Mod Chevron Baby Quilt

Quilts are something that I don't usually attempt. They definitely take more time and effort than my average craft project, but the results generally garner many more "ooohs" "aaahs" and "wows" than something you can stitch together in an hour or two. As one of my super Besties from college announced she and her husband were expecting, I decided to go for the gusto and try this super cute quilt from Generation Q Magazine. Naturally I found the pattern on Pinterest, but modified it slightly to include fewer total fabrics. I ended up using 4 total fabrics:

1.5 yards of the grey/red elephant fabric for the backing
1.25 yards solid grey
3/4 yard off white with pandas
3/4 yard red with monkeys


If you are making one of these yourself you will also need a coordinating thread (or 2), batting, lots of pins, ruler and scissors or a rotary cutter and cutting mat. If you plan on trying out quilting, I highly recommend investing in a cutting mat and rotary cutter as well as several sizes of rulers, otherwise you up your chances of failure considerably.

I chose the colors based on Brook's registry (she chose lots of grey sheets, elephants and other zoo animals). So I wanted to find some zoo animal themed fabrics that tied in with the grey things she had picked out. This also shaped my decision to use fewer fabrics. I don't know if you've ever tried, but it is hard to find many coordinating fabrics for baby that use grey as the main colorway (also, I super loved the grey elephants with red ears and once you set your heart on that, the choices get even fewer).


This is the kind of project that I usually start and then half way through I get into something else and it never gets finished, but having the added motivation of making something really special for a great friend helped me to finish the whole thing in about 2 weeks! Unheard of for me considering I didn't take any vacation days from work to finish this up :)




This is only the 3rd quilt I have ever done start to finish, and I would highly recommend it for beginners. First, it is a baby quilt so the smaller scale keeps you from getting too overwhelmed. Mostly though, I think its a great, on trend pattern that isn't too complicated for pretty much anyone to follow.

Do any of you have a favorite quilt pattern you've seen or used lately? I'm thinking about tackling some quilts for my nieces/nephew for Christmas this year and I'd love to see some more ideas!

Awesome Quilting Website!

I just stumbled upon the most AWESOME website. If you are a quilter, have wanted to try quilting, or know someone that makes quilts this site is a must see! I can see many projects in my future benefitting from this site. Wanna know where it is?

Victoria and Albert Museum! This site let's you quickly upload any of your own photos and turns them into patchwork quilt patterns. Better yet, it allows you to select the level of difficulty (adding more or less detail to your quilt) as well as the number of colors you want (number of fabrics you will need to complete your quilt)!

As you can see, it being so close to Halloween I decided to use an image of my cousin Carli's Zombie makeup:

This is the image before being quiltafied!

Here is a slightly easier (20x20 square pattern) see, all skill levels!

OMG I need to get myself to a fabric store!

Many Projects: In Progress

It's been a few days since I made a new post, and the truth is it is because I hate posting if I don't have a finished project to share. Unfortunately for me, I have been working a little bit each day on several different projects, so today you get a little sneak peak at three of them. At least two will likely be done by the end of the month (one will likely be done tomorrow). Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Oh hello, Mario! So nice to see you again. This is an in progress shot of a Super Mario Bros. themed TV cover for the husband and I. We don't really watch a whole lot of TV, so I've been meaning to make a cover for the one in the living room for awhile. I think once it is done we may stare at the TV a whole lot more, because it will be awesome. One of his antagonists will also be appearing on the TV cover. Which one will it be? (I am hoping to finish this by the end of the month--sewing all these little squares together is driving me a little nutty).

I am going to see my adorable little nieces (Alexandria Virginia and Savannah Georgia--yes, those are their names--I love them!) in April. Far be it from me to not be showering them with gifts, many of which I made myself. Little felt Orchids just like this one are going to be sewn together to create some barrettes for them, or maybe a cute pair of slippers will be made and these will be embellishment. Maybe both. I'm hoping to have a mess of these made by tomorrow night, so you will all get to see sooner rather than later. I found a tutorial on how to make them at Cut Out and Keep.

Finally, this is a quilt for my husband. I have been working on it forever, so I'm not too hopeful of finishing it this month, but I thought I'd show it off anyway. Maybe it will be the catalyst I need to actually get working on the quilting (which I plan on doing entirely by hand). It is made out of a bunch of his old T-shirts that he just couldn't throw away once he decided they weren't really in wearing condition anymore. It's more of a lap quilt so it won't take as long as something much bigger, I just think I am making it into a bigger project than it is at the moment.


Also, don't forget to go here to enter into the Derby Pillow contest. All submissions must be entered by Midnight Pacific Time on Friday!!