Harrison's I-Spy

This is Harrison's I-Spy quilt. I gave it to him Christmas 2007.

This quilt started from an idea I got from my mom. She had been collecting I-Spy materials, (Fabric with a picture of something in it. This quilt has Bees, Fish, Flowers, Shoes, Aliens...) for quite a while. In her ward she taught a quilting class and had a block exchange. Each person makes X many blocks that all look the same then you get together and exchange all of them and each person has enough different blocks to make a quilt. It is a very easy block so I decided to do it in my ward as well. I didn't have as good a turnout as my mom so there are two of most of the blocks in the quilt, and I think I had to use some from my mom's stash but it turned out really cute.

Once I got all the blocks I had to make the sashing so it was big enough for a twin size quilt. Once again starting from scratch and inventing a pattern. I used a four patch in the corners with two bars around each block.

The fabric I used for my blocks was Bees because Noah's sister's name is Brooke, but they call her "Aunt Bee" and I wanted to make her son a quilt. She is also a school teacher and I found a really cute fabric with bees and apples! So really this quilt is more for her then for her son Harrison.

The things I learned making this quilt are, that not everyone sews as well as I do. A twin size mattress is twice as long as it is wide. And once again I am not very good at random!

Like I said my mom has made a few of these quilts, so here is one she made for her nephew Eli. and I will have to take a picture of the one she made for Holden.

Hunter's Squares

This is a quilt I made for my niece Hunter. I started it about two years ago, and gave it to her this past March, it is a twin size. I actually started it because I had a great idea for a quilt for my niece Rylee, colored circles on a brown background! Although I have sewn many curves in clothing, sewing a curve that has to lay flat in a quilt is much different, and intimidating to me, so I still haven't even started that quilt. At the time Hunter and Rylee shared a bedroom so I thought it would be really cute to have a circle quilt and a square quilt. Since I like to sew straight lines I started on the square quilt. I made the pattern up. I started with the center square and cut  a 2", 3", and 4" square of each fabric I had(somehow brown didn't make it in this quilt). then I added borders around that. I thought it would work out perfectly but it didn't and I had to add a 1" border on some of the blocks. I used the leftover strips to make the piano key border. Of course I didn't have enough scraps for the whole thing so I had to cute more strips for that too. The back of the quilt is a black and white print, which is why I did a black binding. I hand quilted it with spirals in each block, I also made up the quilting design. I used a thick thread so it really stands out. I think it turned out really cute. I have a tendancy to reinvent the wheel when I make a quilt, because I like the design process. So now that I look back at this I realize I could have done it a few different ways, which might have been easier, oh well, I had fun making it and Hunter likes it, which is all that really matters.

Why?

Hi, I have been thinking about this for a while. My mom is a fabulous quilt maker, and has taught many people to love quilting. I love to create quilts the whole process is a great creative outlet for me. Each step is fun, from choosing a pattern, material, color scheme, cutting, sewing...I love it all. I have given away many of my quilts and it is always fun to see someones face when they recieve their quilt.
I try to get a picture of each quilt before giving it away, but I am missing a few so if you have a quilt I have made please send me a picture of it.
I have decided to start this blog to show off our quilts, and tell their stories. Hopefully my mom and sisters will add theirs too.
Happy Quilting Jalaine