Just right for a special gift

I'm still creating with the leftover fabric purchased from Art Gallery Fabrics "Pacha" after making a baby crib quilt.  Again, Art Gallery Fabrics Lookbook inspired me to make a fabric Toy Box that I will use as a gift filled with goodies when the new baby arrives.  The fabric group called Pine Lullaby shared this free pattern for a 10" cubed toy box with handles.  The toy box only took a couple hours to construct and I was able to use all materials that I already had on hand.  

The baby's due date is September 25 - as of today we are still waiting.  I purchased a couple gifts for the toy box, but once I find out if it is a boy or girl I'll have fun quickly finishing filling it.

A second version of this tote I made with side handles instead of straps.

I find that these totes are great as gifts and fun to fill with special goodies.

I love you a llama

This past weeks sewing project was a baby quilt for my first grandchild who is due in the next couple weeks.  My daughter-in-law saw the Art Gallery Fabrics Lookbook for their fabric line called Pacha.  This fabric and ideas from the Lookbook tied in perfectly with the nursery decorating.

I used the Art Gallery Fabrics quilt pattern called Inquita for the crib quilt.  I did omit squares on all sides of the quilt pattern so it would fit the crib mattress with approximately a six inch over hang on both sides and bottom making the finished size 48 by 56 inches.  Not knowing if our grandchild will be a boy or girl I stuck with gender neutral colors of greens, gold and black and white.  The center fabric is a panel with Llamas called I Love You A Llama.  The pattern called for large half square triangles which made the quilt assembly quick.  I would definitely recommend this pattern for a beginner sewer.

Next I purchased the fabric panel Born to be Wild that had six printed blocks.  As seen in the Pacha Lookbook I framed three of the prints to hang on the nursery wall.  If it's girl I will frame one more block from this panel that has pink in the design.

Here is the quilt and pictures displayed in the nursery.  Now we're just waiting for our new arrival.

I love Art Gallery Fabrics.  The quality of the fabric is excellent and has a soft silky feel.  And to top it off their Lookbooks are so inspirational - I could spend hours just leafing through them.  If you're not familiar with Art Gallery Fabrics visit their website.  Most of their patterns are free.  The only problem I have is finding a quilt shop that carries this brand. Of course there are online fabric stores, but usually you have to order half yard or whole yard pieces - they charge a shipping fee if you don't order their minimum for free shipping - and if you run short because you changed the pattern it's another shipping fee.  ai always end up spending more money because I have to order more fabric than what I need.  I guess this is great for my stash, but I'm honestly trying to use up my stash.  I really prefer to purchase my fabrics from a brick and mortar quilt shop.

Meet spot

With September being National Sewing Month I thought it would be a great time to get in my sewing groove.  This week while rummaging through my fabric stash I came across a preprinted panel of fabric for a dinosaur stuffed animal.  I bought this back in the 90s when my daughter thought she might like to try sewing.  Although dinosaurs was not her thing, her younger brother loved them so she was going to make it for him - never happened.  She preferred me to sew for her.  So the panel got stashed away with UFOs.

My little buddy Sebastian (he's four) comes over weekly and he loves dinosaurs so this would be perfect for him.  I showed him the dinosaur panel and he was pretty excited.   He didn't quite understand what we would be doing with this cut out, but he was anxious to get started.  I cut and sewed it together and left the stuffing for him to help, and boy did he help.  His little hands were perfect for pushing the stuffing in small spaces.  Being a boy and a little rambunctious he jumped on the large plastic bag of stuffing.  With a big pop stuffing wet flying everywhere.  Now this was really beginning to be lots of fun for him.  It took us over an hour to pick up that stuffing to put it in the dinosaur.

 As the dinosaur started to take shape he was so excited.  I stitched up the opening left for stuffing and handed him his new "lovey" as he calls it.

This Brontosaurus is now named Spot.  He can't wait to take it home to meet his other toys.  I think he'll always remember the fun we had making Spot and they will be pals for some time.  

Back to the sewing machine.  I have a baby quilt to finish.

Tiger Lily

Back in 2018, while decorating my studio lounge area with midcentury modern furnishings, Kona came out with their fabric of the year called "Tiger Lily."  I instantly feel in love with this strikingly orange colored fabric and the free pattern from Kaufman called Terrace was my inspired me.  It's like a perfect accompaniment for my mid-century decorating project.  Not only did the color and fabric call my name, but the name "Tiger Lily" is my cat's name.  How could the stars align any better?

Here is my Tiger Lily, and of course she loves snoozing on my quilts.

I excitedly pieced the quilt top together within a couple weeks and hung it temporarily on the wall behind my couch so I could decide just how I wanted to finish it.  Well almost two years has passed and I decided it was time to get this UFO checked off my to do list.  I debated if I should just stretch it on wood stretchers like a painting and do no quilting or if I quilted it - would I quilt the orange or white areas or both.  A lot of thinking went back and forth for those two years.  My final decision was to do minimal quilting in the orange areas and if afterwards I felt the white areas needed some quilting I could always add it.

So now that I decided on my plan the next obstacle was finding the orange thread.  I bought three different orange threads that weren't the right shade.  The color distracted from the quilt design.  I even looked online for threads that matched Kona fabric, but Tiger Lily was not a thread color option.  After hunting for a couple months I found an orange thread at Hobby Lobby that matched perfectly.  Since there isn't as much white it looks great with no quilting on the white fabric.  I quilted it on my long arm quilter using a straight ruler using straight lines longwise.  Needless to say I got better at using my quilting rulers.

Notice on the couch is a pillow in the same fabrics.  With the scraps from cutting out the Terrace quilt I assembled a pillow.  On the pillow I quilted only the white fabric.

Well the quilt is finished and now hangs on my wall.  It is striking with the white contrasting wall.  I soooo love it.  Another mission accomplished.  

With fall a few weeks away and temperatures cooling off it will be time to refocus on my quilting projects.  I noticed September is National Sewing Month so what better month to put the pedal to the ground but now.