.  Many of the donated fabrics were odd sizes.  These trucks on the blue background was a piece of fabrics that was fussy cut, so chose a pattern that I could cut the pieces between fussy cuts...challenging but fun!  This is every last bit of the trucks on white background fabric...it was a little rectangle that I measured to see how small I would have to cut this tiny border. It's all about using up that box of donated scraps!  

For the binding, I knew I wanted to use this rainbow stripe that was in the box, but when I use a piece I really want to finish it up if I can.  Well, I pieced the rest of it and the last couple of pieces of the truck fabrics into that striped backing!  So fun!

Rail Fence & Stripes baby quilts

These 2 quilts were also fun to make!  They began with the girl & bear fabric which was cut into 5" strips.  I had a bunch of the burgundy spotted fabric (all cut into FQs), so I used it in both quilt designs. The rail fence quilt also incorporated the beige spotted fabric in the front.  I also backed it using 5 FQs of the beige.  Stripes was backed the same way using the burgundy and both were bound with the same burgundy spots.  A couple of years ago, a retailer donated boxes of these spotted FQs to the guild...and we've been using them, but most of the guild ladies are a bit tired of these poor spots.  Not me!  I love them!  You'll see them in many of my baby quilts...like the grey spot above...and the quilts here...and several more quilts to come!  I've got lots of spots!

Linking up to Michelle for Let's Make Baby Quilts!