NOW what do I do? Plus quilt that's already almost 2 years old

I've seen a million plus style quilts.  I've seen scrappy ones, and modern looking ones.  I've seen them with lots of space between the pluses and no spaces at all.  I bought this pattern in 2014.  Yes, that's right.  2 years ago and then some.  One holiday vacation, I did all of the cutting.  I posted pics of the tiny pieces on my Instagram feed.  That was December 2014.  Next week, it's December 2016.

Great, simple Plus Quilt pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew

Every time I get a break between projects, I go back to it.  I was doing 10 blocks at a time.  I could crank them out in about an hour and 15 minutes.  But I didn't really seem to be making a dent in how many I needed.  My eyes were WAY bigger than my stomach, and I cut enough fabric for a twin size quilt.

That's right.  149 blocks.  

So, in my new line of thinking, which is to say, DONE is better than BIG, I looked at the pattern and lo and behold, if I made all of the blocks, I'd have enough for THREE baby size quilts, and I could make two of them, RIGHT NOW.

That, my friends, is appealing.  Then I think, would I really want three quilts that are pretty much the same?  They WOULD make awesome baby gifts.  

Now I can't decide.  Do I forge on?  For another year?  And make the twin?  Or do I give myself a little satisfaction and put together the two baby tops I have enough for now, and work on the 3rd (which will seem VERY achievable) in the future?

20 of my not yet near 149 blocks 

My Guest Tutorial on Sew Mama Sew - Little Boy Blue Baby Quilt! + GIVEAWAY!

Here is my secret sewing project from the last 2 weeks!  I did a guest tutorial for Sew Mama Sew and you can find it here:

Little Boy Blue Baby Quilt Tutorial

Finished baby quilt is 33/5" x 38.5"

I love all of the amazing content and inspiration available on Sew Mama Sew.  Hop on over and check it out!

To celebrate, I am having a giveaway!  Just leave a comment below, saying that you've signed up to follow my blog here, or my Instagram feed at "restitcherator".

The giveaway is for a gorgeous Denyse Schmidt Charm Pack in her Hadley line, and a spool of variegated Aurifil thread!

A random winner will be chosen on April 22nd!  Good luck!!

City Weekend Square Dance - Waiting for Cora

This is my very favorite reason to sew.  Two of my very dear friends are welcoming their first grandchild in the next few weeks, and I couldn't wait to make the baby a quilt.  

I used Oliver & S City Weekend.  It was a fat quarter bundle that I got a few years ago at QuiltMarket and have been hoarding away for just such a special occasion.

My husband doesn't like the quilts hung up on our fence, but I love it.  It's just the right height for baby size quilts.

Front view

Blue for the sky, yellow for the sun, green for the grass.

Big striped backing

Adorable birds from Hideaway by Lauren + Jessi Jung

I have to say I am one of those who loves hand binding.  It's very relaxing but it also builds up the excitement, as you know you're getting closer and closer to another finish.

Blue Kaffe Fasset Aboriginal Dot for the binding

Here are some of the other Square Dance versions that I've done.  I have two others that I never took pictures of before I gifted them away.

Sock Monkeys

Seven Seas Organic

Forest Friends in Flannel

Sock Monkey Square Dance - Say that 10 Times Fast

This is the third quilt I've made in this pattern.  It's Square Dance by Bits 'n Pieces.  It goes together SO quickly and it looks so fantastic.  I made this for my friend and personal trainer who is having her FIFTH baby.  Yowza!

I used an all yellow chevron back, and I love that this pattern only needs one WOF for the back, so 1 1/2 yards does the whole thing with no need to piece.

It uses eight fat quarters and a 1/2 yard for the back.  She's not sure if she's having a boy or a girl, and I thought these bright colors were gender neutral.  I love the bright colors anyway.

 Here it is all folded up with my label.  I love my labels.

Only one more baby quilt to go and I can get back to working on three other WIPs at once!

Upcycled Sweater Baby Blanket

A friend of mine at work is having a baby.  Yes, it's the same one I made the Seven Seas quilt for.  But every baby needs a stroller blanket right??

I made this from repurposed sweaters, both wool and cashmere.  I added some vintage trims for texture.  And this time, I added some basic quilting, stitch-in-the-ditch style, so that it would hold it's shape when it got washed.

What's your favorite baby gift to make?

Apple Cobbler Pattern Review - another baby quilt

I'm getting them done as fast as I can...these babies...they just keep coming.  And coming EARLY.

This is Apple Cobbler, by Carlene Westberg Designs.  I got the pattern as a PDF download, from Fat Quarter Shop.  The fabric I used was a fat quarter bundle of Safari Sweet by Alysssa Thomas (Penquin & Fish).  This is from Clothworks' Organic Elements line.  

One side note...I do find the organic fabrics a bit stiffer to sew with, but they wash just beautifully and come out very soft.  Funny, it seems if I wash it first, then sew on it, it's still pretty stiff...but the end result is always soft, and I'm pleased with it.

The pattern was super simple.  You cut three size rectangles from fat quarters.  My only beef was that it said "works well with large and small scale prints".  I didn't really think about the fact that I had stripes, and that they may need to get cut in two different directions out of the fat quarter.  It would have been nice if that was noted, but that having been said, I think the mix and match of the stripe directions actually looks really cute.

I also quilted and bound my second Square Dance quilt.  I used a cotton from the same line, and an orange houndstooth (Denyse Schmidt) for the binding.  I am over the moon with the results.  This may become my go-to baby quilt pattern.

I love the brightness of the blue for the back, and blue and orange are one of my favorite color combinations.

Look at all those critters!  Dragonflies, ladybugs, turtles, salamanders...just perfect for little eyes to focus on.

Next up is a big reveal for me...I have been working on these two projects for over a year.  It will be a big exciting day for me, and I can't wait to share it with you all.

Flannel Meadow Friends Square Dance Baby Quilt

I've never made the same quilt pattern twice.  But I was so very happy with the Seven Seas Square Dance quilt that I decided to make another one.  The whole process was much quicker this time, and I think my total sewing time for the whole top was maybe 2 1/2 hours.

I used flannel Meadow Friends by Deb Strain.  When I bought this I really felt like it was gender neutral.  I decided to leave the pinks out, because the baby this is for is arriving in November, and I thought it would look fall-ish.  Now I'm wondering...is it to masculine?  I love the orange and white.  What do you think??

There are all of these adorable frogs and dragonflies, that you can only see up close.  There were some prints in the cotton line that I didn't get in my flannel bundle, but I'm using one of the cottons with a lot of the creatures for the backing.

I have to say that it is SO encouraging to be able to put together a quilt top so quickly now.  Our side fence is my favorite picture location for quilts.

Babies, Babies everywhere

For the last week, the only sewing I've done is to make two baby blankets. They're done in the style of one of the projects in Betz White's book Warm Fuzzies. I've made so many variations of these great blankets since first buying Betz' book it seems. It's such a quick project, and people really seems to love them.

The first one is a very small version, for my cousin's newly adopted son, Jaden. Dave and his wife traveled all the way to Korea, and are home with their amazing new family addition. This one is traditional blues and greys.





The second was for a co-worker, who is going to his niece's christening later this week. This blanket is for a baby who lives in Miami, so the backing is quilting cotton instead of flannel. One thing we talked about is that even though they're in Miami, everything is air conditioned, so a warm blanket is still top on a new baby's list.



I try to include some vintage trim on every blanket. It feels more personal to me that way. And bigger babies and toddlers seem to like the textures to run little fingers over.




You'd think I'd learn my lesson about taking photos indoors. No more. Chilly weather or no, back outside I go. The colors are just not vibrant enough.

Up next...I picked up my November BOM project, and I have a blanket started made out of actual baby clothes. Should be fun! The blocks look really cute so far.

Some of the things that have kept me busy

Whew!  I had no idea so much time had passed. I've made all kinds of cool things, and never posted any of them.  I've also been making a bunch of things to open my shop on Etsy, but never posted any of them either.  So...before I post about the Etsy shop, here are some of the things that have been keeping me so busy...

First, there is the handsome Charles, with his cashmere sweater...he poses like a pro!  Charlie is our sitter Nikole's dog, who both of the kids adore (I mean the dog, but they adore Nikole, too!)

Then, there is the apron I made for my mother in law Kris for Mother's Day...



I love this because it was made from a yellow Mary Englebreit fabric and FREE pattern I got from Fabritopia (which is an amazing website by the way), and the poppy fabric is vintage purchased on Etsy. The whole apron took me maybe an hour and a half. It was only supposed to take an hour, but with kids, interruptions...you know, and hour was kind of wishful thinking. And Kris loved the apron. I will most definately be making more of these.

Last but not least was my very first special order baby blanket. It's made from upcycled felted sweaters, both wool and cashmere. The person who ordered it wanted the baby's name appliqued on the front, and simple, classic colors. The back of the blanket is new flannel, with an owl pattern. These glorious photos are courtesy of my husband.






So for today...I am going to sew up my very first quilt square, from a class I had last Saturday. It's a block a month class, so I want to make sure I'm done early in case I have to redo it.

Looking forward to posting that the first items have gone into the Etsy shop...

I'd love feedback on any of these things.  It's hard to make constructive changes when you're in the middle of making things.  

It's Out of This World!

I found this wonderful flannel fabric a few weeks ago and have been working on this since then.  It has aliens and space ships, and really great colors.  Including orange, which is my absolute favorite.  (Side note, what does it say about me that orange is my favorite color?)

The blanket itself is actually pretty basic.  Felted sweaters, cut into squares or rectangles, with little patches on top in random places, and my friendly alien in the upper left corner.  Much to my dismay, neither of my usually camera-hoggish kids would pose with the blanket, so I was left with Stella (the doll) as my model.

My wonderful, patient photographer-husband let me try all different things to get the pictures how I wanted them...The last two pictures are ones that I took, just so you can see the whole thing and the great fabric on the back.

Oh, the beauty of a Monday off...

So back again, to this idea of people having babies all over the place where I work.  I was talking with someone last Friday and realized there are at least three people I know who are expecting.  I joke  all the time that there is no way I will EVER drink the water at work...my kids are getting a bit bigger and I'm thrilled about it!

However, what it does is give me lots of folks to think up super baby gifts for.  I've recently found some fantastic, bright wool sweaters that I was dying to find a use for.  The colors all look so great together and would be ideal solid colors for baby things...

Today's "day off" result was a stuffed cube.  It came out much more stiff than Square Meal.  I put some light fusible web inside before stuffing it.  I only had two thicknesses at home, so I tried both.  The super sturdy was too much...this worked well, but I think I'm going to get some medium stiffness stuff for the next one.  

It's super simple, just six 5" x 5" squares sewn together and stuffed.  The hardest part was trying to figure out how to get the last seam shut without it looking totally different than the other seams.  So I just went around the top and bottom again.  If anyone out there knows a trick for that last seam issue, I'd love to hear about it.

I had also thought about putting letters on each face, or numbers....something for more contrast.  My only concern is that for little babies, it would have to be on super tight.  All that chewing and drooling...wouldn't want anything to come off and get swallowed up.

I'm already thinking of what to try next.  I'm working on a pattern for a reusable lunch bag...back to the vintage raincoats.  I got one of the great ones with whales on it right before Christmas.  It might even make me want to bring my lunch into work!   And I'd be sure to bring my own drink.  None of that baby-water for me!