Knitting Sandwich

A Birthday Quilt

My niece turned two last month.  I love the explosion of learning and understanding that occurs between 2 and 3!  Her vocabulary is already huge, but I thought an eye spy quilt might be a fun way to expand it even further. 

Here are some of my favorite fabrics (and words)

Tentacles (Thank you Melissa, I love this fabric!)

Double decker bus (I loved to add this for her english daddy)

There were so many wonderful fabrics to incorporate, the quilt got a little big. 

Zoe loves it and has already made a game with the back.  Here she is swimming in the ocean.

-Lindsey

 

quilt = finished, me = happy

after a bit of this:

and a trip through the washer/dryer, i am the proud owner of this:

yes, a big huzzah is in order!  my four corners quilt is completely finished!!

here's the back:

and here is a parade of other photos:

and here's my favorite thing to do with my quilt:

thank you so so much to melinda for not only designing the pattern/tutorial but for guiding me, helping me, and encouraging me on this quilting journey!  i know they say it's not the destination, it's the journey... but this is one time i'm loving the destination a whole lot more!

-melissa

mel-mel meetup - now in dc!

last december my dear friend melinda at quirkygranolagirl moved from wisconsin to washington dc.  this made our usual meetup place in lacrosse, wi rather unpractical, which is sad... but means that last weekend i got to go out to dc to visit her!

 we were so busy crafting and chatting and having a wonderful time that this is the only photo we managed to take together!

the crafty goal for the weekend was to get me to finish my little apples quilt, i'm sure you remember... the quilt i started, ahem, a year ago october when melinda and i were in lacrosse, and then haven't looked at since... yeah, that quilt.

melinda was dead set that i was going to take a finished quilt back with me to minnesota and therefore took it upon herself to do a lot of the work for me (some of it had to do with her being a good, accurate, quick sewist while i am a sloppy, crappy, slow sewist, but mostly it was because she is amazing and talented and generous and helpful.)

 here she is putting the back together for me while i sit like a weasel and crochet... yes, i felt very spoiled, selfish, and lazy... but also rather happy to just let her do whatever she wanted!

she showed me how to baste and then left me to it.  (i was good at pinning, since it doesn't require the accuracy of sewing straight lines!) 

after a demonstration i was also able to mark out my quilting lines and then did almost all of the quilting myself!

 i made sure to get melinda to take a photo of me at the sewing machine so there was proof that i actually did some work!

with a great burst of determination (and lack of sleep) we (and by "we" i mean mostly melinda) got the quilt 98% finished before i left!  i just have a little hand stitching to do on the binding and it's done!!  i would like to publicly promise melinda that all her hard work was not in vain and i will have the stitching done by the end of THIS weekend!!

while the crafting was the major focus of our meetup, we also took some time to go and play tourist in downtown dc with her wonderful family!

some of my very favorite moments of the trip were spent in the back seat of their car singing "if i had a million dollars" with henry.

 thank you so much melinda for all your help and encouragement (there was a moment when i attempted to pout so i wouldn't have to reload the bobbin myself and melinda just looked at me and said, "are you trying to pout at me?!?  go load the bobbin!") and your humor and kindness and friendship!

i had a wonderful visit, i hope we can do it again soon!!

-melissa

We made a quilt

Sabrina's bedtime routine is long and snugly, but her quilt wasn't big enough to cover both of us.  She (ok, I) needed a new quilt.

Inspired by a quilt as you go tutorial (that I didn't read well enough and can't find to actually link to) I cut up a twin size batting into 20 squares.

Sabrina picked out the fabrics

We randomly placed the cream squares

And randomly added the fabrics around them

Each square is quilted differently

We even made 3 S's for her initials

It is a great size for the bed

And perfect for snuggling

-Lindsey

Quilting for love

My friend Betsy is getting married this weekend.  This momentous occasion waranted a quilt.

Especially a quilt that isn't all cattywampus.

There was a bit of ripping to put the top row into alignment.

I wish Betsy and Jim many years of snuggling.

-Lindsey

little apples quilt top

it's done!  i actually made a quilt top!

a couple weeks ago melinda and i met up in lacrosse for a crafty weekend and i brought my sewing, seeing as how she is both a quilting genius and the creator of the tutorial i wanted to use for my top.

she brought me this life-changing purple sewing guide that completely revolutionized my "sewing straight" issues and i was off to the races!

i think it took me about 4 1/2 hours to do the entire thing!  i am still blown away that i actually managed to do this!  thank you so much melinda!!  your patient guidance was just what i needed to get over my fears. 

next step: put the back together... onward and upward my friends!

-melissa

ps - i feel i need to appologize for my wrinkled sewing... my iron is one of the many things i have yet to unpack.  don't judge me.  we're just a wrinkly kind of family!

wisconsin meet up -sewing edition

I did a bit of sewing in preparation for the sandwich meet up.  Sewing for dear friends and especially their babies is the best.

Of course I had to make the sweet boy some burp cloths.  (After the gazillion I made it was a natural choice)

Sabrina picked out the softest fabric for his imitation taggy blanket

Some diaper clutches inspired by Claire's Portuguese roots and our european sandwich tile adventure

And of course a quilt.  This lucky boy has such a joyful mom.

I also whipped up some headbands for Melissa

Arn't these two just the cutest?

I am already eager for our next meet up 

-Lindsey

a texas-sized housewarming gift!

let me just say that i have THE most talented, generous, wonderful friends ever!  when i returned from my trip to omaha i had a package from lindsey waiting for me.  i tore it open and much to my surprise (and absolute joy) she had made me a quilt as a housewarming present!

don't you just love it!?!?  i do!  i love the colors, the shapes, everything about it!  i am so completely amazed and blown away by the skills of my dear friend who has only been quilting for less than 6 months!  you have so much talent lindsey, thank you for sharing it with me and my family.

even the back has a fun little splash of color.

the minute i saw it i knew exactly where it was going to live - on the back of our poor old couch that used to live in our basement at our old plaec but now has been upgraded to first floor living space again.  

it fits perfectly!  and the weather has pleasantly taken a turn for the cooler temps so sooner than later i'll be trying it out, snuggling away under my perfectly amazing lindsey quilt!

thank you lindsey - i couldn't possibly love you or the quilt more!

-melissa

haaave you met my friend melinda...

if you meet melinda in person you just might find yourself doing this:

if you meet melinda on her blog, you just might find yourself doing this:

i find myself just shaking my head... the wearing of silly hats and posing like a cowgirl i can totally understand, but me, a notoriously poor seamstress, purchasing fabric to make a quilt?  what am i thinking?

i'll tell you what i'm thinking - after seeing this post on melinda's blog i couldn't get the idea of making a jelly roll quilt out of my head.  my "sewing straight" skills have improved (somewhat) since the last time i attempted to quilt... and oh that pattern... and lindsey's been quilting... and i just had to give it another try!

and i just had to get myself some little apples by aneela hoey to try it with.  

so wish me luck... i feel like i just jumped off the cliffs of quilting-insanity without a parachute or even a net.  but oooh is it ever exciting!

thank you to melinda for the inspiration and the wonderful tutorial!

-melissa

I Spy a Rainbow

Ever since I saw the I Spy quilt Melina made I've wanted to make one for Sabrina. Further inspiration came from Melissa and Claire's rainbow blankets.

I've had so much fun hunting down patterned fabrics of in all the colors of the rainbow. I used red pepper quilts' no bind method again.

It works so well when you actually follow the instructions.

Not too bad for quilt #2.

I especially love the fabrics on the back.

We started some geography lessons - mostly where Daddy was born and where Claire lives.

I love playing I spy with Sabrina, especially since she always asks for more things to look for.

-Lindsey