Robots & Pluses

(...or is that Plusses?)

I couldn't bear to cut up these friendly robots (donated by Fat Quarter Shop)...

...so I just backed the whole panel with some soft dimple minky from the stash, quilted parallel lines (my walking foot takes all the pain out of working with minky!), and bound in a bright red/orange splash cotton donated by a quilting friend.

I'm pleased with the binding - entirely machine bound! Such a time saver. I cut it at 2.25", press in half, and then stitch on with 1/4" seam allowance, mitering the corners. Then I press the binding away from the quilt top, flip it, and press the binding down at the back. I got a nice crisp edge on this one because it's not very thick. I only pin the binding at the corners and stitch in the ditch from the front of the quilt. I can feel a little ridge next to the "ditch", which lets me know if the binding is going to be caught in the stitching or I need to adjust a little. On a thicker quilt this is a bit trickier as more of the binding is taken up in the fold, but same idea.

This one was fun too! A Plus Quilt, using the pattern from For The Love of George. The floral was given to me a few years ago - nearly 4 yds! It's a difficult print to work with so I'm happy to have found a use for it. Dimensions: 38" x 52".

The white is Kona Snow and the blue stars and purple foliage-y print are quilting cottons from my mother-in-law (thanks, Mom!) -- happy accident that they coordinate!

The fabric was a bit wider than normal, I think about 44", so no piecing required to use it for the backing! See what I mean about difficult to use? :/

I quilted 1/4" inside each plus with cream thread -- thankful again for my walking foot. I had barely enough fabric to do the binding so had to hand-stitch it down, too narrow for the machine.

And finally a nice stack of bibs! They are all flannel Yo Gabba Gabba print (donated by our local quilt shop, Quilt Essential Co) on the front, lime cotton chenille on the back. I did the first two with bias tape, as called for in Alisa's pattern, which she kindly donated for the sew-along.

The other six I added 3/8" seam allowance to and turned and topstitched. I quilted each very simply along the lines made by the chenille. They all close with a poly-resin snap.

All in all, another good stack to add to my pile for the Pregnancy Care Centre!

Sock Monkeys and Pirate Sharks

First quilt finish of the year, and first for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-along!

Made with sock monkey fabrics donated by FatQuarterShop plus a few coordinates. I love that I get the chance to practice free motion quilting on these! This is a pretty little baby quilt, so not too intimidating and bulky to do on my domestic machine.

It's not perfect - have to work on getting my meandering even, but at least I figured out (by accident) the best settings on my machine to free motion! When it turns on, the sewing machine defaults back to left needle position. I'd only ever tried centre position before, but forgot to change it once when I turned it back on, and it was smooth sailing! Suzanne is quilting the second sock monkey quilt.

And just sewed the buttons on this little baby shirt:

Also from fabric donated by FatQuarterShop. I had to cut everything with 1/4" seam allowances, a little tight, to make it fit, plus I cut the underside of the collar as well as the sleeve placket and back hang loop in aqua.

Details
Pattern: #8 Ringmaster from Ottobre Winter 6/2013
Fabric: Shiver Me Timbers by Jamie Wood for Clothworks, contrast aqua cotton/poly blend
Size: 62 (3 months)
Mods: Underside of collar in constrast, added hang loop in the yoke seam.

I loved the details and accuracy of this pattern! It was a joy to sew up - lots of details, so it took some time, but worth it. The sleeve placket binding is something I've never tried. The directions were very clear and it turned out very well.

Next up: receiving blankets and flannel quilts. Happy to stash bust for a good cause!

A baby shower, Dino Dudes and Ooga Booga!

Last night I hosted a baby shower for a friend from church. It was lovely out, thankfully, so all 32 of us could sit outside in the backyard instead of being crammed in the (very warm) house.

This was baby Lyncoln's gift from me:

Details
Pattern: #7 Panda hooded jacket from Ottobre Summer 3/2012
Fabric: Michael Miller's Dino Dudes interlock and coordinating ribbed knit that I won from Fishsticks Designs a couple of years ago
Size: 62 (3mo)
Modifications: The only modification I did was to add a little reinforcement layer at the back neck, also perfect for size label. (I love that my set of stamps by Night Owls Menagerie includes birdie tracks, in this case, dino tracks!)

Really enjoying working with knits again! My serger is not though - it really needs a tune-up, but I have a hard time letting it go for 2-4 weeks because I use it constantly. It's skipping stitches and has a tension disk issue. Anyway, I made it work.

Abigail "needed" another dress, so I finally cut into my hoarded Ooga Booga (also from Bonnie's giveaway). She is very pleased with her "pitty dwess".

Details
Pattern: #5 Little Elephant hooded tunic Ottobre Summer 3/2013
Fabric: Purple and Pink Ooga Booga interlock, coordinating interlock for binding
Size: 74 with length cut at 86
Modifications: Same back neck reinforcement/size tag:

The Otto patterns I've sewn so far have been wide and short, so I chose the size that matched her chest and waist most closely, then the length for the size she should be in for her height. Ended up being more a dress than a tunic, but that's ok because the body is a bit roomy still so she can grow into it as a tunic. I think it will be adorable over skinny jeans and a long-sleeve top this winter!

Walking Bitty Baby

The elastic in the hem could have been a little tighter I think. My sewing machine does NOT like clear elastic tape. Took me nearly 2 hours to baste it into the seam allowances. Maybe a teflon foot would help. I love how it turned out, overall! I have some more knits that I've been hoarding - hoping to cut out some hoodies for all three kids soon!

I-Spy Quilt for PCC

Yay!! First quilt done for the Pregnancy Care Centre sew-along!

FatQuarterShop very generously sent us a box of fabrics to use for this sew-along - these are a lot of random boyish prints from that box! This I-Spy quilt went together very fast. I bought a 5" square ruler which made it super easy to cut out the 90 squares, and then it was just piecing. I threw in a few scraps of my own to round it out. Also got to try meandering on a larger quilt - with great success!! Only had my thread break four times and no bobbin snarls at all. So happy it worked out! Dimensions: 39"x43".

The back is cute too - part of the same panel as the little trucks and trains on the top, pieced with a length of black kindly provided by QuiltEssentials here in St. Albert!

Oink-a-Doodle-Moo Farmer Boy

A boy set for the Pregnancy Care Centre. Have to say, I wish I'd come across this fabric when my boys were babies!

Details
Fabric: Oink-a-Doodle-Moo and Case IH tractors
Patterns: Made By Rae's Basic Newborn Pant and Me Sew Crazy's Baby Boy Button-up
Size: 3-6 months

Mods: Added a cuff to the pants and an inch to the elastic waistband to make it a larger size. For the shirt, I changed the pocket a bit (was not symmetrical), added a contrasting loop over the pleat at the back yoke, used a contrast strip for the inside of the collar. Also had to fiddle with the shoulder seams as the pieces did not match up well, and then had to cut out the armscye a bit to fit the sleeve nicely. I would add a collar stand next time - the collar does not lie the nicest. Aside from that - it's great to have free patterns out there to work from!