New Tool Tuesday

I just bought this amazing ruler a few weeks ago, It is used to make hexagons in a very easy way! I found a tutorial by Jenny, of course, from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  As you might imagine I have been playing with it a lot, so follow future posts on my finished projects using this neat tool.

Ruler and sneak peak into a project.

Please! ALWAYS lock the blade away Kristal!

Baby shoes

Sooooo cute! 

Pattern from CurbyCouture.com 

Aria's Quilt

Another baby quilt for another adorable baby girl, Aria.

This quilt I made using the log cabin pattern. I added applique to this one too in the attempt to master the skill. No free motion quilting on this one, only wavy lines all around.

Front

I randomly stumbled upon a tutorial for using scraps. I figured I had so much fabric left I could use it for the backing. The idea is you cut out all your scraps 2.5 inches wide and then sew them all into a big long strap, cut in half and then sew those two together, cut in half and sew...and keep going until you have the size you'd like. You can just go to the link here to and get a better idea of what I am talking about.
And this is how the backing for baby Aria's quilt turned out.

Back

To make a log cabin block you sew on a spiral like pattern. Start by sewing the center, a 3.5" square and a 3.5" x 2.0" with a 1/4 inch seam, you will have a 5" piece, to this you add a 5.0" x 2.0"...keep adding according to the size needed.

This is how a prepared the project. Cut out all the pieces, then arrange them in the order they will be needed and label them. 

Both Aria and her mom really loved the quilt which fills my heart with joy. I want them to love it and enjoy using it as much as I love and enjoyed sewing it.

Vania's quilt

Vania is the daughter of a  friend from my teen years. Look at that smile and those curls, how can I not be inspired to create something amazing for this little angel.

I made Vania's quilt last fall, using a free pattern given to me at my local quilt shop's monthly meeting.

The pattern is called mirror mirror designed by Georgette Dell'Orco. The pattern can be purchased at Cozy Quilt Shop. 

I used a fat quarter bundle of spring floral print and 1.5 yards of a white kona cotton solids for the backing.

The quilt top turned out beautiful! but there is much to be said about my attempts of free motion quilting.

Front

Back

FMQ

At the time I was experimenting not only with free motion quilting, but also learning about appliqué. I learned about Pellon Wonder-Under, a fusible interfacing that makes fabric fusible. Note to self, letters must be cut out in a mirror image, so when they are transferred they are correct. I did not notice this until my mother, the teacher at heart, called me out on my dyslexic mistake. oops!

How to appliqué letters

I first printed out the letters I needed in a 100 size font straight from word. Then, I traced them on the fusible interfacing sheet and cut them out. Once the letters where cut out I fused them to pieces of fabric on the wrong side using an iron. Finally I cut out the fabric to the shape of the fused letter and then fused it to the backing of my quilt. Once all letters where attached I gave it a finished look using the zig-zag stitch.

Courthouse steps quilt

as a throw

Using all the layer cake fabrics I gathered on the quilt shop hop I decided to make a quilt. I had seen a tutorial on blue is bleu's blog that I really wanted to try. It seemed very neat and blew my mind trying to figure it out. Her tutorial is to make the hourglass steps pillow,  a two tone square and only the fabric in that square matches, but another great quilter I follow, Rachel Wooden Spoon,  made some adjustments and made it so it wasn't an hour glass block, but a courthouse step quilt. I just couldn't wrap my head around it, it took me several days to finally be brave enough to cut the fabric. I decided to make a paper version to guide me on sizes and quantity while cutting.

measurements and paper sample

Once it was all cut up and organized, the fun part began sewing it all on my new machine! my precious! Cutting took about 4 hours, and sewing up each block took about 20 - 25 mins per block depending on how tired I was and what distractions were around. Basting usually is quicker it may have taken a bit less than an hour, quilting took three hours and hand binding another three. For a grand fun total of approximately  20 hrs. It turned out beautiful! I love it!

Here it is with some ideas on uses.

as a couch decoration

as a picnic quilt

Baby quilt
A swaddled Kiko (this is my baby)

foot of the bed
as a foot warmer and decoration accent

wall decoration

It is up on my etsy shop if anyone is interested on purchasing it.