Wish Upon a Quilt Blog

My brother and sister-in-law just had a new baby this month. I don’t know why I’ve waited this long to work on a baby quilt. I had nine months but they just flew by.  My niece had to be born to throw me into high gear making a baby quilt. I love making quick and easy baby quilts. This project only took me a weekend but it came out adorable. I used a Tina Givens Fairy Tip Toes panel and a minky like fleece for the back. I try to use minky on baby quilts as a ploy to make it the baby’s favorite. Many young children are attracted to the tactile softness of the fabric.

I often use the pillowcase turning method of sandwiching my baby quilts since they are small and I don’t usually feel like messing with binding on such time pressured projects. (They have to be done before the baby is no longer a baby! ) In this case I pinned my panel to the fleece and stitched a 1/4 inch seam around and left a 10 inch opening for turning on the bottom side. I then used my pinking blade on my rotary cutter and eye balled a 1/2 inch seam on the minky. The fuzzy plushness of the fabric makes it difficult to tell if you have gotten it in a 1/4 inch seam so I cut it a little larger to make it easier to stitch the seam closed later.

 I also added 3 inch strips of various ribbons to the sides of the quilt. I folded them in half and pinned them in place before stitching those seams. I thought it would give the final quilt a boutique look and add another tactile stimulus to the quilt. I then turned the quilt inside out and stitched a 1/4 inch around the edge of the quilt; making sure I sealed the 10 inch opening in the bottom.  I pin basted and quilted it.(Click on the pictures in the gallery below for more detailed instructions on the project and descriptions.)

 Baby quilts are a great way to practice machine quilting on your home machine. Their size is manageable and they are meant to be serviceable – so mistakes and irregularities in stitches can be over looked. You don’t have to present your best work for a quilt that is meant to be dragged in the mud and cuddled till it’s thread bare.

I’ve found that the fleece and minky scraps from this project make great burpee clothes for the baby too.  They look boutiquee, feel lovely, and coordinate with the quilt!  Mom (or Dad) and baby can step out in style with quilt and a handful of coordinating upscale burp clothes! (Warning, I have a hard time putting these burp clothes down because the minky is so soft and they are guaranteed to get passed around the baby shower because others find it irresistible too. )

Wish has just gotten some cute minky quilt kits in. They each have three different minky soft fabrics. They have a suggestion on how to assemble the materials into a quilt. But you could make several burp clothes out of them or even make a blanket with coordinating burp clothes if you add some adorable quilting cottons into the mix. The OH Boy fabric line by David Walker would pair nicely with the kits for a boy and Lilly Pond by Wendy Slotbloom for a girl. Wish has so many cute fabrics for kids! Be sure to check them out and tell us what you think the cutest baby fabric is.

You can get more great gift ideas from Alex Anderson’s Baby Quilts with Love book and Warm Welcome by Mary Hickey.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have enjoyed a relaxing holiday and have a healthy, happy and prosperous new year. We were treated with some special show and tell items that I wanted to pass on. I really liked both of these because they are small projects and were given as gifts for the holidays.

Janette from Raleigh came in a couple of month’s ago to select fabric for this great bag. This one was made with fabrics from the Nest and Bandana Beauties collections. Janette has made several of these bags as gifts and gave herself this one. Janette’s daughter is in the background and loves to help. Thanks for sharing Janette!

Karin from Raleigh made these great table toppers for everyone in her quilting bee. She had a big stack of them and they were all gorgeous! Great way to use your favorite fabric.

Do you have a project that you would like to share? Are you stuck on one that has been around awhile? Bring your projects in, we love to see them and are glad to help you finish them!

Make pillowcases! This is a great stash busting project that takes no time at all. I plan to use some as gift wrap this season. Here is a free pattern for you to use. Jessica (below) has made them for everyone on her Christmas gift list. Who wouldn’t love one of these?

Fabric Coasters!

I was in the store the other day and overheard a customer ask “What do you do with these?” The customer was referring to a charm pack. Then our own Kris Harris came in with these great coasters and shares this “Here is a quick, easy project that would be great for a hostess gift or a gift exchange.  I’ve made mine using three coordinating fabrics.  Each coaster requires six 5″ squares so I used three 10″x40″ strips to make 8 coasters.  Or you could use a charm pack to make six unique coasters- even easier, no cutting!!  Check out this link for great instructions on how to make these coasters. 

 http://equilters.com/library/projectshare/coasterspatt.html

Note: I added a 4 1/4″ square of insul-bright batting to protect furniture from heat and moisture.  I cut it slightly smaller than the finished square to reduce bulk in the seams.”

What are you working on today?

I must admit that I haven’t done much in the past with pre-printed panels, but I’m starting to really like them. I made this table runner using one panel from the Merry and Bright by Sandy Gervais collection and added a few random strips. Best of all, I didn’t spend a lot of time planning or measuring, I simply took the panel, cut it up a few times, spread it out on my table and then made strips until I found the right length. Then, I sewed them all together and quilted around the ornaments and randomly quilted the rest. I even machine sewed the binding. This was a 2 hour project start to finish! What are your handmade projects? 

I love the Craftstylish.com blog. It’s full of interesting and inspiring projects. This morning I just got their newsletter with a “dare to make it” for the holiday’s. The newsletter had several great ideas for a handmade holiday. They have a tutorial on how to make a yo-yo purse and a set of cocktail and dinner napkins. Check out their dare page to find even more fun ideas.

Have you taken the pledge? Have you noticed this badge on the website?

In the shop, we were discussing fun quick projects for handmade gifts. Here are a few of my suggestions.

I liked the vintage lines of this clutch purse. It would be a great present for a mom, friend, sister, or yourself.

Clutch purse

Inside of clutch purse.

I used a fat quarter that I found at Wish Upon a Quilt to make my own version of the clutch. I had to add some extra fabric to the sides to make sure I had enough width for the back and front and I added a few seams since the print was directional (I didn’t want the ladies hanging upside down.) The pin is optional since the clutch is fastened with Velcro but I added a pin I “borrowed” from my mother’s jewelry box when I graduated from college.

 

Amy Butler

Inside of the business card keeper.

While working on the clutch I also tried out one of Amy Butler’s free patterns. I made her business card keeper. This sews up really