Even little girls need baby dolls.

I'm in love with Wee Wonderfuls by Hillary Lang. These Sleepover Pals turned out so cute. I was almost sad to give them to Elise and Addison. When we went to see them in the hospital Addison had a yellow hat and Elise has a pink hat, so naturally their dolls needed to match.

Elise and Addison's Quilts

In December good friends of my husband and I had two beautiful little girls. For their quilts I didn't want to make sweet girly quilts in soft pinks. This time I wanted to be bright and fun.

I chose a simple block pattern and alternated the border fabric. In the center there is a mouse pocket for the little mouse rattle.

Tyrra's Quilt

This is my first 60x60 inch quilt. Until now I have only made crib size quilts (36x45 inches), so this was quite a task for me. I'm not sure if I should call this a windmill or a pinwheel pattern? I design it to be pinwheels within pinwheels. I start with pencil and graph paper. Draw out my idea, redraw it and redraw it...

The past two years my sister’s and I have set restrictions on our Christmas gifts for each other. We set a price maximum and at least a portion of the gift must be hand made by us. This has forced us to think about what the others need or would really love. I think this has made the past two years really memorable. This fall my sister Nikki and I decided to collaborate on our sister Tyrra’s gift. As long as I can remember my sister has been rapped in a blanket at home, even in the summer Tyrra has a blanket on her sitting watching TV.  I made the quilt top and Nikki embroidered all the designs on it. It has, as we call it, the trifecta on it; squirrels, gnomes and acorns. And her other favorites; cutie birds, chickens and mushrooms. Nicole did a beautiful job of embroidering them all, but our favorite is the tree on the top. She used a thick chain stitch which created an incredible texture.

 

 We chose fabrics from some of my favorite fabric designers. The uneven stripped border is from Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room collection. I also used Farmdale Crossing in brown from Alexander Henry. The binding is made from all the scrapes of each of the nine fabrics.

Ben's Quilt

In July I completed my second quilt.  This time I put my art skills to use free hand cutting the fabric branches and owl. I love to college in paint and paper, but now I have expanded onto fabric. I used 13 different textiles, six just for the owl. I feel that if I’m making a quilt for little ones that natural fibers are best, so I tend to choose cotton, bamboo, silks, linen and wool.

This quilt is so special to me. I spent so much time designing the layout, then cutting each piece with a rotary cutter and utility knife. I’m lucky to have a  big cork board 36 inches wide hanging on the wall of my sewing room. As I cut each layer I can pin it to the board and get a real feel for the finished quilt. That’s when the it sets in, what have I got myself into again? All the tedious work stitching around each leaf, branch and so on. But in the end it was worth it. Best of all my cousin, who’s son I made this for, loved it. I’m so proud of this one.

 

Emma's Quilt

I should start with the first real quilt I made. I finished it on March 31, 2010. I made it for my niece Emma, who was born that evening. This lavender flower pattern took about a month and a half to design, hunt down the perfect fabrics, and construct. No, I did not hand embroider each flower; in fact I used a blanket stitch on my sewing machine.