Spiderweb update

The spiderweb top is complete! Not sure where to go with the quilting...Previously, I said I would probably do this and I still think that's where I'm going with it. I don't think I'd ever finish if I tried to do anything fancier...not to mention the fact that this quilt isn't what anyone would call subtle. Anything more than simple quilting would send this over the top.

I definitely love it and can't wait to be able to snuggle under it!

Sorry about the wrinkles...

Babyville

It appears as if I live in Babyville. Everyone is pregnant or just had a baby. Everyone.

In that spirit, I thought I'd show you one of the first quilts that I ever made, which was for a baby. I started quilting because I wanted to make a quilt for my nephew who joined us in this world in January. My first attempt was a quilt kit from Joann's. Boo. It didn't even have batting or binding. It was a right-sides-together then flip kind of a deal. Seriously, BOO. So I made my niece a quilt first (another post for another day) and then I got to work on Baby H's quilt. His mom and dad (my brother & sis-in-law) aren't very "cutesy" people. They have a very vintage, cool, different style and when I found this awesome 30's reproduction print, I couldn't resist.

Isn't it precious? It became the focus fabric and I added some coordinating fabrics (Amy Butler seeds in blue and orange, a gold solid, some awesome navy polka dots and an orange print whose origins are unknown) and used them to make pinwheels with brown flannel. 

It's the softest, coziest quilt for a January baby (even though it's not very practical NOW, seeing as it was humid and gross outside today).

sorry the picture is sideways...I forgot to rotate!

It's made up of 20 9x9 blocks and finished, measures about 36x45. I bound it with some American Jane Pez and some yellow stars fabric that I got from Joann's.

Aside from the baby that's laying on the quilt (isn't he just the CUTEST?!), my favorite part of it is the back, which I didn't take any pictures of. It's mostly just solid brown flannel, but in the center, I pieced a giant (22"across) whirlygig out of 4 of the fabrics from the top. I love it and Baby H and his parents love it and he actually uses it, which makes me happier than anything!

May Day!

I love $1 fat quarters! My LQS doesn't carry a lot of the fabric that I'm drawn to (i.e. contemporary, non-civil-war-repro, colorful, non-Route 66 inspired, etc.). In fact, the majority of the fabric that I like in her shop eventually ends up on the $5.50/yd wall because most of her customers have a MUCH different aesthetic than I do. And today, along with the 10 fqs for $10 sale, everything on the Clearance wall was an extra $1 off! That meant that I got this:

7 yards of fabric for $30! Some Amy Butler, some Heather Bailey, some Moda Prep School madras (for a summer picnic quilt), and some fqs, including 30s repro prints and a couple of fabrics whose origins are unknown. I don't know where those purply-pink polka dots come from, but I'm in love. I wish there was more than just 1 fq in the shop today. I definitely would have bought more.

In the sewing machine today:

crappy picture, but it's hailing outside, so...

 I've cut into my complete stack of MoMo Wonderland fqs that I found 2 weeks ago at a quilt shop out in the country...on clearance!!! When I told the sales lady that I was really excited to find it, she said, "Why?" I told her that it's not in print anymore and it's really hard to find. Her response? "Oh, well good for you." She had no idea that she could have sold the thing on etsy or ebay for double what I paid for it...Lucky me!

Anyway, it's 7 rows of 7 (8.5x10.5) rectangles. I used each of the 40 prints at least once and added some solids to add a little umpf.
It's going to be gigantor, but that's okay. It's for me, so the bigger and cozier, the better. I'm pretty excited to make some baby quilts with the leftovers. I have 2 cousins having baby girls in the next month, so I think this will be perfect for them.

SOLD!

Recently, I donated a quilt to be sold in an auction for earthquake relief in Haiti. It was the first quilt that I made that was sold. It's hard enough to give someone a handmade gift but to create something that a stranger is paying money for! Scary! Turns out, the quilt came together quickly and the only real problem I had was that I wanted to keep it!

The quilt was made with a selection of fabrics from Amy Butler's Love line and Kona white. With such large prints, it made sense to do everything on a large scale, so I made one giant maverick star (measures 36" square).

Then I added a patchwork border and a solid white border. It's backed in a solid piece of Water Bouquet...which got me into some trouble because when my sister-in-law saw the quilt she immediately commissioned me to make her a purse out of it! Of course, I said yes (a perfect excuse to go to the quilt shop!). Then I quilted it with random curved and straight lines.

The finished quilt measured 44x55. The perfect size for the little girl that it went home to!

Smitten.

Hello, cyberspace! I've been skulking around Blogville for a while and decided it was time to out myself. So here I am, World Wide Web. I'm Erin and I like quilting. I can't help it. I'm smitten. I thought for a while about starting a blog, but couldn't really justify it. I mean, who'll read it? Who will care that I'm making quilts? And aren't blogs kind of...um, you know...lame? But I decided that I don't care who reads it. And I care that I'm making quilts. And Lord knows the threat of being lame has never stopped me before (for proof, see Erin's entire childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood). And, P.S. All of the blogs that I read are fabulous and aren't at all lame, so what am I afraid of?

In my sewing machine right now, this bad boy:

The spiderwebs are made of Kona Coal and AMH Good Folks. I can't wait to have it finished. It's the first quilt that I'm making for me, so I'm pretty stoked. It just needs its border and a backing, and then it's ready for quilting. I think I'm going to do something like this for the quilting. My sweet little sewing machine just isn't trustworthy enough for anything more hardcore than straight lines with a walking foot...

Well, I'm off to cut some fabric and watch this guy try to catch a fly: