Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I finally fiished my postage stamp quilt!  I am so excited that it is finished!

 

  I started working on it during the spring of 2008, so it only took two and a half years.:)  It is made with 3,800 1 1/2 inch squares-3,000 on the front and 800 on the back.

 Each block contains 100 squares.  The finished size is 80" x 91".  I started piecing it on my mom's vintage 70's Kenmore sewing machine and finished with my Bernina.  I stippled all over for the quilting; I used eleven bobbins of thread, which is the most quilting I have ever done on a single quilt.  I really like the dense quilting on this one.

 I started collecting squares way back then, and I participated in two rounds of a postage stamp swap on Craftster to get an assortment of colors. I knew I wanted to make blocks of one color, but I wasn't sure about the arrangement.

  I tried a couple different variations, and I really liked some of them; I may go back and make another one in the future based off one of the variations I tried.   I wanted it to be big enough to fit a full size bed when it was finished, so I quickly realized I would need a border or to separate the blocks.  I am happy with the way it turned out. 

 I went with my daughter to the park to take pictures of it, and it is a little wrinkled from being squished in the bottom basket of her stroller.  I kind of like the wrinkled look because it shows it will be loved and used.:)


 I have always photographed my quilts in my backyard, but it was fun trying to get different pictures of it.  It is currently back in the washer because it did get dirty from lying on the grass; we have a lot of geese in Colorado.

I actually sewed the binding on by hand on this one.  It was the first time I have ever tried that!  It felt like it took forever; it was about two weeks sewing for 30 minutes to an hour at night with a marathon sewing session during the Auburn vs. Old Miss game last night. 

It is definitely one of my favorite quilts I have made, if not my favorite.  I love that it is my own design and that it turned out just like I wanted.

If you want to see in-progress pictures, follow the links below:
May 28, 2008-starting, July 14, 2008, September 8, 2008 (layouts), February 23, 2009 -top almost pieced, May 29, 2010 basted and started quilting and then started ripping stitches out, and October 15, 2010-quilting.

I am entering this into Amy's Quilt Festival.  I look forward to this event every spring and fall.  There are some amazing quilts every year, so go look if you are ready to be inspired!

You can see my previous entries by following the links below:
Spring 2010 and Fall 2009

Thank you for stopping by!

Patchwork Dreams

This past weekend I finished this patchwork sleepsack for Zerah. Ever since I first received Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner this summer, I have been wanting to make one!  I decided I better make it soon before she was too old for sleepsacks!  She is borderline too old at 13 months, but I love how she looks in them.  I am not ready for her to have a blanket in the bed because that means she is no longer a baby.:)

So she gets to wear a sleepsack a little bit longer.  I used the pattern from Handmade Beginnings but added about ten inches in length.  The pattern is for a 0-3 month old.  I also added another inch to the sides, but I don't know if I needed to do that.  I can't wait to see her bundled up in it tonight ready for bed.

I also finished the quilting on my postage stamp quilt last weekend, and I am slowly handsewing the binding on.  It is taking forever!  I have put in about 5 hours, and I am not finished with one side yet.  I have been working on it a little each night after Zerah goes to bed.  It is nice to have a project to work on in front of the T.V.



In addition, I recently stumbled upon the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild!  Modern Quilt Guilds have been popping up all over the country, but there wasn't one here yet.  Friday, I stumbled upon it, and signed up immediately!  So, if you are in the Front Range area and like modern quilting, go sign up!  I am so excited there is a chapter nearby!

I hope to finish this weekend...

Well, I may not finish the whole thing, but I hope to have all the quilting done! I worked on it this past weekend, and I am so happy with the way it is turning out so far. I have used five bobbins, and I have been to the store twice for thread. I don't know why I bought a little spool-what was I thinking?

It has been busy around here this past week. We had parent-teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday, so I was at work from 6:30 am didn't arrive home until 8:30 on Wednesday. Thursday was 6:30 in the morning until 6:00 at night. I am so happy it is almost the weekend!

Keep those little legs warm!

This past weekend I made fifteen pairs of legwarmers for Zerah for this upcoming fall/winter. She has so many cute dresses that she needed something to keep her little legs warm when it gets cold outside. I had a lot of fun picking out the socks to make these!



I don't think we will lack for choices for legwarmers for her to wear! I couldn't decide, so I kept making some, and making more, and finally I stopped at fifteen. I used this tutorial on how to make them. I found all the socks at Target for $1 each. So this project cost me about $15, which is pretty good for 15 pairs of legwarmers. I estimate the retail cost of these to be around $150-200. She now has a spiffy little collection.


Don't those little legs look cute in their argyle glory? I love argyle.
They go together so quickly, too. I think each pair took about 10-15 minutes. I may need to make some more for quick baby gifts!


I am off to go take our daily walk. I am trying to walk around 3 miles a day! It is so nice to just be outside in the sunshine-enjoying fall weather!

Baby Legwarmers!

I love legwarmers on babies; they are so cute! I don't like paying at least $7 a pair for them. I was so excited to find this tutorial the other day on making legwarmers from knee socks, and I had to try it out!

Yesterday, I went to Target in search of knee socks, and I found these for $1 a pair! They were on sale from $2, which isn't bad either. So I picked up many pairs, so I can make legwarmers for Zerah to wear under all her cute dresses when it is cold and snowy here this winter for $1 each. I made the pair above in about ten minutes.:)

I had to share quickly, so all the pictures were taken at night when the light isn't great. The sale ends on the legwarmers at my Target on Oct. 2nd.