feed sack shenanigans

oh friends. did you know i'm a bit crazy? in the midst of tax season, i have sewed two quilts. both with the same carefully-curated collection of fabric. the first quilt: FEED SACK PINWHEEL was for olivia. olivia is one of the kindest, most tender souls i know. and the best part is she's in my writer's group with me so i get to soak her up once a week. her new baby lincoln is sweetly handsome and i hope he loves his quilt. it was dark and raining the entire week i worked on this, so i never got a great picture of it, or of the back, which is a dark gray minky dot, but here it is.

 

now onto the next quilt: SPECTRUM PICNIC. this was sewn for my sister angela's new baby, who should be arriving ANY MINUTE OR HOUR TODAY (not that i'm excited or anything). angela wanted something a little more organic and less pattern-y. i hope both her and baby girl like it. as usual, i like the back more than the front.

have you ever thought about sewing a quilt but thought it sounded too overwhelming? well, you know i have a bad habit of getting myself into things that spiral out of control, but i love, love LOVE sorting through fabric, cutting into it, deciding what colors and patterns to mix. i do tend to lose steam after that, but so far i've finished every quilt i've started.

everything i learned about quilting, i learned from the internet.

everything! just one more reason i am in love/obsessed with the internet.

the best binding tutorial here.

most everything else about quilting here.

and i sew at my kitchen table on my mother-in-law's old bernina sewing machine. my only tip is: YOU HAVE TO SEW WITH A WALKING FOOT. if you don't know if you have one or not, you probably don't have one. mine cost $180. 

yeah.

but you really can't quilt or sew on a binding without it, and if you plan on doing more than one quilt in your lifetime, it will pay for itself. the price of quilting a crib quilt starts at around $100.

and i now use it for all my other sewing projects as well.

well, i'm off to scrub toilets and mop kitchen floors. hope you're having a wonderful day.

the reason my sewing machine + i are on a break

two more quilts. given as christmas gifts.

the first, sewn for my sister angela and her husband clint, i have titled: angelateral {or, alternately: why i will never hand-sew a binding again}

the back:

the hand-sewn binding in all its glory:

the second quilt i almost decided to just store in the closet, unfinished. i had run out of sewing enthusiasm, plus it's crooked, so i was embarrassed to gift it, but in the end, i sucked it up and sewed a binding on it. my kids were sad to give it away. they love that soft minky fabric on the back. i hope my sister-in-law loves it like they do.

i have entitled this quilt: charity {for private reasons, which some may understand}

clara's bunting quilt

this really is a recap of my vacation. for the first week i was in arizona, the only thing i did was quilt and eat. (possibly there was a small amount of swinging and playing at the park. more on that later.).

here's the first quilt i finished while i was down there, for my niece clara. i'm already missing all that green grass.

the front:

the back:

details:

i love you, clara jane. i hope you are enjoying your brand new baby sister.

ta da! my first quilt

say hello to my first quilt ever—pieced, sandwiched, basted, quilted, trimmed and bound all by me. far easier than i thought it would be with some online advice by redpepperquilts.

the back.

all shipped off to my lovely sister anna. my only regret is that i didn't wait for a day with better lighting, or for my kids to get home from school, to help photograph it. oh well. if i was a perfectionist i would have never started the quilt in the first place.

{anna, maybe you could take some pictures of it when it's up in the nursery? or have angela do it ;-).}

next project: a twin-sized quilt for my sassy niece clara...maybe...or another baby quilt.

eta: i'm not sure if you see the same thing i do, but it looks like my quilt is glowing in these pictures. dirty lens or a sign? what do you think?